What follows is a landmark moment in British animation in a fearless adaptation of a Richard Adams novel directed by Martin Rosen, exploring the Homeric themes of conflict, slaughter, genocide and the clash of civilisations, but with rabbits.

A band of rabbits must leave their warren to find safety in a film that, even in a digital age, still has the bloody force to scare young minds.

It's a work deeply enamored with its source material, and determined to do right by it, even if it means frightening kids, baffling parents, and embracing whatever style works.

…Watership Down has a violent edge that reflects nature, which some might find at odds with the cutie patootie animation, but surely that’s exactly the point…it’s got a tough, environmentally sound message that was hard-hitting in 1978, and still is now.