The 1978 animated version of watership down holds a particular place in the cultural psyche of an entire generation. See more ideas about watership down, rabbit art and plague dogs. Bright eyes is a key song in the movie watership down. Also released with gema rights and different cover back art garfunkel bright eyes. It scared me so much but that didnt keep me from watching it like 50 times and reading the book as an adult. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on british and european versions of garfunkel s 1979 fate for breakfast and on the us. Watership down by richard adams 1972, book, illustrated. Fan art of watership down characters for fans of watership down 38784668. It was used in the soundtrack of the 1978 british animated adventure drama film watership down and the later television series of the same name. The song was written by the man behind the wombles, mike batt. Art garfunkel has a number one hit because of watership down.
Garfunkels girlfriend since 1974, laurie bird, committed suicide in june 1979 at their manhattan apartment, three months after the albums release in march. Bright eyes watership down art garfunkel mike batt on. This recording comes highly recommended and for any watership down fan its a must. A new version of the memorable song from the film watership down. Zijn bekendste boek is watership down, in het nederlands vertaald als. Art garfunkel s hit song bright eyes was written by songwriter mike batt. The voice cast included john hurt, richard briers, harry andrews, simon cadell, nigel hawthorne, and roy kinnear. An allegorical tale of survival about a band of wild rabbits who leave their ancestral home to build a more humane society chronicles their adventures as they search for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace. It sold more than a million copies and was the uks.
Although this is an animated film featuring cute rabbits as the main characters, this is far from a childrens movie, and considering the. In 1972 richard adams wrote a novel, watership down, which tells the story of a small group of rabbits that are unhappy in their warren and decide to break out. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1978 british animated adventure drama film watership down. Its haunting melody made me want to cry but i sang the lyrics dutifully. When youre losing your way in the rain vocal art garfunkel 6. In the book, no blood, no delusional hazel, no stupid. Watership down, this songs themes are life and death.
Bright eyes, burning like fire bright eyes, how can you close and fail. Bright eyes still burning after all these years boundless unbound. Art garfunkel bright eyes 1978, solid center, vinyl. Bright eyes from watership down sheet music in g major. A version of bright eyes also appeared in the movie watership down. I loved the movie as a child, art garfunkels haunting voice singing mike batts beautiful bright eyes still brings tears to my eyes. Bright eyes is a soothing song, with dreamlike lyrics and musical score, quite in contrast with the sometimes dark nature of the movie that introduced many to it. It was financed by a consortium of british financial institutions. Dec 27, 2016 some sold well, but none approached the success of watership down, which was adapted for a 1978 animated film with a song, bright eyes, sung by art garfunkel, an animated television. Share watership down by richard adams 1972, book, illustrated watership down by richard adams 1972, book, illustrated 1 product rating. Bright eyes scene from watership down 1978 w english. Like a lot of classic books, watership down almost didnt make it to print. Kehaars theme taken from the original soundtrack album of the film watership down.
I actually got hooked on this song when it was used in the animated film watership down. I told the producers that art garfunkel would be ideal for bright eyes and within a week, there he was, in my home in surbiton, routining the song. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on british and european versions of garfunkel. Watership down bunny art bright eyes gremlins cute art book illustration concept art fairy tales moose art.
As a fairly precocious child i had already read watership down before the film came to a local village hall, maybe a year or. It is heard in the film in the scene where fiver goes to look for his brother hazel after he is shot. In lapine language mythology, the world was created by the god frith. Like orwells animal farm, this isnt only a film for children but equally important for adults. Its quite possible to enjoy this song on its own merits and not as a musical number from the film. As a fairly precocious child i had already read watership down before the film came to a local village hall, maybe a year or so after this single hit number one. Watership down is a 1978 british animated adventuredrama film, written, produced and directed by martin rosen and based on the 1972 novel by richard adams.
