Announcement of new ‘Watership Down’ opens floodgate of childhood traumas

A not-insignificant number of children were scarred for life by the horrifying 1978 animated adaptation of Richard Adams' allegorical 1972 novel Watership Down — and many of those wounds were reopened today, with news that Netflix is partnering with the BBC for a brand-new version.

The four-part CG-animated miniseries, which will be directed by Noam Murro (300: Rise of an Empire) and feature the voice talents of John Boyega, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley, will reportedly “tone down the levels of on-screen violence to make it more appropriate for children.” Which of course does nothing for those already irrevocably traumatized by Martin Rosen's nightmare-inducing take on the material.

For those not familiar with the film (or who perhaps saw it before blocking it out), Watership Down centers on a group of eight rabbits who embark on a grim journey to establish a new home after their original warren is violently overrun by human developers. Fun for the whole family! 

I can't overstate this. Rosen's film was the source of untold anguish for an entire generation of now-maladjusted adults, who still wake up screaming thanks to the filmmakers' sadistic quest to subject millions of children to bloody bunny carnage. Want proof? Here's what happened on Twitter following today's announcement:

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 (via Deadline)