❉ BFI Distribution announces re-release of the classic British animation.
‘Watership Down stands alone as a horizon never reached – a portal into what animation can be, could be: an art form. It fuels the hope for that future. A delicate, violent, savage confection – perfect and sharp, like a diamond cutter’ – Guillermo del Toro
• Newly restored in 4K – World Premiere at BFI London Film Festival 2024
• In UK & Irish Cinemas on 25 October 2024
• On BFI UHD & Blu-ray on 11 November 2024
The classic, distinctly beautiful British animated feature film Watership Down, which follows a group of rabbits on a perilous journey to find their own utopia, is back on the big screen again this autumn, the first time in nearly 50 years, re-released in cinemas by BFI Distribution. A BFI home entertainment release in Ultra High Definition and Blu-ray will follow shortly afterwards.
Newly restored in 4K by the BFI and Silver Salt Restoration, with the characters and colours sparkling as never before, Watership Down will be in cinemas in the UK and Ireland from 25 October 2024, coinciding with the half term holidays. The first chance for audiences to glimpse it will be at the World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2024, where it will screen in the Treasures section, which spotlights new restoration premieres from around the world.
Following the theatrical release, a home entertainment release from the BFI on 11 November 2024 will present the film both in Limited Edition Ultra High Definition (UHD) for the first time and on Limited Edition Blu-ray, with a raft of extras including a set of 4 postcards, a poster and a perfect bound book.
In 1978, Richard Adams’ timeless novel Watership Down was brought brilliantly to the screen in the celebrated film adaptation directed by Martin Rosen. A building project threatens the tranquil lives of the wildlife residing in a British woodland area, not least the rabbits who reside in one of the local warrens. Littlest rabbit Fiver, who has a sixth sense, has distressing visions of destruction lying ahead and persuades a small group to join him on what is to be a challenging journey to safety in the halcyon location of Watership Down.
Although hard-hitting in its depiction of survival and conflict, the film is a work of great beauty with an extraordinary voice cast who elevate the work to the highest level. Some of Britain’s best-known actors including John Hurt, Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, Denholm Elliott, Roy Kinnear and Hannah Gordon, brought the rabbits to life and made them eternally memorable. Not only was the film a huge success, but the song ‘Bright Eyes’, written especially by Mike Batt and recorded by Art Garfunkel, was a smash hit on release. It was No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and was Britain’s biggest-selling single of 1979.
This thrilling tale of adventure, courage and resilience, one of the greatest of British animations, will continue to enthral new and old audiences alike, and is unmissable on the big or small screen this autumn in these wonderful 2024 presentations.
A brand-new trailer will be released later this summer.
❉ WATERSHIP DOWN will be released in UK & Irish cinemas on 25 October 2024 and on BFI UHD and Blu-ray on 11 November 2024. UK / 1978 / 92 mins / PG.
❉ The UHD and Blu-ray releases can be pre-ordered from home entertainments retailers including the BFI Shop: Limited Edition UHD | Limited Edition Blu-ray
❉ News source: BFI Publicity.
❉ We Are Cult is not responsible for the content of this news release.
I have to say, and I do so as arguably one of the world’s biggest ever fans of Watership Down, that I thought the 1978 film was an absolute travesty. If you look back to animation as long ago as the 1930s and 40s, how anybody thought that the animation in 1978 was good has to surely be able to explain why they think so. it truly was like badly drawn cartoon cutouts that hopped along the screen. Even now, with the benefit of hindsight and a few decades under my belt, and loving the book even more than I ever did, I look back and think, who on earth released that thinking that as a, sic, cartoon, it was high-quality.
Compared to the tripe the likes of Bakshi, Hannah Barbaric, & other poor animated fare being crapped out during the 70’s, the film Watership Down was a well-crafted masterpiece sensitive to the novel’s themes & drawn with well-observed naturalism. Otherwise Criterion wouldn’t have selected it as the first hand-drawn animated film to be added to their collection.