Four-part CG animated miniseries based on the classic 1972 novel by Richard Adams arrives on Netflix on December 23.
The BBC has released the first trailer for the forthcoming Netflix miniseries Watership Down, the CG-animated adaptation of the acclaimed 1972 novel by Richard Adams.
The four-part miniseries (first announced in 2015) stars X-Men: First Class actors James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult as Hazel and Fiver, two brothers who lead a group of rabbits in search of a new home, or warren, after one of them gets a vision that their current one will be destroyed by humans. The group faces numerous trials along the way to finding their new warren of Watership Down, including attacks from predators and farmers...as well as a rising threat from a dystopian warren led by a totalitarian.
The new trailer sets up a dark version of the tale that appears to hew closely to the spirit of the original graphic novel. As John Boyega’s Bigwig warns, “This isn’t about cute rabbits, it’s kind of messed up.”
The series, written by Tom Bidwell and directed by Noam Murro, also features Sir Ben Kingsley as General Woundwort, John Boyega as Bigwig, Gemma Arterton as Clover, Daniel Kaluuya as Bluebell, Rosamund Pike as The Black Rabbit of Inlé, Peter Capaldi as the seagull Kehaar, Taron Egerton as El-Ahrairah, Gemma Chan as Dewdrop, Mackenzie Crook as Hawkbit, Jason Watkins as Captain Orchis, Rory Kinnear as Cowslip, Craig Parkinson as Sainfoin, Henry Goodman as Blackavar, Tom Wilkinson as Threarah, Lee Ingleby as Captain Campion, Charlotte Spencer as Nettle, and Daniel Rigby as Dandelion.
The four-episode series is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix produced by 42 and Noam Murro’s company Biscuit Films. Dublin-based animation studio Brown Bag Films provided the animation, led by co-director Pete Dodd (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Frankenweenie) and producer Hugo Sands.
Watership Down debuts in the U.K. on BBC One on December 22 & 23, and will be released in the U.S. on Netflix on December 23.
Source: BBC One
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
