Watership Down
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{{Infobox Book |
| name = Watership Down
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = [[Image:Richard Adams WatershipDown.jpg|200px]]
| image_caption = First edition cover
| author = [[Richard Adams]]
| cover_artist =
| country = [[United Kingdom]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| genre = [[Fantasy novel]]
| publisher = Rex Collings
| release_date = November 1972
| media_type = Print ([[Hardcover|Hardback]] and [[paperback]])
| pages = 413 (First edition, hardback)
| isbn = ISBN 0-901720-31-3<br />(First edition, hardback)
| oclc = 36359929
| preceded_by =
| followed_by = [[Shardik]]
}}
{{otheruses}}
'''''Watership Down''''' is the first and most successful [[novel]] by [[United Kingdom|British]] author [[Richard Adams]]. A [[heroic fantasy]] about a small group of [[rabbit]]s, it was published in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] by Rex Collings Ltd in [[1972 in literature|1972]]. Although the animals in the novel live in their natural environment, they are [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphized]], possessing their own [[culture]], [[language]] ([[Lapine language|Lapine]]), [[proverb]]s, [[poetry]], and [[mythology]]. Evoking [[epic poetry|epic]] themes, the novel recounts the rabbits' odyssey as they escape the destruction of their [[Burrow|warren]] to seek a place in which to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way.
The novel takes its name from the rabbits' destination, [[Watership Down, Hampshire|Watership Down]], a hill in the north of [[Hampshire]], [[England]], near the area where Adams grew up. The story is based on a collection of tales that Adams told to his young children to pass the time on trips to the countryside.
Though it was initially rejected by thirteen publishers, ''Watership Down'' has never been out of print and was the recipient of several prestigious awards. Adapted into [[Watership Down (film)|an acclaimed classic film]] and [[Watership Down (TV series)|a television series]], it is [[Penguin Books]]' best-selling novel of all time.<ref name="wizards">{{cite web | last = Rateliff | first = John D. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Classics of Fantasy | work = | publisher = Wizards of the Coast, Inc. | date = | url = http://ww2.wizards.com/books/Wizards/default.aspx?doc=main_classicswatership | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-03-21}}</ref><ref name="BBC"/> In 1996, Adams published ''[[Tales from Watership Down]]'', a follow-up collection of 19 [[short stories]] about both [[El-ahrairah]] and the rabbits of the Watership Down warren.<ref>{{IBList |type=book|id=13436|name=Tales from Watership Down}}</ref><ref>{{citeweb |url=http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/1996/11/21/sneakpeeks/ |title=Tales from Watership Down |accessdate=2008-03-15 |author=Sally Eckhoff |date=1996-11-26 |publisher=Salon.com}}</ref>
==Publication history==
''Watership Down'' began as a story that Richard Adams told to his two children, Juliet and Rosamund, on a long car journey; in an interview, Adams said that he "began telling the story of the rabbits ... improvised off the top of my head, as we were driving along."<ref name="interview-swaim">{{cite web | last = Swaim | first = Don | authorlink = | title = Audio Interview with Richard Adams | work = Book Beat | publisher = CBS Radio Stations News Service | date = [[1985-04-10]] | url = http://www.wiredforbooks.org/richardadams/ | format = audio | accessdate = 2008-03-21}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2007/03/16/richard_adams_interview_feature.shtml |title=Interview: Richard Adams |accessdate=2008-03-15 |author=BBC Berkshire|date=2007-03-16 |work= |publisher=BBC.co.uk}}</ref> His children insisted that he write it down—"they were very, very persistent"—and though he initially delayed, he eventually began writing in the evenings, completing it eighteen months later.<ref name="interview-swaim"/> The book is dedicated to both daughters.<ref name="WD-first-ed">{{cite book | author=Richard Adams | authorlink = Richard Adams | title = Watership Down | publisher = Rex Collings | date = 1972 | location = [[United Kingdom]]}}</ref>
{{pquote|''To Juliet and Rosamund,<br />remembering<br />the road to [[Stratford-upon-Avon|Stratford-on-Avon]]''|Dedication, ''Watership Down''}}
