The series dvds (spoilers)

[Azerane]

So I've just been looking on a website that I can order the WD dvd series on. However the website is confusing me.

From what I've been reading, there are a total of 39 episodes made, and these are spread across 3 series? The reason I am confused, is that the store sells a box set of the complete. They also sell individual dvds sets of episodes, however there's only 8 episodes per disc, meaning that there's 5 lots of individual dvds. Does that mean there's 5 seasons with 8 episodes each? It just seems a strange way to sell them mixing up the seasons like that. Perhaps only 8 episodes fit on a dvd which results in them simply selling them individually to make more money from them?

In any case, the individual dvd's are $19.97 with the box set only $49.97 so a price saving of $50 seems pretty darn good to me. Or it looks like I could even get it on ebay for $35, but I'm a little more wary of ebay, although with a saving of $10 (after postage) and a good seller rating, it's probably worth it.

Basically, I'm simply after some clarification of the number of series, and perhaps the reason why they sell the episodes on more DVD's than they have to.

[Tima]

Watership Down TV series can be found pretty easily on single DVDs that compile a handful of episodes together, such as these releases:
www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-TV-Journey/dp/B000083C8A
www.amazon.com/Watership-Down-TV-Escape/dp/B000083C8C

Then there's a boxset collecting the whole series:
www.amazon.co.uk/Watership-Down-Complete-Box-Set/dp/B000BLBSOK

If you want to get into the series, I'd say it's better to buy the boxset so you can know for sure that you're getting everything and seeing it in the correct order.
It's a common problem with many animated shows; DVDs that compile a bunch of random episodes together and no attempt at making a release that gathers all the episodes together systematically. Happily enough WD does have the complete boxset; some other animated shows are not as lucky.

I do not own the boxset myself, I only have one DVD that compiles a couple of early episodes together, and I saw the rest of the series through a friend. I don't know whether the boxset DVDs and single DVDs are in any way different, but the boxset is a better choice simply because once you've got that, you've got it all.

...you know what, I'm actually confused about what those single DVDs are that contain 8 episodes per a disc. The DVDs that I've seen compile like 2-3 episodes together. Even the boxset has 14 discs, which should mean two or three eps/disc. Do you have a link to the DVDs you saw, and are these 8-episode discs some kind of new release?

As for your question about the seasons: there are definitely three seasons in the series, each of them containing 13 episodes. In case you encounter a DVD and are unsure about what it contains, "Thank U Stars" can help a lot. It's a fansite with an episode guide and it turned out really helpful when I first got into the series; the site lists the episodes in the correct chronological order.

A couple of additional notes about chronology and the best viewing order:

The rivalry between Watership Down rabbits and Efrafans is the big story throughout the first two seasons but it keeps getting interrupted by filler episodes that can be watched in any order you want to. It's in season 3 when status quo gets shaken up and you have to be really sure you're watching everything in the right order, seeing how each episode carries over into the next one.

Also, there's episodes called "Bigwig's Way" and two-parter "Winter on Watership Down". These three episodes have S1-S2 art style but there's something awkward about when they're supposed to take place. Just watch them whenever you want; personally, I saw them as my last episodes.

[Blackavar]

Because you are in Australia (like me) it should not be hard to get a hold of any of the series. I simply walked into an ABC shop and they had it in their order catalogue. I simply ordered it and within 2 weeks they called me and had it in!

shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=768016

I actually went in to buy a DVD of the movie and they said if I wanted to buy the TV series too, and of course said YES! So if you have a local ABC store just go in and ask them!

The version I had (in the link above) was a 5 disc set which has all 39 episodes on them. It's in a single DVD box (you know the ones with multiple 'flaps' of discs in them). Very durable and fits nicely in your DVD holder if you have one.

I do like the idea of the German box set (where the spines make on big image) but don't really understand how only 39 episodes required so man discs considering they all fit into 5 with the box set I got. Maybe I am missing something.

Anyway, like I said, ABC shop will get it for you, and pretty quickly too!

[Azerane]

Tima, there are so many seperate dvd boxes in that box set! It seems a bit like overkill, though like Blackavar, I also like how it makes a composite image.

Thanks so much for your responses, I figured that the number of episodes and series was right. It just confused me in regards to why they were selling them as five seperate dvds for only 3 seasons.

