All the world will be your enemy... (Watership Down (DVD))

Member Name: sweet_decline

Product:	Watership Down (DVD)
Date:	02/11/08 (77 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Uplifting, story is beautifully told

Disadvantages: Will make you weep, could be frightening for younger children

Fluffy bunnies, an epic struggle between good and evil, and a tear-jerking theme song - there's something for kids and adults alike in this animated adaptation of Richard Adams's classic novel.

Yes, bits of it are violent - and perhaps not suitable for very young children - but not gratuitously so. After all, rabbits are prey to pretty much every predator. From an ecological aspect, I think the film has much to teach us about the damage we are doing to the earth and its inhabitants.

The film kicks off with a narration about the creation of the world from the rabbits' point of view - a kind of Genesis for bunnies. The limited colour palate used for the animation of this section reinforces the mythical nature of the story of how rabbits came to be so low in nature's pecking order. "All the world will be your enemy. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you."

The story follows Hazel and Fiver - young rabbit brothers of the Sandleford Warren. Fiver is something of an outcast among the rabbits due to his spooky sixth sense. When he sees a vision of the destruction of the warren, he and Hazel lead a band of fellow outcasts to find their perfect home - "High, lonely hills, where the wind and the sound carry, and the ground's as dry as straw in a barn."

Our intrepid band of rabbits manage to find their idyllic home - but realise they forgot to bring any female rabbits with them. Oops! We follow their quest to ensure the future of their warren. The characters are fantastic - despite being rabbits you can really identify with the personality of every single one as you will them to succeed in the tough and dangerous world they live in.

As the film is on TV on a regular basis, I would advise the casual viewer to check for it in the TV schedules before purchasing. But for those who are lifelong fans of the film - and I count myself as one of these - the DVD is a must-have. It can usually be found cheaply on Amazon, at around £4.

Summary: Beautiful animation of rabbits fighting for survival in a harsh world