However, Adams had difficulty finding a publisher; his novel was rejected 13 times in all, until it was finally accepted by Rex Collings, a small publishing house.<ref name="BBC" /> The publisher had little capital and could not pay Adams an advance; but "he got a review copy onto every desk in London that mattered."<ref name="interview-swaim"/>
Adams's descriptions of wild rabbit behaviour were based upon ''The Private Life of the Rabbit'' (1964), by British naturalist [[Ronald Lockley]].<ref name="economist-lockley">{{cite magazine | title = Ronald Lockley: Find More Like This | volume = 355 | issue = 8168 | pages = 84 | publisher = [[The Economist]] | date = [[2000-04-29]] |accessdate = 2008-03-22 | quote = In 1964 he had published ''The Private Life of the Rabbit''. This study of the habits of the wild rabbit gathered by Mr Lockley persuaded Richard Adams to write ''Watership Down'', a kind of Disney story for adults, which became an immediate bestseller.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3D91430F937A15757C0A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |title= Ronald Lockley, of Rabbit Fame, Dies at 96 |accessdate=2008-04-26 |author=Douglas Martin |date=2000-04-04 |work= |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |quote=In his acknowledgments, Mr. Adams credited Mr. Lockley's book for his own description of bunny behavior in his tale of wandering rabbits.}}</ref> The two later became friends and went on an expedition to the [[Antarctic]], resulting in a joint writing venture, ''Voyage Through the Antarctic'', published in 1982.<ref name="economist-lockley" />
==Plot summary==
[[Image:Watership Down.gif|The real Watership Down, near the Hampshire village of Kingsclere, in 1975.|thumb|left]]
In the Sandleford [[Burrow|warren]], [[Fiver (Watership Down)|Fiver]], a young [[runt]] rabbit who is a [[Clairvoyance|seer]], receives a frightening vision of his warren's imminent destruction. When he and his brother [[Hazel (Watership Down)|Hazel]] fail to convince their [[Tribal chief|chief]] rabbit of the need to evacuate, they set out on their own with a small band of rabbits to search for a new home, barely eluding the [[Owsla]], the warren's military [[caste]].
The traveling group of rabbits find themselves following the leadership of Hazel, previously an unimportant member of the warren. They travel through dangerous territory, with [[Bigwig (Watership Down)|Bigwig]] and Silver, both former Owsla, as the only significantly strong rabbits among them.
Fiver's visions promise a safe place in which to settle, and the group eventually finds Watership Down, an ideal location to set up their new warren. They are soon reunited with Holly and Bluebell, also from the Sandleford Warren, who reveal that Fiver's vision was true and the entire warren was destroyed by humans.
[[Image:Watership Down Nuthanger Farm.jpg|Nuthanger Farm, Hampshire, England, in 2004.|thumb|right]]
Although Watership Down is a peaceful habitat, Hazel realises that there are no [[Rabbit#Naming|does]], thus making the future of their new home uncertain. With the help of a seagull named Kehaar, they locate a nearby warren, Efrafa, which is overcrowded and has many does. Hazel sends a small emissary to Efrafa to present their request for does. While waiting for the group to return, Hazel and Pipkin successfully raid the nearby Nuthanger Farm to rescue a group of hutch rabbits there, returning with two does. When the emissary returns, Hazel and his rabbits learn that Efrafa is a [[police state]] led by the [[despotism|despot]]ic [[General Woundwort]]; Hazel's rabbits barely return alive. However, the group did manage to identify an Efrafan doe named Hyzenthlay who wants to leave the warren and can recruit other does to join. Hazel and Bigwig devise a plan to rescue the group of rabbits from Efrafa to join them on Watership Down. The Efrafan escapees start their new life on Watership Down, but soon Woundwort's army arrives to attack the Watership Down warren. Through the bravery and loyalty of Bigwig and the ingenuity of Hazel, the Watership Down rabbits defeat Woundwort.
The story's epilogue tells the reader of how Hazel, dozing in his burrow one "chilly, blustery morning in March" many springs later, is visited by [[El-ahrairah]]. Leaving his friends and no-longer-needed body behind, Hazel departs Watership Down with El-ahrairah, slipping away, "running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom."
