Watership Down (1978)

I hate the idea that animation’s for kids; just because it’s animated doesn’t mean that it’s some silly cartoon and shouldn’t be taken seriously. There’s plenty of animated movies that are aimed for adults, but for this list, I’m just going to pick out five that have stood out for me.

Based on the 1972 novel by Richard Adams, and directed by Martin Rosen and John Hubley, Watership Down is about a group of rabbits who flee their home before it’s destroyed by humans. The rabbits find a new place to live and do whatever it takes to protect it from danger.

We follow brothers, Fiver (Richard Briers) and Hazel (John Hurt) as they go on their journey alongside fellow rabbits. At first, it all seems like a sweet, innocent story since we see rabbits and other cutesy creatures, but that turns out to not be the case. There are other groups of rabbits out there, and they are vicious; one of them practically runs a cult.