History YMMV / WatershipDown

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: It provides the trope image for a reason. The addition of colour, sound, and movement makes several parts of the experience even more uncomfortable to sit through than the original novel, but the target demographic remains unchanged. The big thing that brings down criticism is that characters actually bleed when injured or killed rather than using BloodlessCarnage.

* NeverLiveItDown: Usually most people nowadays (especially from the Internet) first hear and talk about the film due to how violent it is rather than any plot details. As a result, despite receiving good critical reception and being considered as one of the greatest British animated films, this has been overridden for its reputation as being among the absolute most violent and horrifying children's works ''of all time'' and has permanently affected the source material's reputation as well as everything spun from it, though it sometimes falls into BrokenBase (there's a reason why the TV series' last season became DarkerAndEdgier).

* SignatureScene: Bigwig being caught in a snare, being a prime source of NightmareFuel and the scene depicted on the film's theatrical poster.

** The “Bright Eyes” scene becomes even sadder to watch in Latin America when you realize that Fiver was voiced in said region by Creator/RicardoMendoza, whose brother and also voice actor Creator/LuisAlfonsoMendoza was shot in February 2020. Sadly, unlike Hazel in said scene, he didn’t survive.
* MemeticMutation: "I just wanted a movie about bunnies!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A paraphrasing of what a lot of clueless people [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids checking it out expecting a harmless kids movie]] likely said once they got into the main thick of it.[[/labelnote]]
* NeverLiveItDown: Usually most people nowadays (especially from the Internet) first hear and talk about the film due to how violent it is rather than any plot details. As a result, despite receiving good critical reception and being considered as one of the greatest British animated films, this has been overridden for its reputation as being among the absolute most violent and horrifying children’s works ''of all time'' and has permanently affected the source material’s reputation as well as everything spun from it, though it sometimes falls into BrokenBase (there’s a reason why the TV series’ last season became DarkerAndEdgier).
* SignatureLine: “The field! It’s covered in blood!”

-->[[spoiler: "Then he began to tremble with fear. In the blue curve of the sky he saw a great rent, a cleft which, he perceived, was an open, gaping wound. The two irregular edges were jagged as though it had been made with something blunt, something which had first cut and then ripped and torn. Here and there shreds of flesh, still attached to the edges, stuck out across the wound, obscuring whatever was behind. All that he could see in the suppurating depth of the wound was blood and pus, a glistening, viscous, uneven surface like a marsh. The edges were messy too, fringed all along with blood and yellow matter on which flies were walking. As he stared in horror, the dead body of a rabbit fell out of the wound, but disappeared as it fell."]]
-->Embleer Frith.

** The “Bright Eyes” scene becomes even sadder to watch in Latin America when you realize that Fiver was voiced in said region by Creator/RicardoMendoza, whose brother and also voice actor Creator/LuisAlfonsoMendoza [[spoiler:was shot in February 2020. Sadly, unlike Hazel in said scene, he didn’t survive]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Kehaar’s portrayal in the film makes him among the most popular characters from ''Watership Down'' in general for bringing well-needed comic relief into the story.

* MarySuetopia: What Watership Down seems to have become in ''Tales''. The warren is a pioneer in democratic government, the protagonists are always ready to help any animal who comes to them with a problem, and they're always right.

* HilariousInHindsight: Ever since the book's publication a number of rodents and lagomorphs have been demonstrated to have actual 'languages' down to specific names for threats, most notably [[https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/catch-the-wave-decoding-the-prairie-doge28099s-contagious-jump-yips/ prairie dogs]]. This makes the whole franchise AccidentallyCorrectWritting.

%%* HilariousInHindsight: "Nonsense ... whoever ... sky blue horse". ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', anybunny?

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Angela Morley and Malcolm Williamson's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLdD0pYRo88&list=PL4986F4B3F0F8CD5C score]] is unforgettable, with the main theme expressing both lapine nobility as well as the pastoral English countryside. The {{Lietmotif}} is worked into an ethereal version of Creator/ArtGarfunkel's "[[https://youtu.be/neBftfMt5xA Bright Eyes]]" (the regular version is more grounded but no less wistful.)

%%* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The score. ''That score.''

* SignatureLine: “The Field! It’s covered... in Blood!”

** [[spoiler:Hazel’s death, one of Creator/JohnHurt's most realistic ones [[ChronicallyKilledActor in his career]], besides the fact that the character died ''at old age'', becomes even harder to sit through after Hurt’s own death in 2017.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Sandleford might end up getting flattened to make way for new housing [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-17028538 for real]].

* HilariousInHindsight: "Nonsense ... whoever ... sky blue horse". ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'', anybunny?

* NeverLiveItDown / OvershadowedByControversy: Usually most people nowadays (especially from the Internet) first hear and talk about the film due to how violent it is rather than any plot details. As a result, despite receiving good critical reception and being considered as one of the greatest British animated films, this has been overridden for its reputation as being among the absolute most violent and horrifying children’s works ''of all time'' and has permanently affected the source material’s reputation as well as everything spun from it, though it sometimes falls into BrokenBase (there’s a reason why the TV series’ last season became DarkerAndEdgier).

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
%%** Frith, the Sun God and creator of the world.
** Even within the stories themselves, Prince Rainbow's role varies -- sometimes he'll be against El-ahrairah, other times he'll help him with good advice.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The score. ''That score.''

* NightmareFuel: The White Blindness ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myxomatosis Myxomatosis.]]) Keep in mind that it was deliberately introduced by humans to control the rabbit population.