==Characters==
{{main|List of characters in Watership Down}}
*'''[[Fiver (Watership Down)|Fiver]]''' – A small [[runt]] rabbit; his [[Lapine language|Lapine]] name is ''Hrair-roo'', which means "Little-five" or "Little-thousand". As a seer, he often receives visions and has very strong instincts. He is quiet and intuitive, and though he does not directly act as a leader, the others listen to and follow his advice.
*'''[[Hazel (Watership Down)|Hazel]]''' – Fiver's older brother; he leads the rabbits from Sandleford and eventually becomes [[Chief Rabbit]]. Though Hazel is not particularly large or powerful, he is loyal, brave, and a quick thinker. He often relies on Fiver's advice, and trusts in his brother's instincts absolutely.
*'''[[Bigwig (Watership Down)|Bigwig]]''' – An ex-[[Owsla]] officer, and the largest rabbit of the group. His name in Lapine is ''Thlayli'', which literally means "Fur-head" and refers to the shock of fur on the back of his head. Though he is powerful and fierce, he is shown to also be cunning in his own way when he devises a plan to defeat the larger and stronger General Woundwort.
*'''Blackavar''' – A rabbit with very dark fur, who tries to escape from Efrafa but is apprehended and kept in solitary confinement. When he is liberated by Bigwig, he quickly proves himself as an expert tracker and ranger.
*'''Kehaar''' – A [[black-headed gull]] who is forced, by an injured wing, to take refuge on Watership Down. He is characterized by his frequent impatience, guttural accent and unusual phrasing. After discovering the Efrafa warren and helping the rabbits, he rejoins his colony. According to Adams, Kehaar was based on a fighter from the [[Norwegian Resistance]] in [[World War II]].<ref>
Introduction by Richard Adams in ''Watership Down'', Scribner edition, USA 2005. ISBN 0743277708.</ref>
*'''[[General Woundwort]]''' – A hard and brutally efficient rabbit, who was orphaned at a young age, Woundwort founded the Efrafa warren and is its tyrannical Chief Rabbit. Though he is similar to Bigwig in terms of his size and power, he lacks the former's loyalty and kindness. After his apparent death, he lives on in rabbit legend as a [[bogeyman]].
* '''Frith''' – A god-figure who created the world and promised that rabbits would always be allowed to thrive. In Lapine, his name literally means "the sun".
*'''[[El-ahrairah]]''' – A rabbit [[trickster]] folk hero, who is the protagonist of nearly all of the rabbits' stories. He represents what every rabbit wants to be: smart, devious, tricky, and devoted to the well-being of his warren. In Lapine, his name is a contraction of the phrase ''Elil-hrair-rah'', which means "prince with a thousand enemies".
*'''Black Rabbit of Inlé''' – A sinister [[phantom]] servant of the god Frith who appears in fictional rabbit [[folklore]]. He is the rabbit equivalent of a [[grim reaper]] in human folklore, and similarly ensures all rabbits die at their pre-destined time. Inlé is the Lapine term for the moon or darkness.
==Themes==
''Watership Down'' has been described as an [[allegory]], with the labours of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and Silver "mirror[ing] the timeless struggles between tyranny and freedom, reason and blind emotion, and the individual and the corporate state."<ref name="masterplots">{{Citation | last = | first = | contribution = Watership Down | year = 1991 | title = Masterplots II: Juvenile and Young Adult Fiction Series | volume = | place = | publisher = Salem Press, Inc.}}<!--Not a particularly reliable source--></ref> Adams draws on [[Classical antiquity|classical]] heroic and [[quest]] themes from [[Homer]] and [[Virgil]], creating a story with [[epic poetry|epic]] motifs.<ref name="CR-Bridgman"/> Additionally, some scholars have perceived a strong [[misogyny|misogynic]] element.<ref name="lanes-lookingglass-194"/>
===The hero, ''The Odyssey'', and ''The Aeneid''===
