Watership Down

Name: Watership Down
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Drama
Released: 1978-10-14
Duration: 1 h 32 min
Rating: 7.5
Cast: John Hurt, Richard Briers, Michael Graham Cox, John Bennett, Ralph Richardson

All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and when they catch you, they will kill you... but first they must catch you.

Watership Down (1978)

Timing: 1:32 (92 min)

7.5/10
48 103

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no scores

7.2/10
717

7.5/10
43000

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Everything about the movie

Video 5

Photo 48

Actors and characters

Video for the film Watership Down — Watership Down (1978) Official Trailer - John Hurt Movie

3:26

Photo 48

Release date

1978-10-14

Country

United Kingdom

Production

Nepenthe Productions, Watership Productions

Genre

Adventure, Animation, Drama

Budget

$1 000 000

Box office

$3 713 768

Website

Director

Martin Rosen

Actors

John Hurt, Richard Briers, Michael Graham Cox, John Bennett, Ralph Richardson, Simon Cadell, Terence Rigby, Roy Kinnear, Richard O'Callaghan, Denholm Elliott
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

John Hubley

Producer

Martin Rosen, Jake Eberts

Camera operator

Tony Haines

Composer

Angela Morley

Artist

Bill Littlejohn, Ray Kelly, Malcolm Bourne

Audition

Editing

Terry Rawlings
Whole Team (93)

Short description

When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a search of a safe new haven.

What's left behind the scenes

Several British distributors in turn refused to work with the animated film. After lengthy negotiations, the producers managed to reach an agreement with Cinema International Corporation, a distributor of foreign films for Paramount Pictures. They agreed to release the film on the condition that its producers cover all release preparation costs.
Composer Mike Batt wrote several other songs for the cartoon, but none of them made it into its final soundtrack. Three of these songs were also performed by Art Garfunkel.
The budget of the animated film, at 2 million British pounds, was fully funded from independent sources. This provided maximum freedom of action for the director and producers.
Starting with a limited release in a handful of cinemas, the cartoon eventually ranked sixth among the highest-grossing releases of 1979 in the UK and Ireland.
The animated feature's budget of 2 million British pounds was fully funded by independent sources. This provided the director and producers with maximum freedom of action.
The animated film was based on the book of the same name by British author Richard Adams. He originally began telling it as short stories about rabbits to his two daughters in the evenings. They insisted that the stories be written down and published. This process took more than two years.
In 2004, the major British magazine Total Film ranked 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' 47th among the greatest British films of all time.
Richard Adams' book was first published in 1972 by the British publisher Rex Collins. Before that, it had been rejected by seven other publishers in turn. The book quickly won general acclaim from literary critics and became a major bestseller. Over forty years, its total worldwide circulation exceeded 50 million copies.
In 2004, the major British magazine Total Film ranked 'The Watership Down' 47th among the best British films of all time.
Richard Adams' book was first published in 1972 by the British publisher Rex Collins. Before that, it had been rejected in turn by seven other publishers. The book quickly gained universal acclaim from literary critics and became a major bestseller. Over forty years, its total circulation worldwide exceeded 50 million copies.
Several British distributors declined to work with the animated film one after another. After lengthy negotiations, the producers managed to reach an agreement with Cinema International Corporation, a distributor for Paramount Pictures' international releases. They agreed to release the film on the condition that the producers cover all the costs associated with preparing the release.
The film is based on Richard Adams' novel-fairy tale "Watership Down" (1972).
Initially, John Hubley was to be the director of the animated film. After his death in 1977, the project was headed by Martin Rosen, for whom the film was his directorial debut. Some of John Hubley's groundwork was preserved and included in the final version of the film.
The animated film was based on the book of the same name by British writer Richard Adams. He originally began telling it in the evenings as short stories about rabbits to his two daughters. They insisted that they be written down and published. This process took over two years.
The film's title song, 'Bright Eyes,' written by British singer-songwriter Mike Batt and performed by American singer Art Garfunkel, became a massive hit in Britain. It spent six weeks at the top of the charts and became the best-selling single of 1979 in Britain with 1.15 million copies sold.
The title song from the cartoon, Bright Eyes, written by British singer and composer Mike Batt and performed by American singer Art Garfunkel, became a colossal hit in Britain. It stayed at number one in the charts for six weeks and, with 1.15 million copies, became the best-selling single of 1979 in Britain.
Starting its run in only a handful of cinemas, the animated film eventually ranked sixth among the highest-grossing releases of 1979 in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Composer Mike Batt wrote several other songs for the animated film, but none of them made it into the final soundtrack. Three of these songs were also performed by Art Garfunkel.
Originally, John Hubley was to direct the animated feature. After his death in 1977, Martin Rosen took over the project, for whom the film marked his directorial debut. Some of John Hubley's developments were preserved and included in the final version of the animated film.