But it’s only when he’s asked to subdue his tendency toward battle that he thrives. Bigwig (John Boyega) is an aptly big brute, and he’s born to be a fighter. Much of “Watership Down” begs viewers not to make assumptions about anyone, not just species. Humans are feared the most, though that assumption is also cleverly subverted. Some even help the rabbits, while other rabbits are far more dangerous to Hazel & Co. Foxes, cats, dogs, and all the other creatures listed in the opening sequence play perilous roles, but not how you may expect. “All the world will be your enemy,” Lord Frith says, and the adventures bear out his warning.

“Watership Down” is framed around the fable that rabbits were the original inhabitants of the Earth, but they populated too quickly - good luck to all the parents who have to resist making a joke about “fucking like bunnies” - and the sun god punished them by creating predators to thin the herd. Despite cheap computer-animation, director Noam Murro (“300: Rise of an Empire”) and writer Tom Bidwell (“My Mad Fat Diary”) evoke a strong sense of empathy for the animals while crafting a stirring limited series built on big, frightening themes of life and death along with more humble thoughts on love, friendship, and socialism. Still, this is an optimistic spin on an old story originally crafted for kids. Sent fleeing from their den by human development - can anyone say “gentrification”? - the new four-part story tracks Hazel (James McAvoy), Fiver (Nicholas Hoult), and a slew of other plainly drawn bunnies as they try to survive. Now, Netflix and the BBC revive the fantasy tale as a potent, stunning, and a tad too ugly vision of a rabbits’ world not that different from our own. The short-lived 1999 TV series skewed back toward the author’s original tone, yet each entry carried real weight, be it the biblical and mythological interpretations or the story’s gruesome jolts - and permanently etched in the minds of its young viewers.

Richard Adams’ 1972 children’s novel is positively awash with sunshine compared to Martin Rosen’s 1978 children’s horror movie. In the midst of war, the faintest ray of light can be salvation.

Watership down full book