The book explores the themes of exile, survival, heroism, political responsibility, and the "making of a hero and a community".<ref name="newsweek-prescott">{{cite magazine | last = Prescott | first = Peter S. | coauthors = | authorlink = Peter S. Prescott | title = Rabbit, Read | work = | pages = 114 | volume = | language = | publisher = [[Newsweek]] | date = [[1974-03-18]] | url = | accessdate = 2008-03-18}}</ref> Joan Bridgman's analysis of Adams's work's in ''[[Contemporary Review|The Contemporary Review]]'' identifies the community and hero motifs: "[T]he hero's journey into a realm of terrors to bring back some boon to save himself and his people" is a powerful element in Adams's tale. This theme derives from the author's exposure to the works of mythology academic [[Joseph Campbell]], especially his study of [[comparative mythology]], ''[[The Hero with a Thousand Faces]]'' (1949). The theory of Campbell's [[monomyth]], also based on [[Carl Jung]]'s view of the unconscious mind, made Adams realise that "all the stories in the world are really one story." [[George Lucas]] similarly based ''[[Star Wars]]'' on Campbell's monomyth pattern, which, in turn, influenced other film plots.<ref name="CR-Bridgman">{{cite journal | last = Bridgman | first = Joan | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Richard Adams at Eighty | journal = [[Contemporary Review|The Contemporary Review]] | volume = 277.1615 | issue = | pages = 108 | publisher = The Contemporary Review Company Limited | date = August 2000 | url = | doi = | issn = 0010-7565 | accessdate = 2008-03-21}}</ref>
The concept of the hero has invited comparisons between ''Watership Down's'' characters and those in [[Homer]]'s ''[[Odyssey]]'' and [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''.<ref name="masterplots" /> Hazel's courage, Bigwig's strength, Blackberry's ingenuity and craftiness, and Dandelion's and Bluebell's poetry and storytelling all have parallels in the [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''Odyssey''.<ref name="rothen">{{cite journal | last = Rothen | first = Kathleen J. | authorlink = | coauthors = Beverly Langston | title = Hazel, Fiver, Odysseus, and You: An Odyssey into Critical Thinking | journal = The English Journal | volume = 76 | issue = 3 | pages = 56–59 | publisher = [[National Council of Teachers of English]] | date = March 1987 | url = | doi = | issn = 1544-6166 | accessdate = 2008-03-21}}</ref> Kenneth Kitchell declared, "Hazel stands in the tradition of [[Odysseus]], [[Aeneas]], and others".<ref name=kitchell">{{cite journal | last = Kitchell, Jr. | first = Kenneth F. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Shrinking of the Epic Hero: From Homer to Richard Adams’s Watership Down | journal = Classical and Modern Literature: A Quarterly | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–30 | publisher = | date = Fall 1986 | url = | issn = 0197-2227 | accessdate = 2008-03-29}}</ref> [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]] scholar John Rateliff calls Adams's novel an ''Aeneid'' "what-if" book: what if the [[Clairvoyance|seer]] [[Cassandra]] (Fiver) had been believed and she and a company had fled [[Troy]] (Sandleford Warren) before its destruction? What if Hazel and his companions, like Aeneas, encounter a seductive home at Cowslip's Warren (Land of the [[Lotophagi|Lotus Eaters]])? Rateliff goes on to compare the rabbits' battle with [[General Woundwort|Woundwort]]'s Efrafans to Aeneas's fight with [[Turnus]]'s [[Latins]]. "By basing his story on one of the most popular books of the [[Middle Ages]] and [[Renaissance]], Adams taps into a very old myth: the flight from disaster, the heroic refugee in search of a new home, a story that was already over a thousand years old when Vergil [sic] told it in 19 BC."<ref name="wizards" />
=== Misogyny ===
Literary critic Jane Resh Thomas found much to admire about ''Watership Down'', calling it a "splendid story". She, however, perceives that the story draws upon an anti-feminist social tradition, but its "anti-feminist bias ... damages the novel in only a minor way."<ref name="resh-thomas">{{cite journal | last = Resh Thomas | first = Jane | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Watership Down | journal = Horn Book | date = [[August 4]] [[1974]] | volume = L | issue = 4 | pages = 405-08}}</ref>
Selma G. Lanes, a writer and critic of [[children's literature]], is very critical of Adams's work. Lanes points out that the first third of the story is a "celebration of male camaraderie, competence, bravery and loyalty as a scraggly bunch of yearling bucks ... arrive triumphant at a prospectively ideal spot", only "belatedly" to realize they have no females for mating. "Fully the last two-thirds of Adams's saga is devoted to what one male reviewer has blithely labeled 'The Rape of the Sabine Rabbits,' a ruthless, single-minded and rather mean-spirited search for females – not because ''Watership Down'''s males miss their companionship or yearn for love, but rather to perpetuate the existing band."<ref name="lanes-lookingglass-194">{{cite book | last = Lanes | first = Selma | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Through the Looking Glass: Further Adventures and Misadventures in the Realm of Children's Literature | publisher = David R. Godine | date = 2004}} pp. 194-196</ref>
