Watership Down: Perspectives On and Beyond Animated Violence

Description

Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) is as controversial as it is beloved. Whether due to the tear-jerking hit song 'Bright Eyes' or its notorious representation of violence inflicted by and upon animated rabbits, the film retains the ability to move and shock audiences of all ages, remaining an important cultural touchstone decades after its original release. This open access collection unites scholars and practitioners from a diversity of perspectives to consider the ongoing legacy of this landmark of British cinema and animation history. The authors provide nuanced discussions of Watership Down’s infamous animated depictions of violence, death and its contentious relationship with child audiences, as well as examinations of understudied aspects of the film including its musical score, use of language, its increasingly relevant political and environmental themes and its difficult journey to the screen, complete with behind-the-scenes photographs, documents and production artwork. As the first substantial work on Watership Down, this book is a valuable companion on the film for scholars, students and fans alike. The eBook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Contributors Acknowledgements Introduction: Watership Down in context Part I: Bringing the warren to life Chapter 1: ‘We consider the conduct of this film highly unsatisfactory and unprofessional’:: Film Finances and Watership Down Chapter 2: Revisiting the production of Watership Down through the Arthur Humberstone Animation Archive Chapter 3: ‘Trying to eat grass that isn’t there’:: Unearthing a Lapine Corpus in Richard Adams’s Watership Down and its film adaptation Part II: Animal stories Chapter 4: Animating utopia:: Aesthetic instability and the revolutionary gaze in the film adaptation of Watership Down Chapter 5: ‘Whenever they catch you, they will kill you’:: Human–animal conflict in 1970s British children’s cinema Chapter 6: They watered ship down:: Eco-doom and ecopedagogy in adaptations of Watership Down and The Animals of Farthing Wood Chapter 7: Watership Down Under:: When rabbits came to Australia Part III: Aesthetics of sound and image Chapter 8: ‘English pastoral melodies’:: The traditions and connotations of Angela Morley’s musical score for Watership Down Chapter 9: ‘I know now. A terrible thing is coming’:: Watership Down, music and/as horror Chapter 10: Pastel dreams and crimson nightmares:: Colour, aesthetics and Watership Down Chapter 11: Prince with a thousand faces:: Shifting art styles and the depiction of violence in Watership Down Part IV: Affective and ethical encounters with the rabbit Chapter 12: Drawing blood:: The forms and ethics of animated violence in Watership Down Chapter 13: ‘Won’t somebody please think of the bunnies?’:: Watership Down, rabbit horror and ‘suitability’ for children Chapter 14: Mourning Hazel-rah Guide to Further Research Index