Cartoon Sunday: Watership Down {DisturbingTrailer}

How's it going my gumdrops? As a quick reminder, I will NOT  be publishing any blogs for Song Saturday or Cartoon Sunday next weekend. For Easter, I will be taking a break. 

Sometimes it is amazing how March can be about Saint Patrick's Day, then suddenly switch to being about Easter within a matter of days. 

During the last part of last week, I had the hardest time deciding what to share for today's Cartoon Sunday. I wanted to share a creepy animated short. After all the searching I did, it appears that I found something, that actually creeped ME out. It left me with the feeling of "What the FUCK did I just watch?!" 

Have you ever watched, much less heard of Watership Down? It was an animated film from 1978 named after Richard Adams' Fantasy Thriller novel of the same name. Never in all my years of living have I ever seen, much less heard of this G-rated movie. 

Watching 3 1/2 minutes of Watership Down's trailer felt as if I was in the middle of watching a darkly humored, animated prank aimed at children. However, I don't believe Watership Down was meant for younger viewers. 

You may ask "Anna, why do you think Watership Down is 'darkly humored'?" 

You could say I am in disbelief, that such a movie was marketed for children to go see in movie theaters, 4 decades ago. Watching the trailer was like a horrific, animated trailer of Animal Farm except the movie is about rabbits.

It has been said that Watership Down was popular among adults, who attended late-night screenings in 1978. In addition, it is considered to be the most VIOLENT animated G-rated film to have EVER been made.  

The British Board of Film Classification still receives complaints, 40 years after the release of Watership Down. 

It is understandable that the late filmmaker, John Hubley (He died in 1977.) and Martin Rosen wanted Watership Down to personify and give their anthropomorphic depiction of Richard Adams' novel. All the while, the BBFC and MPAA really did NOT  take their target demographic more seriously. 

Watership Down released literally 6 years before the United Kingdom and States began enforcing censorship, and before the launching of the PG-13 rating. In 1978, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) passed Watership Down with a 'U' certificate. 

A 'U' certificate in the United Kingdom is similar to a Rated-G film in America. 

I cannot speak for everyone else. Although, I find this to be not only hypocritical, but also appalling. 

The BBFC, MPAA, media watchdog groups, and Christian zealots spent YEARS demonizing the Slasher Horror sub-genre and browbeating Slasher Horror filmmakers during the 1980's. It was to the extent, that more films went directly to video to avoid persecution. 

And yet the BBFC and MPAA saw NOTHING wrong with Watership Down being an animated film meant for children?! That's outrageous!

That 40-year-old trailer was and still is too disturbing for younger viewers. Had I been alive to see the movie trailer for Watership Down, I probably would've been traumatized. This is coming from a Horror fan and a 35-year-old single woman with no children. 

Watching the 1978 movie trailer made me feel disturbed. I can only imagine how incredibly disturbing the actual movie was for children and why it still causes so much controversy, 40 years later. 

If Watership Down was going to be marketed towards minors, it should've been marketed towards teenagers. They would've been able to handle both the novel and film as opposed to traumatizing younger children in 1978. 

It is understandable that children in other countries mature faster than American children. Anytime other people still have major problems with Watership Down supposedly being meant for children, that should say something. 

Considering that I have been anti-censorship, since my youth during the 1990's, you may be wondering why I feel so strongly about Watership Down. Allow me to clarify. 

I am NOT  trying to demonize the filmmakers. If anything, I am confronting the double standards and hypocrisy, that the BBFC, MPAA, and media watchdog groups set into motion decades ago. 

More parents should use better judgment, when it comes to graphic content. Knowing their children's interest in entertainment should go without saying. 

Maybe when I have more time out of my hectic schedule, I will try watching Watership Down. In the meantime, here is the disturbing movie trailer from 1978 for today's Cartoon Sunday.

Watership Down Trailer (1978)

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