For Adams, the does are needed, but only as "instruments of reproduction" to prevent the males' achievement of reaching Watership Down from turning into a "hollow victory." The book's females are relegated to the sole role of breeder, as evidenced by Hazel's and Holly's assessment of the rescued Nuthanger does' value: " '... it came naturally ... to consider the two Nuthanger does simply as breeding stock for the warren.' " Although Adams draws extensively upon Ronald Lockley's ''The Private Life of the Rabbit'' as a basis for his depiction of rabbit society, Lanes emphasizes an important departure from this source. Lockley's description of the rabbit world is matriarchal, even to the extent that new warrens are "always" initiated by dissatisfied, young females. Yet, Lanes avers, Adams's portrayal of females is more suitable to "[[Hugh Hefner|Hefner]] than ... Lockley."<ref name="lanes-lookingglass-194" />
The Puffin Modern Classics edition of the novel contains an [[afterword]] by [[Nicholas Tucker]], who writes that stories such as ''Watership Down'' "now fit rather uneasily into the modern world of consideration of both sexes". He contrasts Hazel's sensitivity to Fiver with the "far more mechanical" attitude of the bucks towards does, whom Tucker considers are portrayed as "little more than passive baby-factories". In later printings of the same edition, however, this part of the afterword was excised without comment.<ref name="pmc-tucker-afterword">
[[Nicholas Tucker|Tucker, Nicholas]] (1993). "Afterword". In Richard Adams, ''Watership Down''. London: Puffin Modern Classics. ISBN 978-0-140-36453-8</ref> Adams attempted to address these concerns in the 1996 sequel, ''[[Tales from Watership Down]]'', which includes stories where the does play a more prominent role in the Watership Down warren.<ref name="biersdorfer">{{cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505EEDE113DF932A35751C1A960958260&sec=&spon=&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink |title=Books in Brief: Fiction |date=1996-12-01 |publisher=[[The New York Times]] |author=J. D. Biersdorfer }}</ref>
==Reception==
''[[The Economist]]'' heralded the initial publication of ''Watership Down'' with, "If there is no place for “Watership Down” in children’s bookshops, then children’s literature is dead."<ref name="economist">{{cite magazine | last = | first = | title = Pick of the Warren | work = | pages = 47 | volume = | language = | publisher = [[The Economist]] | date = [[1972-12-23]] | url = | accessdate = 2008-03-21}}</ref> [[Peter S. Prescott|Peter Prescott]], senior book reviewer at ''[[Newsweek]]'', gave the novel a glowing review: "Adams handles his suspenseful narrative more dexterously than most authors who claim to write adventure novels, but his true achievement lies in the consistent, comprehensible and altogether enchanting civilization that he has created."<ref name="newsweek-prescott" /> Kathleen J. Rothen and Beverly Langston identified the work as one that "subtly speaks to a child", with "engaging characters and fast-paced action [that] make it readable."<ref name="rothen" /> This echoed [[Nicholas Tucker]]'s praise for the story's suspense in the ''[[New Statesman]]'': "Mr. Adams’ ... has bravely and successfully resurrected the big picaresque adventure story, with moments of such tension that the helplessly involved reader finds himself checking whether things are going to work out all right on the next page before daring to finish the preceding one."<ref name="newstatesman">{{cite magazine | last = Tucker | first = Nicholas | coauthors = | authorlink = Nicholas Tucker | title = Animal Epic | work = | pages = 950 | volume = | language = | publisher = [[New Statesman]] | date = [[1972-12-22]]}}</ref>