I was going to buy the box set if I bought it. I was looking at Ezy DVD, on their website here: www.ezydvd.com.au/mech/quicksearch.zml?f=title&q=watership+down&x=0&y=0 and you can see the watership down dvds. If the link doesn't work right with the search, simply type watership down into the search box on the left. Though it's strange, whether it's just someone misentereing data. The ABC website says 936 minutes for the box set, and yet EzyDVD says 897minutes for exactly the same product, so it would seem that someone has their info wrong. ABC shop is 2cents cheaper than EzyDVD too, so I guess that's an option too, lol. I only looked at EzyDVD as that's where I ordered Plague Dogs from.

That's interesting what you say about the chronology of the episodes Tima, although I would probably simply watch them in order anyway, as one usually assumes they run on from each other, though I do understand about filler episodes. I honestly never would have thought to watch them in a seperate order from when they were made.

[Tima]

Tima, there are so many seperate dvd boxes in that box set! It seems a bit like overkill,

I know, I really hate it when DVDs are published like this and you have to be switching discs all the time... really annoying and clunky to waste both disc space and physical space like that.

However, your and Blackavar's links do actually seem to confirm that there's a 5-disc DVD set in existence that crams more episodes into each disc :o I wasn't aware of that, and that sounds sweet! Yeah, I would definitely pick that release over the 14-disc version.

Also, I recently found from the local library the individual disc with the Christmas/winter episodes. That one had a short "making of" bonus feature thingie. Not sure whether the boxsets also have that stuff.

[Azerane]

14 discs! That has got to be frustrating. I haven't read anywhere about special features on the box set, Blackavar would know the answer to that. But I think I might be heading in to the ABC shop before work today to have a look for it, and if not, order it in. A 'making of' feature would be quite interesting.

Toki told me to stay away from the series as she said it ruined it for her, but I can't help but be curious and want to see it anyway

[Blackavar]

As far as I know I have not yet come across any special features on the series DVDs. there may be some on the last disc, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.

In terms of the series itself, I don't think it's going to "ruin" it for you. You will have to treat is almost as an alternative universe to the movie. The first few episodes will no doubt be a teething process as the differences between the two become apparent very early on, but after a bit of time you become very accustomed to the universe that exists for the rabbits in the series. In fact, I have come to adore some characters in the series that I would've otherwise not likes from the films or the book. I treat the series as its own thing, kind of like a spin-off to the whole Watership Down universe. If you do this I guarantee you will enjoy it immensely, as I am. It's part of my daily routine: hop into bed with a cup of tea at night and turn on an episode of WD. Love it!

[Tima]

Jun 20, 2011 10:45:54 GMT 9.5 Blackavar said:

In terms of the series itself, I don't think it's going to "ruin" it for you. You will have to treat is almost as an alternative universe to the movie. The first few episodes will no doubt be a teething process as the differences between the two become apparent very early on, but after a bit of time you become very accustomed to the universe that exists for the rabbits in the series.

This.

When you start watching the episodes, for a while you will keep comparing things to the movie ("where is all the blood and the dark themes? why is Pipkin a kid sidekick? why is Blackberry a doe?! this sucks!"), but if you keep an open mind, there's a high chance of eventually accepting the series as a different take on the characters and settings.

Of course, there are still lots of Watership Down fans who remain upset at the series; the animation and tone are way more child-friendly than in the movie, and a lot of people just can't get past that. This may very well be a "love it or hate it" series.

And about the extras: I actually took screencaptures from the DVD I found and I might as well post them here.

Storyboards 1.
Storyboards 2.
Storyboards 3.
Storyboards 4.
Storyboards 5.
Storyboards 6.
A pic I saved because of the art in the background.
This artist has images of Max (from Sam & Max) around him and that's why I saved the pic :)
A logo at the very end of the video.