Watership down is a 1978 british adventure drama animated film writen, produced and directed by martin rosen and based on the book by richard adams. Richard adams, author of the original novel is reported to have hated the song. Watership down is a 1978 british animated film directed by martin ros rand based on the novel watership down by richard adams. Watership down is a 1978 british animated adventuredrama film. Everyone remembers the hopelessly sentimental art garfunkel. Eyes, written and composed by mike batt of wombles fame and sung by art garfunkel. I loved the movie as a child, art garfunkel s haunting voice singing mike batts beautiful bright eyes still brings tears to my eyes. The film featured the song bright eyes, sung by art garfunkel. Very similar to bright eyes, the difference being the position of the printing on the outer rim of the disc labels. And thank you for allowing their expressions to reflect within the mirror of your own soul and in so doing allow life and death to become a little more conscious of each other. But as richard adamss watership down teaches us, rabbits are actually violent, adventurous creatures, with a complex culture and mythology.
In 1978, art garfunkel was tapped to sing bright eyes, written by. I dont like much of art garfunkles music, but this song i enjoy immensely. Now i know this song originally came from the animated movie watership down which i have seen both the movie and read the book. Unten am fluss watership down german edition skip to main content. It was used in the soundtrack of the 1978 british animated adventure drama film. The author said he first had the idea for watership down during a car trip with his.
The theme song to the film version of watership down. This hauntingly beautiful tune appears in an edited dream sequence in the middle of the film that represents hazels rescue after being dangerously hurt. Provided to youtube by sony music entertainment bright eyes art garfunkel garfunkel. In 1978 martin rosen wrote and directed an animated film adaptation of watership down. I was very eager to see it, because i loved the book. Watership down is a terrific adaptation of richard adamss novel. The soundtrack is captivating and i loved the way art garfunkel s song was used. Garfunkel later admitted that the incident left him in a deep depression for most of the 1980s, hence the lack of musical output during that time.
Watership down and simongarfunkle, but especially art garfunkle who in her opinionand mine as a better voice than paul simon. Watership down the beloved novel by richard adams tells the story of rabbits and. Bright eyes, written by british singer and songwriter mike batt and sung by art garfunkel, was included on the soundtrack. Is it a kind of dream floating out of the tide following the river of death downstream or is it a dream theres a fog along the horizon a strange glow in the sky and nobody seems to know where you go and what does it mean or is it a dream. Bright eyes is a reference to one of the earliest symptoms of the disease, runny and swollen eyes, progressing to lumps around the head and ears, and eventually causing death.
It was finached by a constortium of british financial institutions. Back in 1979, when such a feat actually carried some weight, art garfunkel s song bright eyes spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the uk singles chart after featuring on the soundtrack to the movie adaptation of the novel watership down. See more ideas about watership down, watership down movie and bunny art. All this time we thought rabbits were just cute, floppyeared carroteaters with a penchant for hopping.
Is it a kind of dream floating out on the tide following the river of death downstream oh, is it a d. Watership down characters watership down fan art 38784668. The characters are so richly written that the viewer immediately empathizes and identifies with them. Art garfunkels song bright eyes spent six consecutive weeks at the. Jun 09, 2019 i told the producers that art garfunkel would be ideal for bright eyes and within a week, there he was, in my home in surbiton, routining the song. A major television adaptation of the book was one of its flagship dramas for christmas 2018. Oct 30, 2009 back in 1979, when such a feat actually carried some weight, art garfunkel s song bright eyes spent six consecutive weeks at the top of the uk singles chart after featuring on the soundtrack to the movie adaptation of the novel watership down. The amazing thing about bright eyes the song is that it actually manages to live up to my terrified imaginings arts lovely, strungout vocal managing to sound like the graceful, fatal willowisp of the films black rabbit, the vision you chase even though you know where it is leading you to. Richard adams, whose novel watership down became a. When he heard that an animated feature was being produced, he wrote and submitted many songs to the director. On this day in 1978 art garfunkel started a six week run at no.
