The original Watership Down movie is most known as the one that scarred many childhoods due to its major violence. So, of course, many heads turned when Netflix decided to make their own series of this rabbit refugee adventure. As you can imagine, Netflix’s Watership Down was very different from the 1978 British movie that gave kids nightmares.
We will certainly discuss the shock value. But it’s also worth noting that these films were inspired from the Watership Down book by Richard Adams. The book was rich in rabbit lore, language, and at its core, it was the story of refugees trying to find a home. So we will also talk about the book in these comparisons as well.
The Black Rabbit Of Inlé Is A Woman
This rabbit is the Grim Reaper of Watership Down. In the books, he has a dark reputation but he is never portrayed as evil. In the original movie, the Black Rabbit is seen as a quiet and eyeless shadow. He is obviously otherworldly and floats rather than hops around.
In Netflix’s version, they made the decision to make the Black Rabbit female and there is nothing otherworldly about her other than how she suddenly appears. She looks like just any ordinary black rabbit.
They Cut Out Pipkin
If you were particularly attached to Pipkin from the books and original movie, then you will be sorely disappointed by Netflix’s version. The timid little rabbit was cut from the story altogether.
Pipkin is the smaller of the rabbits and he was one of the few that were friends with Fiver from the beginning. He often loved to listen to stories and was the one that would often ask Dandelion to tell them. Like Fiver, he was also not a fighter and hid behind Bigwig through the battle against Woundwort.
Bluebell From The Book Was Included
Bluebell had no appearance or mention in the 1978 film, but he got a big role in Netflix’s miniseries. Netflix’s Bluebell was rather different from his book counterpart. He is made out to be naïve, which was Pipkins role. Bluebell in the books was more of a chatty jokester.
He still retains some of that, but he also is a storyteller, which was original Dandelions role in the book and movie. He also goes to Efrafa, which did not happen in the book.
Strawberry Is Female And A Love Interest
Netflix gave Strawberry a major design change. While Strawberry still comes from Cowslip’s warren, everything else changed about them. Strawberry became a female instead of a buck. She also became a love interest for Hawkbit and Dandelion. In the end though, she ends up with Bigwig. She also gets a very positive and excitable personality
It is a major difference from Strawberry in the book and movie. In those, he is a less excitable and sunny character. He joins the group because his doe was one of the victims killed by the farmer snares and he could not stand to live in Cowslip’s warren anymore.
A More Environmental Message
Netflix could not help but lean heavier into the environmental message of Watership Down. In the miniseries, the rabbits talk about how horrible humans can be on multiple occasions. After all, humans are the reason they become refugees in the first place.
In the book and original movie, this was less discussed. Humans were instead lumped with all the rest of the predators out there such as foxes, weasels, and dogs. When humans were discussed, the rabbits took the issue less personally and saw them more as a force of nature.
Less Violence
The miniseries has no shock value compared to the original movie. Blood was kept to a total minimum if there is any to be seen at all. There is a scene where Bigwig kills a crow, but it happens off-screen. The violence is either off-screen or rated PG. In the original film, the rabbits used their claws and that was a major cause of violent imagery.
Netflix turned these fights into more punching and slapping. Infamous scenes such as Bigwig getting snared, the dog killing rabbits, and Woundwort and Bigwig’s fight have been majorly tamed.
The Marker Rabbit
While the miniseries was far less violent, they did make an odd decision about the rank markings of Efrafa. The decision was so odd that it gave birth to an all-new character simply called “The Marker.” In all versions, Efrafa has scratch markings on different rabbits to assign them to groups. Typically someone of military rank just scratches them and it’s done.
However, in the miniseries, they had a rabbit whose only job was to mark others. They made him as creepy as possible too, living in the bottom of a pit, huge, not speaking, and with an overgrown claw.
Rabbits Other Than Bigwig Go to Efrafa
In the book and the original movie, Bigwig is the only rabbit among the main group to spy in Efrafa. After all, he is the one who is healthiest, biggest, and has a military background. However, Netflix thought to spice things up with getting others to spy on Efrafa, including Bluebell, Holly, and Blackberry.
Some fans may not like this since it makes Efrafa far less intimidating since so many spies make it in and out. They do so with hardships, but Bigwig being the only one in the book and film to make it in and out made Efrafa seem far scarier.
Hazel’s Mate
Romance is a bigger theme in the miniseries than it was in the book and movie. In the miniseries, Hazel and Clover become a couple and their relationship is also more focused on. For example, Clover runs to get Hazel when he is shot instead of Fiver. In the book and original film, Hazel pairs up with Hyzenthlay instead.
The two female characters couldn’t be more different with Clover being raised by humans and Hyzenthlay being the rebellious trouble-maker in Efrafa. Hyzenthlay’s relationship with Hazel is also not as much as a focus on the story as it is between him and Clover in the miniseries.
Holly And Hyzenthlay
With Hazel’s mate being Clover instead of Hyzenthlay in the miniseries, Hyzenthlay instead ends up with Holly. Holly gets more focus in the series too by spying on Efrafa and even sacrificing himself in a heroic death at the end for Hyzenthlay.
Originally, Holly’s main purpose in the story was mostly to just know what happened back at the old warren. Netflix instead thought his character could be expanded.
