Help Watership the 90’s series get more love!

[Hickory]

Hey everyone!

So I made this as one of those big open threads to help discuss well anything we can do to help the 90’s series of Watership Down. A newer DVD boxset with actual bonus features? Ideas for a short 4th Season?  

Is anyone available to offer ideas on how we give this underrated adaption more love I’m all ears!  

[Vesper]

Creating more creative animated fan work that is inspired by the 90s show. Also, I do agree that we need more love for the show in the 90's and finding ways to do that may indeed help our fandom, though I hear Watership down is doing well with the Amino Apps so I think we do indeed may have kind of competition or you can see it as good progress for the resurgence of our fandom. Whatever the case may be, here are a few ideas for season 4;
perhaps look into those who survied the final battle on both sides,
look into Silverweed's condition,
perhaps also into the pairings including,
and perhaps a new enemy or trouble in the horizon.

[CockatielPony]

This place is filled with creative people. I think we should all come together and create the 4th season. I bet we have lots be people willing to write, voice act, animate/animatic and much more.

[Chipster-roo]

An official fourth season will probably never happen, especially with the new miniseries on the horizon.  However, several people have written fanfics about events following the end of season 3, and a fan-made animation is a possibility.

A newer DVD or Blu-Ray release would be great though.

[Hickory]

An official fourth season will probably never happen, especially with the new miniseries on the horizon.  However, several people have written fanfics about events following the end of season 3, and a fan-made animation is a possibility.

A newer DVD or Blu-Ray release would be great though.

That’s something I’m actually trying to see is possible chipster. At least in terms of the original series getting another home media release. I’m trying to look around to see if any of the surviving cast members still remember their roles. From what I know, some of the surviving cast members like Stephen Mangan, Phil Jupitus, Rob Rackstraw, Sue Elliot Nicholls and crew like Mike Batt are on social media. Some like Sue do remember their roles. Guess we can try asking them on their time on the show.  

Some of the other involved would probably be a different story. David Holt isn’t on twitter for instance though his Wikipedia page did have a link to a site. I was able to get some replies back from that site and he’d contribute to a bonus feature on a newer box set in one of his replies to me. Though he did say he doesn’t see the chance of the series getting another home release since it wasn’t too successful but hey, it’s something if the guy behind Vervain is willing to contribute.

Stephen Fry is a different story. He does have twitter and a website though likely you’d probably have to write him a letter for a big response. He does have an address for fan mail.

Can we still try people?

[Hickory]

This place is filled with creative people. I think we should all come together and create the 4th season. I bet we have lots be people willing to write, voice act, animate/animatic and much more.

I know there are tons of people who are creative and a fanmade 4th Season would be great but would we be able to even get animators to imitate the decode Entertainment 2D style? CGI models wouldn’t really suit the rabbits and a 3D dimensional model to me for Watership Down only works if it’s merchandise like those cake toppers and ceramic statues.

Do you think you’d know any friends who could help? I’d really like to know!

[Chipster-roo]

It's great that you managed to contact some members of the series' cast

It would be nice if some of them could contribute to some bonus features for a future DVD/Blu-Ray release.  Other possible features could be storyboards from the series, or deleted scenes?

Ultimately, I guess it all depends on the copyright holders, but we could possibly try to contact them about this.


It probably would be hard to imitate the series' style in a fan-made sequel.  It should still be possible to preserve the series' character models though, and the animation could still be good, I think

[Hickory]

It's great that you managed to contact some members of the series' cast

It would be nice if some of them could contribute to some bonus features for a future DVD/Blu-Ray release.  Other possible features could be storyboards from the series, or deleted scenes?

Ultimately, I guess it all depends on the copyright holders, but we could possibly try to contact them about this.


It probably would be hard to imitate the series' style in a fan-made sequel.  It should still be possible to preserve the series' character models though, and the animation could still be good, I think

Yeah, it’s nice. To my knowledge, Sue Elliot Nichols actually remembered her Blackberry role when I first asked her with a screencap of her doe smiling in the rain from The Easy Life And Mike Batt linked me to his site of the backstory on Bright Eyes for the film when asking about his contributions to Watership Down’s music. To my knowledge, those 2 do recognize their past work for rabbits.

I’m not sure about the others though. Like I was lucky enough to get feedback from David Holt who did say he wouldn’t mind contributing to a bonus feature. Considering that his main role on the show was voicing a devilish yet sniveling charcoal coloured rabbit, that reply threw me off  

Now trying to find production stuff would be difficult since people involved with the show like Writers Mary Crawford and Alan Templeton and director Alan Templeton don’t seem to have social media.