Dandelion's voice actor. He told an amusing story about how he's kinda fat and so it was fun to be the voice of a thin, tiny rabbit for once. Also, it was really weird when he turned his normal speaking voice into a cartoonish one all of a sudden :P
Fiver's voice actor. I think? I didn't label my images well and I'm not sure anymore if this guy was Hazel or Fiver or who, but I think it was Fiver.
Hannah's voice actress.
Weird Hannah art. The reason I saved a lot of images from the actor interviews was that I tried to get clear pictures of this background art behind the actors. It looks just freaking weird. I'm gonna assume these are some kind of early, non-up-to-date revisions of the characters.
Kehaar's voice.
Pipkin's voice. I was pretty surprised to find out he was so young. They often use adult women to voice little kids in animations, and I never considered that Pipkin's VA might've actually been a real kid.
Blackavar's voice. I had no idea Blackavar was voiced by a boyband member, that's kinda cool. It was also neat what this VA told us; he mentioned that the artists tried to make Blackavar look like his voice actor, and that's the reason why Blackavar has such a funky hairdo in the series. Also, I don't know much about the world of music so I just googled Boyzone, and it appears that Stephen Gately died in 2009. So sad every time when young people die way before their time :/

The following clip was possibly the most interesting thing on the behind-the-scenes video. It was a short animated clip of the rabbits doing stuff but there was no narration or indication of what exactly the clip was supposed to be. I couldn't remember this scene from the series. Maybe I've just forgotten it and maybe it does exist in the series, but the art style looked a bit peculiar as well. I eventually wondered if this might actually be the pilot / test reel for the series; you know, one of these things they create as a test run to get the feel of the series.

The video starts with slow pans across an idyllic scene as the group of rabbits is munching on grass.
Bigwig spots something up the sky.
It's a hawk...
...and it's coming straight at Bigwig...
...but he manages to escape at the last second.
All the rabbits go hide in the bushes and watch out for the hawk's possible return.
Bigwig discreetly questions Hazel about the dangers of being out in the open and about the validity of Fiver's visions.
We get a close-up of Fiver while Hazel reassures Bigwig.
Next we get to Efrafa.
There's some really intimidating, weirdly stylized rabbits in there.
Woundwort watches over his troops.
He commands his rabbits to find the outsiders.
The clip ends with the image of Woundwort.

As I said, this "making of" thing was on a DVD that contained the winter episode two-parter. It was listed as an extra on the backcover and that's why I picked the DVD in the first place. I didn't check out the video's exact length but I guess it was somewhere between 15-30 minutes.

[Blackavar]

Jun 20, 2011 18:22:05 GMT 9.5 Tima said:

Jun 20, 2011 10:45:54 GMT 9.5 Blackavar said:

In terms of the series itself, I don't think it's going to "ruin" it for you. You will have to treat is almost as an alternative universe to the movie. The first few episodes will no doubt be a teething process as the differences between the two become apparent very early on, but after a bit of time you become very accustomed to the universe that exists for the rabbits in the series.

This.

When you start watching the episodes, for a while you will keep comparing things to the movie ("where is all the blood and the dark themes? why is Pipkin a kid sidekick? why is Blackberry a doe?! this sucks!"), but if you keep an open mind, there's a high chance of eventually accepting the series as a different take on the characters and settings.

Of course, there are still lots of Watership Down fans who remain upset at the series; the animation and tone are way more child-friendly than in the movie, and a lot of people just can't get past that. This may very well be a "love it or hate it" series.

And about the extras: I actually took screencaptures from the DVD I found and I might as well post them here.

Storyboards 1.
Storyboards 2.
Storyboards 3.
Storyboards 4.
Storyboards 5.
Storyboards 6.
A pic I saved because of the art in the background.
This artist has images of Max (from Sam & Max) around him and that's why I saved the pic :)
A logo at the very end of the video.

Dandelion's voice actor. He told an amusing story about how he's kinda fat and so it was fun to be the voice of a thin, tiny rabbit for once. Also, it was really weird when he turned his normal speaking voice into a cartoonish one all of a sudden :P
Fiver's voice actor. I think? I didn't label my images well and I'm not sure anymore if this guy was Hazel or Fiver or who, but I think it was Fiver.
Hannah's voice actress.
Weird Hannah art. The reason I saved a lot of images from the actor interviews was that I tried to get clear pictures of this background art behind the actors. It looks just freaking weird. I'm gonna assume these are some kind of early, non-up-to-date revisions of the characters.
Kehaar's voice.
Pipkin's voice. I was pretty surprised to find out he was so young. They often use adult women to voice little kids in animations, and I never considered that Pipkin's VA might've actually been a real kid.
Blackavar's voice. I had no idea Blackavar was voiced by a boyband member, that's kinda cool. It was also neat what this VA told us; he mentioned that the artists tried to make Blackavar look like his voice actor, and that's the reason why Blackavar has such a funky hairdo in the series. Also, I don't know much about the world of music so I just googled Boyzone, and it appears that Stephen Gately died in 2009. So sad every time when young people die way before their time :/

The following clip was possibly the most interesting thing on the behind-the-scenes video. It was a short animated clip of the rabbits doing stuff but there was no narration or indication of what exactly the clip was supposed to be. I couldn't remember this scene from the series. Maybe I've just forgotten it and maybe it does exist in the series, but the art style looked a bit peculiar as well. I eventually wondered if this might actually be the pilot / test reel for the series; you know, one of these things they create as a test run to get the feel of the series.

