Watership Down (Limited Edition) 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Watership Down is the 1978 animated feature film based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. Written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen, the film follows a group of rabbits who must flee their warren when a human development is set to demolish their home.

Led by Fiver and Hazel, the rabbits manage to escape with six other rabbits named Bigwig, Blackberry, Pipkin, Dandelion, Silver, and Violet. Their search for a new home is fraught with hazards, including cats and dogs who chase them from Nuthanger Farm, a hawk, who kills one of their companions, and the “manthings” or automobiles they lay the roadside with dead animals.

The film begins with a mythology of how rabbits once ruled the world but spread too much and had the rest of the creatures set upon them, turned into carnivores, but they were granted the gift of speed to outrun their numerous enemies. This sets up the dark, often terrifying tone of Watership Down, which many have said is perhaps too dark, too horrifying for children.

The film comes out of an era where animation was turning more toward the dark, horror themes that even Disney had in its earlier films, such as Snow White and Pinocchio that people tend to forget. We had films like The Secret of Nimh and the numerous works of Ralph Bakshi doing Wizards and The Lord of the Rings, and the surprisingly dark The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from 1979, produced by the Children’s Television Workshop and directed by Bill Melendez. What we have with this film is, if not the first, but one of the earliest children’s folk horror films. It does not get graphic enough to be labeled as “adult animation” but it is not purely fantasy either. The film features the voice talents of many top actors of the time including John Hurt, Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, and Denholm Elliot.

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The Video

Watership Down comes to 4K Ultra HD from the British Film Institute (BFI) in a new 4K restoration that premiered at the BFI London Film Festival in October 2024. The 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement presents the animated film in an organic, pleasing presentation. It is not pristine by any means as there are some warts in the film source still present like scratches and sparkle, but this is the nature of hand drawn animation on film, unless a very major restoration going back to the original cells and cleaning everything up and redoing it, recoloring from scratch is undertaken, which is very time consuming and expensive. The film has never looked better than it has in this new restoration, with the Dolby Vision grading adding a bit more vibrancy to the color fills and a slight bit of pop in some highlights.

The Audio

Watership Down on 4K comes with a LPCM 2.0 stereo mix. The sound is very dynamic and clear, with the music from Angela Morley nicely spread across the stereo field.

The Supplements

BFI comes through with their usual additions of bonus features that not only include audio commentaries and archival interviews, but short films culled from their archives that are connected to the film by theme, like the documentary Rabbits or Profits?

Limited Edition Contents:

• Double-sided poster featuring the original UK quad and the 2024 rerelease artwork
• A set of four postcards featuring images and sketches from the film
• 80-page perfect-bound book featuring writing by Jez Stewart, Catherine Lester, Nigel and Klive Humberstone, Angela Morley, Charlie Brigden, Lillian Crawford, Vic Pratt, Tim Coleman, Caroline Millar, Tony Dykes and Michael Brooke

Bonus Features:

• Vintage commentary by Watership Down director Martin Rosen and writer and filmmaker Chris Gore. Recorded for Australian 25^th Anniversary edition DVD.
• Newly commissioned commentary by film and animation scholars Catherine Lester and Sam Summers. (NEW)
• A Conversation with the Filmmakers (1080p/60; 00:17:14) – A 2005 featurette in which director Martin Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings discuss the production history of the film.
• Defining a Style (1080p/60; 00:12:06) – A vintage featurette from 2005 featuring interviews with some of the key animators and background artists.
• Storyboard Comparison (4K/Dolby Vision; 00:14:06):
  • Opening Sequence
  • Nuthanger Farm
  • Hazel is Injured
  • Efrafa Chase
• Super 8 Version (1080p; 00:29:14) – Before VHS, films were distributed into homes on Super 8mm in what was called a “Digest”, a cut-down version of the film that fit one 600ft reel. Presented here is the original UK Super 8 digest release of Watership Down released by PM Films.
• Nepenthe Super 8 Footage (1080p; 00:02:54) – Super 8 footage shot by Arthur Humberstone, a senior animator on Watership Down, featuring some of the animators at work at the offices of Nepenthe Productions.
• Designing Watership Down (1080p; 00:04:17) – The Arthur Humberstone Animation Archive covers materials from Arthur Humberstone’s 45-year career, from training at Gaumont British Animation, through to work on Halas and Batchelor’s Animal Farm and classic animated features such as Yellow Submarine, Watership Down, The Plague Dogs, and The BFG. This gallery contains some of the materials related to Watership Down.
• Trailers and TV Spots (1080p; 00:06:14):
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Restoration Trailer
  • TV Spot One
  • TV Spot Two
• Treasures from the BFI National Archive – A selection of archive gems, connected by theme, iconography, or personnel to Watership Down (1080p; 00:47:35):
  • Once We Were Four
  • Rabbits or Profits?
  • Bolly in a Space Adventure
  • Cartoonland: Make Believe

The Final Assessment

A truly unforgettable classic that delivers deeply emotional drama, frightening scenarios, and magnificent animation, Watership Down gets a marvelous 4K restoration presented on this release from BFI.

Watership Down (Limited Edition) is out on 4K Ultra HD in the UK from the BFI

Purchase Watership Down (Limited Edition) 4K Ultra HD on Amazon UK

• Rating Certificate: UK: PG
• Studios & Distributors: Nepenthe Productions | Watership Productions | Blue Sky Animation (US) | Embassy Pictures | Goldcrest Films International | The British Film Institute (BFI)
• Directors: Martin Rosen | John Hubley
• Written By: Richard Adams | Martin Rosen | John Hubley
• Run Time: 92 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• Primary Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo
• Secondary Audio: English Descriptive Audio
• Subtitles: English HOH