Who’d exactly own the Watership cartoon copyright now?

[Magic-Rabbit]

Like I was lucky enough to get feedback from David Holt who did say he wouldn’t mind contributing to a bonus feature. Considering that his main role on the show

David Holt should do something on a WD DVD in his child's voice since he can do a falsetto that he's used for some characters in shows.

[Hickory]

Like I was lucky enough to get feedback from David Holt who did say he wouldn’t mind contributing to a bonus feature. Considering that his main role on the show

David Holt should do something on a WD DVD in his child's voice since he can do a falsetto that he's used for some characters in shows.

That’d be interesting for like an interview section of some of the surviving voice cast if they share some of their other work voices. Do you happen to know some of his other work where he does a falsetto?

[Magic-Rabbit]

The one I remember the most is him voicing Pablo the Fox Cub in Pablo the Little Red Fox in the late 1990s, the show actually started broadcasting on the exact day as the WD Series in the UK.

[Magic-Rabbit]

An official fourth season will probably never happen, especially with the new miniseries on the horizon.  However, several people have written fanfics about events following the end of season 3, and a fan-made animation is a possibility.

A newer DVD or Blu-Ray release would be great though.

That’s something I’m actually trying to see is possible chipster. At least in terms of the original series getting another home media release. I’m trying to look around to see if any of the surviving cast members still remember their roles. From what I know, some of the surviving cast members like Stephen Mangan, Phil Jupitus, Rob Rackstraw, Sue Elliot Nicholls and crew like Mike Batt are on social media. Some like Sue do remember their roles. Guess we can try asking them on their time on the show.  

Some of the other involved would probably be a different story. David Holt isn’t on twitter for instance though his Wikipedia page did have a link to a site. I was able to get some replies back from that site and he’d contribute to a bonus feature on a newer box set in one of his replies to me. Though he did say he doesn’t see the chance of the series getting another home release since it wasn’t too successful but hey, it’s something if the guy behind Vervain is willing to contribute.

Stephen Fry is a different story. He does have twitter and a website though likely you’d probably have to write him a letter for a big response. He does have an address for fan mail.

Can we still try people?

Can we still try people?

Andrew Falvey?
Who voiced Fiver for all 39 episodes.

[Chipster-roo]

Now trying to find production stuff would be difficult since people involved with the show like Writers Mary Crawford and Alan Templeton and director Alan Templeton don’t seem to have social media.

Here is their LinkedIn profile:
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mary-crawford-alan-templeton-6b566a58

Who’d exactly own the Watership cartoon copyright now?

I don't know, honestly...Alltime Entertainment doesn't exist anymore, and Decode merged with another company to form DHX Media.  According to Martin Rosen's site, all he owns are US television rights.

[Hickory]

Now trying to find production stuff would be difficult since people involved with the show like Writers Mary Crawford and Alan Templeton and director Alan Templeton don’t seem to have social media.

Here is their LinkedIn profile:
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/mary-crawford-alan-templeton-6b566a58

Who’d exactly own the Watership cartoon copyright now?

I don't know, honestly...Alltime Entertainment doesn't exist anymore, and Decode merged with another company to form DHX Media.  According to Martin Rosen's site, all he owns are US television rights.

Hey chipster, what is LinkedIn exactly and small typo on my part. I meant to say director Alan Templeton since he did the direction for Season 1 And 2.

Is Rosen’s website basically the only thing fans like us can find for some contact given he’s retired? I’m guessing he could do something for American TV viewings though given the 2010’s has given us some great cartoons such as Gravity Falls and We Bare Bears, Can the 90’s Watership Down thrive better now?

[Chipster-roo]

Hey chipster, what is LinkedIn exactly and small typo on my part. I meant to say director Alan Templeton since he did the direction for Season 1 And 2.

Is Rosen’s website basically the only thing fans like us can find for some contact given he’s retired? I’m guessing he could do something for American TV viewings though given the 2010’s has given us some great cartoons such as Gravity Falls and We Bare Bears, Can the 90’s Watership Down thrive better now?

LinkedIn is a social network mainly focused on employment.

It would be nice if the 1999 series made it back on TV, but the main obstacle would be finding a channel interested in airing it.  I contacted YTV (the channel that premiered the series in Canada many years ago) about it a few months ago, but didn't get a reply...

Another website to check out would be this site, which is run by those who own the copyright to the original novel.