The wonderful thing about the medium of animation is, even though it caters to kids visually, animated movies can be aimed at adults and children. Not all animated films feature cute, fuzzy animals getting into hilarious hi-jinx. Some feature them being ripped apart and raging war against one another, like Watership Down. Something I touched on as a writer many years back. Flavorwire has a piece touching on some of the same themes:

This week, the Criterion Collection releases Watership Down, Martin Rosen’s 1978 adaptation of Richard Adams’ novel. It’s one of the few animated films in the collection to date, but don’t go gathering up the kids, movie nerds — from the moment little Fiver gets his apocalyptic vision, wherein “The field… the field… it’s covered with blood!,” it’s very clear that this is one cartoon that’s not for the kiddies. But it’s also a terrific movie, reminding us that too often, the seemingly malleable form of the animated feature film is consigned to family entertainment and left there. Here are a few notable exceptions.

I can clearly recall how badly Watership Down messed me up when I went into it expecting cute animals singing, but it also changed my life. And in turn, changed how we look at animated films forever.

[Image and story via Flavorwire]

Tags: adults, animated, animated movies, cartoons, hand drawn, kids, movie, movies, watership down