The "enchanting" world Prescott admired was not as well received upon its [[1974 in literature|1974]] [[United States|American]] publication. Although again the object of general approval, reception in the United States was more mixed unlike the predominantly positive reviews of 1972. [[Feminism|Feminist]]s, in particular, found fault with the story's depiction of does, likening its "attitude toward females [more like that] in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy than R.M. Lockley’s ''The Private Life of the Rabbit''."<!--an almost exact repetition of the phraseology of the same author, above--><ref name="lanes-nytbr">{{cite magazine | last = Lanes | first = Selma G. | coauthors = | authorlink = | title = Male Chauvinist Rabbits | work = | pages = | volume = | publisher = [[The New York Times Book Review]] | date = [[1974-06-19]]}}</ref> D. Keith Mano, a science fiction writer and conservative social commentator writing in the ''[[National Review]]'', declared that the novel was "pleasant enough, but it has about the same intellectual firepower as Dumbo." He pilloried it further: "''Watership Down'' is an adventure story, no more than that: rather a swashbuckling, crude one to boot. There are virtuous rabbits and bad rabbits: if that’s allegory, Bonanza is an allegory."<ref name="mano">{{cite magazine | last = Mano | first = D. Keith| coauthors = | authorlink = | title = Banal Bunnies | work = | pages = 406 | volume = | publisher = [[National Review]] | date = [[1974-04-26]]}}</ref>
Despite the criticism, ''Watership Down'' was a hit with the reading public. The novel found a spot on the [[Publishers Weekly]]’s Best-Seller List in March 1974; it attained the number one ranking on [[April 15]] [[1974]], and remained there for another three months. The book did not drop off the list until February 1975.{{Fact|date=March 2008}}
===Awards===
''Watership Down'' won both the [[Carnegie Medal]] in 1972 and the [[Guardian Award|Guardian Children's Fiction Prize]] in 1973.<ref name="carnegie">{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The CILIP Carnegie Medal - Full List of Winners | work = | publisher = CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards | date = 2007 | url = http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/carnegie/full_list_of_winners.php | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-03-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = British Children's Literature Awards: Guardian Children's Prize for Fiction | work = | publisher = Burnaby Public Library | date = 2007 | url = http://www.bpl.burnaby.bc.ca/gab/guardian.pdf | format = [[PDF]] | doi = | accessdate = 2008-03-28}}</ref> In [[Big Read#BBC version 1-200|The Big Read]], a 2003 survey of the British public, it was voted the forty-second greatest book of all time.<ref>{{cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = The Big Read: Top 100 Books | work = | publisher = [[BBC]] | date = April 2003 | url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml | accessdate = 2008-03-28}}</ref>
==Adaptations==
===Film===
{{Main|Watership Down (film)}}
In [[1978 in film|1978]] ''Watership Down'' was adapted into [[Watership Down (film)|an animated film]], written and directed by [[Martin Rosen (director)|Martin Rosen]]. The voice cast included [[John Hurt]], [[Richard Briers]], [[Harry Andrews]], [[Simon Cadell]], [[Nigel Hawthorne]], and [[Roy Kinnear]]. The song "[[Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel song)|Bright Eyes]]", sung by [[Art Garfunkel]], was also featured, and was later released as a single, becoming a UK number one hit.<ref>{{cite web | last = Collings | first = Stephen |title = Watership Down (1978) | work = | publisher = BFI Screenonline | date = 2003-2008 | url = http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1266157/ accessdate = 2008-03-28}}</ref>
Although the essentials of the plot remained relatively unchanged, several side plots and asides were removed to help the storyline flow better, and some minor characters were downplayed. Though the Watership Down warren eventually grew to seventeen rabbits, with the additions of Strawberry, Holly, Bluebell, and three hutch rabbits liberated from the farm, the movie only includes a band of eight. Despite these changes, Rosen's adaptation was praised for "cutting through Adams' book ... to get to the beating heart".<ref>{{cite web |author= Phil Villarreal |url=http://azstarnet.com/sn/review/83996.php |title=Phil Villarreal's Review: Watership Down |accessdate=2008-05-11 |date=2005-07-15 |publisher=[[Arizona Daily Star]]}}</ref>
