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Watership
Down (1999-2000)
producers: Alltime / DECODE / Nepenthe
Canal
Famile / Funbag / Helix / YTV
animation: 2D
animation
episodes: 39 x 20mins (3 series)
Twenty years after the feature-length adaptation of
Richard Adams' best-seller,
we return to the South Downs to retell the story of the
rabbits of Watership Down.
Whilst not quite as 'gritty' as the book or film,
and reduced in natural detail by the
necessity's of tv animation, the 'Watership Down'
series still hold true to the
spirit of its source material. The rabbits and animals,
to all intents and purposes,
are real animals - not mere 'cartoons' or 'toons'
- and an attempt has been made to
incorporate the rabbits spiritual beliefs in Black Rabbit
of Inle, Flayrah, and more.
The soundtrack is strong, with a title theme from
Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber
and voices from Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Stephen Fry,
Jane Horrocks and even
Phil Jupitus. Strangely, actor Keifer Sutherland also
'guests' in three episodes
as a rabbit called Hickory. Listen out too for John
Hurt and Richard Briers voicing
General Woundwort and Captain Broom. Hurt and Briers
played Hazel and Fiver
in the original feature adaptation. Another returnee is composer
Mike Batt who
gave us Art Garfunkel's chart-topping 'Bright Eyes'
single. The song returns here
too, with ex-BoyZone sing Stephen Gately on the vocals
together with material
sung by an assortment of rock and pop acts.
Do look out for poor Blackberry who has undergone
a sex-change from a buck
in the original novel and film, to a doe in this latest
production!
Three series of 'Watership Down' have so far been
made, but only two have
been broadcast in the UK and even then the episodes
were shown out of order,
whilst others were dropped altogether - infuriating fans
and noncommittal
viewers alike as it made nonsense of the storyline.
In-between the original book and film and this series
there have been numerous
attempts to steal, or at least, borrow the naturalistic
crown by the likes of those
Duncton Wood badgers and - most famously, perhaps
- Colin Dann's Animals Of
Farthing
Wood which has acquired a rather sizeable fanbase for the books
and
the spin-off TV series. But 'Watership Down' was first
on all accounts.
The Martin Rosen/Richard Adams connection continued
through to that brave
adaptation of The
Plague Dogs. Somehow, one can't imagine a series being
spawned from that one....
Episode
titles
Series one Series
two
The Promised Land Prisoner
Of Efrafa
Home On The Down
The Roundabout
The
Easy Life The
Market
Strawberry Fayre The
Great Water
The Shadow of Efrafa The
Stand
The Raid The
Orchard
Challenge To Efrafa The
Great Game
Escape From Efrafa Christmas
On Watership Down - pt1
The Vision Christmas
On Watership Down - pt2
A Tale Of A Mouse The
Mysterious Visitors
Lost The
Invasion
Friend And Enemy Bigwig's
Way
Kidnapped The
Homecoming
Series three
Campion Lives
Woundwort Never Gives Up
The Wanderer
The Challenge
Woundwort in the Trap
Keehar's Departure
Redstone Falls
Magic
An Unfair Duel
The Spy
Camipion's Betrayal
Hannah's Big Achievement
The Last Battle
Watership
Down on DVD
Volume
1 - The Promised Land
3 episodes / R2 / Right Entertainment
/ July 2004
Volume 2 - Strawberry
Fayre
3 episodes / R2 / Right Entertainment
/August 2004
Volume
3 - A Tale of a Mouse
3 episodes / R2 / Right Entertainment
/ February 2005
Volume
4 - The Prisoner of Efrafa
3 episodes / R2 / Right Entertainment
/ April 2005
Volume
5 - The Great Water
3 episodes / R2 / Right Entertainment
/ August 2005
Watership
Down - triple collection
volumes 1, 2, and 3 in one slipcase set.
/ April 2005
from
the novel by Richard Adams
production companies:
Alltime Entertainment Ltd., Canal Famille , Decode
Entertainment ,
Funbag Animation Studios Inc.[Ca] , Helix Animation
Inc.[Ca] , YTV[Ca]
director:
Troy Sullivan
producer:
Martin Rosen , Beth Stevenson , Simon Vaughad
exec prods: Justin Bodle
, Neil Court , Steven DeNure ,
Simon Vaughad
exec story
editor:
Mary Crawford
music: Andrew
Lloyd Webber (title)
Mike Batt (Bright Eyes song)
editing:
Martin Jefferson
voices:
Ian Shaw (Hazel)
Andrew
Falvey (Fiver)
Stephen
Mangan (Bigwig)
Sue
Elliott Nicholls (Blackberry)
Elliott
Henderson-Boyle (Pipkin)
Kate
Ashfield (Primrose)
Jane Horrocks (Hannah)
Richard
Briers (Captain Broom)
Dawn
French (Buttercup)
Phil
Jupitus (Dandelion)
Stephen
Gately (Blackavar)
Rik
Mayall (Kehaar)
John
Hurt (General Woundwort)
Stephen
Fry (Cowslip)
+
Keifer Sutherland (Hickory)
On
the web
Thank
U Stars
http://www.thankustars.co.uk/
A first class fan-site,
taking its name from the Cerys Matthews song.
Stuffed-to-bursting
with info on the series, guides, news, clips, WAVs
and fan fiction - phew-ee!
CMG
Fan-site
http://www.ltpage.com/cmg/other.htm
From the creator of
that lush Foxbusters fan-site
comes a small
but much-welcome page
on the series, with info, pics and clips...
Mike
Batt
http://www.mikebatt.com/watershipdown
Mike Batt and those
bunnies go hand-in-hand, don't they? - This here
page on the song master's
site details his work on the Watership series ...
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