The other wonderful feature of watership down is the original song bright eyes, performed by art garfunkel. Watership down tells the tale of a very dark journey. Please note that the content of this book primarily. But i felt this song seem to fit better with wirt and greg, especially in this scene from episode ten. Theres a high wind in the trees a cold sound in the air and nobody ever knows when you go and where do you start. Art garfunkel recalled his thoughts after being sent the original demo, it knocked me out. Bright eyes is definitely one of my favourite songs ever, so many memories.
Finally, a book that tells us the honesttogoodness truth about rabbits. And thats pretty much all you need to know about a character who somehow manages to retain its innocence through the heartbreaking slog of watership down, through the savage dog attacks, environmental destruction and perilous journey, and somehow through art garfunkel s blinking bright eyes. The bbcs new adaptation of watership down photo by screengrab. In 1972 richard adams wrote a novel, watership down, which told the story of a small group of rabbits that were unhappy in the warren they lived in and decided to break out. The songwriter not art garfunkel mike batt was a big fan of the novel the movie is based on. Is it a kind of a shadow reaching into the night wandering over the hills unseen or, is it a dream. Dec 28, 2016 bright eyes is a key song in the movie watership down. Ive put off reading richard adams watership down for a long while as a result of this. It was made into an animated film in 1978, and the following year the films theme song bright eyes, sung by art garfunkel, topped the uk charts.
All animals were grass eaters, living harmoniously. Dec 10, 2018 the 1978 animated version of watership down holds a particular place in the cultural psyche of an entire generation. Vinyl 7 art garfunkel bright eyes 1979, vinyl discogs. A video about watership down by richard adams 5907 views 12 people liked it.
Watched watership down from a very early age x3 my parents didnt know what its about they thought its all cute rabbits and stuff. A cover of the song was later used in the television series of the. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Print and download bright eyes sheet music from watership down.
Watership down was a major box office hit in the uk and bright eyes followed suit in the pop charts, occupying the top spot for six weeks. Check out bright eyes by art garfunkel on amazon music. Theres a fog along the horizon, a strange glow in the sky and nobody seems to know where you go and what does it mean, oh, is it a dream. Bright eyes is a song written by mike batt and performed by art garfunkel. Book depository books with free delivery worldwide. Feb 09, 2008 theres a fog along the horizon, a strange glow in the sky and nobody seems to know where you go and what does it mean, oh, is it a dream. It is referred to in watership down as the white blindness. Originally released on 19 october 1978, the film was an immediate success and it became the sixth most popular film of 1979 at the british box office. Watership down and simongarfunkle, but especially art garfunkle who in her opinionand mine as a better voice. Parents of bunnyobsessed children, while the author himself considered it quite acceptable to subject his young daughters to such nightmare fuel as bigwigs brush with death and his battle with general woundwort, general woundwort himself, the awfully long scene scored to art garfunkel s bright eyes where hazel is almost certainly dead and. When he heard that an animated feature was being produced, he wrote and submitted many songs to t. It was financed by a consortium of british financial institutions and was distributed by cinema international corporation in the united kingdom.
Op deze site vind je nog 11 fascinerende feiten over watership down. I only knew it as the theme song to the movie of one of my favourite books watership down. Richard adams, in 1972, wrote his first book watership down while he was working at the department of the environment. Bright eyes was written by mike batt and performed by art garfunkel.
It was used in the soundtrack of the 1978 british animated adventure drama film watership down. Richard adams, the author of watership down, has died aged 96. Sheet music arranged for pianovocalguitar in g major transposable. Originally released on october 19 1978, the film was an immediate success and it became the sixth most popular film if 1979 at the british box office. The bright eyes sequence plus its introduction and outro from the original adaptation of richard adams watership down.
1251 1165 1092 939 1350 1392 230 796 239 1536 28 968 625 1581 998 263 1374 614 664 1242 289 679 1367 1018 762 660 523 28