In 1979, ''Watership Down'' was nominated for the [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thehugoawards.org/?page_id=40 |title=1979 Hugo Awards |accessdate=2008-05-11 |publisher=[[Worldcon|World Science Fiction Society]]}}</ref> In [[Channel 4]]'s 2006 documentary ''[[100 Greatest Cartoons]]'', it was named the 86th greatest cartoon of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/cartoons/results.html |title=100 Greatest Cartoons |publisher=[[Channel 4]] |date=2005-02-27 |accessdate=2008-05-11}}</ref>
===Television===
{{Main|Watership Down (TV series)}}
From 1999 to 2001, the book was also adapted as an animated television series, broadcast on [[CITV]] in the UK and on [[YTV (TV channel)|YTV]] in Canada.<ref>Decode Entertainment. "Watership Down". [http://www.decode.tv/index.php?sid=50 http://www.decode.tv/index.php?sid=50]</ref> It starred several well-known British actors, including [[Stephen Fry]], [[Rik Mayall]], [[Dawn French]], [[John Hurt]], and [[Richard Briers]], and ran for a total of 39 episodes over three seasons. Although the story was broadly based on that of the novel, with most characters and many incidents retained, in later episodes especially some storylines and characters were entirely new. In 2003, the second season was nominated for a [[Gemini Award]] for Best Original Music Score for a Dramatic Series.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://academy.ca/hist/history.cfm?categid=8002&shownum=18&winonly=0&awards=2&rtype=5&curstep=4 |title=Canada's Awards Database |accessdate=2008-04-26 |author= |year=2003 |work= |publisher=[[Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television]]}}</ref>
===Theatre===
In 2006, ''Watership Down'' was adapted into a [[Play (theatre)|theatrical production]] by [[Rona Munro]] for the [[Lyric Hammersmith]] in [[London, England|London]]. Directed by Melly Still, the cast included Matthew Burgess, Joseph Traynor, and Richard Simons, and ran from November 2006 through January 2007.<ref>{{cite web | title = Christmas at the Lyric: Watership Down | publisher = Lyric Hammersmith | date = | url = http://www.lyric.co.uk/pl191.html | accessdate = 2008-03-28}}</ref> The tone of the production was inspired by the tension of war: in an interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', Still commented, "The closest humans come to feeling like rabbits is under war conditions ... We've tried to capture that anxiety."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/critic/feature/0,,1954016,00.html |title=Down the rabbit hole |date= 2006-11-22 |accessdate=2008-03-21 |author= |publisher=[[The Guardian]] |quote=The closest humans come to feeling like rabbits is under war conditions. Imagine what it would be like if every time we stepped out on the street, we know we could be picked off by a sniper. We've tried to capture that anxiety in the way the rabbits speak—lots of short, jerky sentences.}}</ref> A reviewer at ''[[The Times]]'' called the play "an exciting, often brutal tale of survival" and said that "even when it’s a muddle, it’s a glorious one."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article653369.ece |title=Watership Down |author=Sam Marlowe |date=2006-11-29 |accessdate=2008-03-21 |publisher=[[The Times]]}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
==External links==
*{{iblist title|id=482|title=Watership Down}}
*{{ibdof title|id=2198|title=Watership Down}}
*{{isfdb title|id=882|title=Watership Down}}
*[http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/main/classicswatership Review of ''Watership Down''] by John D. Rateliff
*[http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/guest/06/policz/watershipdown.html Essay on life and society in ''Watership Down'']
*[http://wiredforbooks.org/richardadams/ 1985 audio interview with Richard Adams] ([[MP3]] and [[RealAudio]], 29 minutes)
{{Watership Down}}
{{RichardAdams}}
[[Category:Watership Down]]
[[Category:1972 novels]]
[[Category:Novels by Richard Adams]]
[[Category:Literature featuring anthropomorphic characters]]
[[Category:Debut novels]]
[[cs:Daleká cesta za domovem]]
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[[de:Unten am Fluss]]
[[it:La collina dei conigli]]
[[he:גבעת ווטרשיפ]]
[[nl:Waterschapsheuvel]]
[[ja:ウォーターシップダウンのうさぎたち]]
[[simple:Watership Down]]
[[sr:Брежуљак Вотершип]]
[[fi:Ruohometsän kansa]]
[[sv:Den långa flykten]]
[[th:ยุทธการทุ่งวอเตอร์ชิป]]