1978

the English countryside of Watership Down is a land where lore and tradition walk hand-in-hand. where history isn’t just a story and legend not just fantasy. Fiver, a rabbit, begins to have visions of an apocalyptic future for his warren and, with the help of his older brother Hazel, convince a motley crew to leave their home and seek another. with help from converted royal guard Bigwig, these three lead the others on a quest inspired by their disturbed brother’s hallucinations. attacks from predatory animals, drowning, the basest elements: there IS something better out there for them beyond their trials, if Fiver’s visions are accurate. but they have to persevere. they have to be caught. the survivors arrive at an abandoned warren high up and away from danger and think that their worries are over, but an unexpected visitor in Bigwig’s former brother-in-arms Holly changes their fortunes. he is battered and bleeding. Fiver’s visions were true: the old warren was destroyed by human excavation, and on his way to find Hazel and the others, Holly was captured and tortured by a rival warren. the continued survival of their new colony rests in liberating the females from this dictatorship. because when the whole world is out to kill you, sometimes the greatest enemy of all comes from within.

this wasn’t what i was assuming it was. a staple of numerous “adult animation” lists, i thought it would be more “Saw meets Disney” based on what i read (rabbits getting knocked-off one-by-one as their trials progress) but what i watched was surprisingly formulaic (political commentary notwithstanding). the non-linear survival plot of the first half gave way to a second half “save the babes” plot, where the third-act villain in the rival warren keep the females hostage under a tyrannical head bunny with one eye missing called the General. but when the mature content finally transpired, such as Holly’s account of subjugation at the hands of the General, brief as they are they do remind you that the film is striving for a certain level of realism beneath the spiritual angle. a good watch if expectations are kept in check.