WATERSHIP DOWN is a classic animated feature film . It confounds expectation in that it's not some mawkish , childish cartoon and it's a compelling and sometimes frightening drama that stays in your mind long after you've seen it . I did know the production team behind WATERSHIP DOWN did a follow up film in 1982 called THE PLAGUE DOGS but it's a very obscure film that as far as I know has never been broadcast on network television and hasn't received a DVD release . Its obscurity isn't helped by the fact that there was no music tie in with the movie . Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel might not be the greatest song ever written but at least it promoted the film in a way that a marketing campaign couldn't . Like me you could hate the song but love the film . Having just seen THE PLAGUE DOGS via the internet it would have taken more than the greatest song ever written to market this film
The problem lies in the fact that it's a film that will have a very limited market which leaves you wondering what sort of audience it's made for . From the opening sequence where Labrador Rowf comes very close to drowning in a vivisection lab you're aware this is going to be a bleak , depressing film not for children thereby neutralizing an important demographic of a cinema audience . Despite being dark and intelligent children could still enjoy WATERSHIP DOWN but not this because it's as child friendly as a film about a nuclear holocaust and the sometimes gritty language doesn't help the cause . There's other aspects too that makes it a difficult film to market and that is the regional accents which will be impossible for an international audience to understand such as James Bolam's Geordie accent . On top of that being an animated film a lot of the potential audience will have the slightly prejudiced and ignorant mind set of " Oh it's a cartoon therefore it's just for kids " . I suppose the marketing campaign would have been limited to " If you loved WATERSHIP DOWN then you might like THE PLAGUE DOGS "
Unfortunately as much as I loved WATERSHIP DOWN I didn't like THE PLAGUE DOGS . Much of this might be down to the fact that I felt the film was pursuing an anti-vivisection agenda . I'm not going to get into the rights and wrongs of vivisection but much of the film screams " Four legs good . Two legs bad " .and my patience was tested due to the manipulative story telling of fluffy mammals being pursued by bad , cruel humans .A film should never have to show two sides to anything because that would be silly but if you don't agree with a film's message you realise how difficult it is to like the film that's delivering it As a footnote to the narrative it's interesting that while I thought WATERSHIP DOWN influenced Alex Garland's screenplay for 28 DAYS LATER this follow up reinforced my belief since both film's start in a vivisection lab and leads to the escape of a potentially fatal disease
It's easy to see why THE PLAGUE DOGS didn't make the same commercial impact as its predecessor . Due to its content it's a film that works against being a commercial hit which is a pity because it contains superb animation along with the wonderful rich voices of its cast
The problem lies in the fact that it's a film that will have a very limited market which leaves you wondering what sort of audience it's made for . From the opening sequence where Labrador Rowf comes very close to drowning in a vivisection lab you're aware this is going to be a bleak , depressing film not for children thereby neutralizing an important demographic of a cinema audience . Despite being dark and intelligent children could still enjoy WATERSHIP DOWN but not this because it's as child friendly as a film about a nuclear holocaust and the sometimes gritty language doesn't help the cause . There's other aspects too that makes it a difficult film to market and that is the regional accents which will be impossible for an international audience to understand such as James Bolam's Geordie accent . On top of that being an animated film a lot of the potential audience will have the slightly prejudiced and ignorant mind set of " Oh it's a cartoon therefore it's just for kids " . I suppose the marketing campaign would have been limited to " If you loved WATERSHIP DOWN then you might like THE PLAGUE DOGS "
Unfortunately as much as I loved WATERSHIP DOWN I didn't like THE PLAGUE DOGS . Much of this might be down to the fact that I felt the film was pursuing an anti-vivisection agenda . I'm not going to get into the rights and wrongs of vivisection but much of the film screams " Four legs good . Two legs bad " .and my patience was tested due to the manipulative story telling of fluffy mammals being pursued by bad , cruel humans .A film should never have to show two sides to anything because that would be silly but if you don't agree with a film's message you realise how difficult it is to like the film that's delivering it As a footnote to the narrative it's interesting that while I thought WATERSHIP DOWN influenced Alex Garland's screenplay for 28 DAYS LATER this follow up reinforced my belief since both film's start in a vivisection lab and leads to the escape of a potentially fatal disease
It's easy to see why THE PLAGUE DOGS didn't make the same commercial impact as its predecessor . Due to its content it's a film that works against being a commercial hit which is a pity because it contains superb animation along with the wonderful rich voices of its cast