As if Richard Adams' classic novel Watership Down hadn't inflicted enough childhood trauma on the world itself and via previous film and TV adaptations, another version is on the way. The trailer for the CG-animated take has hopped online.
The new, four-part miniseries follows the beats of the story, in which a colony of rabbits is uprooted from their rural warren at Sandleford by impending human development. Embarking on a perilous journey across southern England they eventually wind up at new home Watership Down, but face a new threat from the neighbouring warren Efrafa: a police state run by the tyrannical bunny General Woundwort, who, despite overcrowding, doesn't want his female subjects defecting to the woman-starved Watership...
While the animation appears to be channelling the 1978 film, the CG angle doesn't quite make it look as dramatic, but we'll wait to see the whole thing. The cast, though, is top notch, with James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Ben Kingsley, Peter Capaldi, Gemma Arterton, Gemma Chan, Rory Kinnear and Olivia Colman just a sampling of those lending their lung-power to the voices.
Watership Down will be around to, er, brighten – question mark – your festive season, kicking off on the Beeb on 22 December and on Netflix outside the UK on the same day. All together now: Briiiiight Eeeeeyes....
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