Bekci Allen

Please let me say that the Richard Adams novel is one of my absolute favorites. I don't often reread a book, but this one is special and about a once ever 8 year read. I also am a huge and lifelong fan of the original film which includes one of the most iconic soundtracks of all time. Having said that, the new series made some bold choices, some of which stuck more closely with the novel's account of the rabbit's adventures. While the movie score was appropriate and lovely, the credit music was a misfit and, in my opinion, a terrible choice. (It is no Art Garfunkel's Bright Eyes!) The animation is stunning and I really enjoyed the series. The changes that were made seem to have lent themselves to the series scripting, for instance the trash can lid that the animals use to cross the river and escape from original home. The one glaring flaw in the series for me, was the fact that the "watership" that is a recall of the original water escape/ trashcan lid moment, never appears in the film. As the series is titled Watership Down, it would seem important that Hazel's rabbits who escape Efrefa with the help of the seagull, do so in a boat...thus the title of the book, the film, and the series. In this version, it is just absent. It was an excellent attempt, and unless you are a purist, I think that adults will enjoy the series. I would not show the series to a child under 8. It was never a movie intended for children.