The video starts with slow pans across an idyllic scene as the group of rabbits is munching on grass.
Bigwig spots something up the sky.
It's a hawk...
...and it's coming straight at Bigwig...
...but he manages to escape at the last second.
All the rabbits go hide in the bushes and watch out for the hawk's possible return.
Bigwig discreetly questions Hazel about the dangers of being out in the open and about the validity of Fiver's visions.
We get a close-up of Fiver while Hazel reassures Bigwig.
Next we get to Efrafa.
There's some really intimidating, weirdly stylized rabbits in there.
Woundwort watches over his troops.
He commands his rabbits to find the outsiders.
The clip ends with the image of Woundwort.

As I said, this "making of" thing was on a DVD that contained the winter episode two-parter. It was listed as an extra on the backcover and that's why I picked the DVD in the first place. I didn't check out the video's exact length but I guess it was somewhere between 15-30 minutes.

There's some really fascinating material there, thanks for sharing!

I think you're right about that interesting animation sequence being a pilot. It's very different in terms of drawing style to both Series 1-2, and 3 as well. Probably, due to the fact that all the WD rabbits are in the 1st scene, and the Efrafans are in the 2nd, it was a proof of concept specifically designed so show a big variety of animation and character designs. Because in the actual series the Efrafans are not come across until much later on in the Episodic structure.

I was very interested in the character interviews. Really good to put faces to the voices.

[Azerane]

That's certainly some interesting additional material. Thank you so much for sharing.

I went into the ABC store yesterday and ordered the box set, they told me 3-4 weeks, though I'm guessing or at least hoping it'll be more like 2-3 and they say 3-4 so that you're not dissapointed if it takes a little longer. But I don't really know where they have to ship them in from.

[Blackavar]

Yeah, they said the same for me, but it was more like 2 weeks in reality.

I really think you will enjoy them. I just finished Episode 20 and the series is getting REALLY good! The last few episodes have been great!

I have a quick Q Tima. I noticed there are a few individual boxes, such as escape to Watership Down and Winter on Watership Down... are there just individually boxed versions os some of the episodes in the whole series?

[Tima]

I noticed there are a few individual boxes, such as escape to Watership Down and Winter on Watership Down... are there just individually boxed versions os some of the episodes in the whole series?

I think those DVDs just compile like 2-3 episodes together, assuming they're the same releases as around here (and judging by the runtimes that Amazon lists). It's hard for me to know for sure what exactly these DVDs contain, because those releases have different covers than the ones that have been published around here. I don't know if the only difference is in the cover art (and the languages contained on the disc) or if there's more differences.

Also, curious to hear your opinion once you get to season 3 :) That one was my favourite, and that's when the series truly converted me into a fan.

[Azerane]

I got 'the call' today. So providing I allow myself enough time before work tomorrow, I can get it then. I'm pretty excited. After the 3-4 weeks they told me, it only took 10 days. Brilliant!

[Tima]

Sweet! :) I'll be curious to hear your opinion on the series. If you have time and if you're able to do so, please try to write up some thoughts after each episode! It'd be cool to see how your opinions change or stay the same as you advance throughout the series. I personally enjoy writing down my thoughts after watching TV series' episodes. Once I'm done with the whole series, it's fun to go back and read my earlier writings to see what were my first impressions, thoughts and theories after each episode.

[Blackavar]

I've reached about Episode 4 of the 3rd season now. It took a bit of getting used to some of the changes, but I think I've gotten back into the swing of it. Even though I like the new drawing style, I really don't like the new into in Season 3... very, um, dramatic.

Anyway, I don't think were any spoilers here. For those of you who have see all of the series, what are your thoughts about the 3rd season in comparison to the 1st and 2nd? Keeping in mind I have not seen all of season 3 yet so spoiler alerts please!