If you’re of a certain age, you will remember the 1978 version of Watership Down, the animated film based on the novel by Richard Adams. Since its release, the film has developed something of a reputation, even being accused of “traumatising a generation”, but for many, it remains a much-loved classic.
Watership Down is returning to cinemas this autumn following a restoration by the British Film Institute (BFI). A home entertainment release in Ultra High Definition and Blu-ray will follow shortly afterwards.
“The BFI wanted to honour Watership Down’s importance and the beauty of the animation by representing it on the big screen and on 4K UHD disc in the best way possible, which is scanning the original negative at 4K,” explains Douglas Weir, content remastering lead at the BFI.
Weir supervised the BFI 4K restoration, working alongside Silver Salt Restoration on the project. He’s a fan of the original, even owning a copy on Super 8. “I was never scared or disturbed by it, like so many of my generation!”
132,155 frames to check
The six month long project began with a physical inspection of the 35mm negative, which, says Weir, was in surprisingly good condition. “Usually the more popular a film, the worse the physical condition of the film materials, due to the constant creation of screening materials for exploitation,” he explains. “Watership Down runs for roughly 132,155 frames, which is a lot of artwork!”
The negative was then scanned at 4K into Silver Salt Restoration’s ARRI XT, which produced a 4K 16-bit DPX sequence. During the scanning, ARRI’s infrared system detected micro-physical inconsistencies on the surface of the celluloid, such as specks of dust. This data was used later in the digital restoration process.
“The ARRI XT is one of the best scanners on the market, utilising the Alexa optics and sensor as well as the ARRI wet-gate and infrared facilities, which means we are getting as much information out of the 35mm negative as we possibly can,” states Weir.
For some shots, the scanner’s wet-gate mechanism was used. The film gate is submerged in a reservoir of fluid which masks any hairline scratches on the surface of the film emulsion by filling in the scratches. “This is still one of the best methods for dealing with scratching,” says Weir.
Grading was undertaken in Davinci Resolve in 4K HDR with Dolby Vision, which produced a new 4K 16-bit DPX sequence for preservation and two 4:4:4:4 QuickTime ProRes XQ files, in SDR and HDR, which were used as ‘mezzanine’ files for the creation of assets for cinema (DCP), streaming (BFI Player) and physical (BFI UHD/Blu-ray) distribution.
Once complete, the next stage involved the digital restoration process. DryClean was employed as an automated method of removing negative and positive density defects (i.e. dirt and sparkle baked into the image). PFClean was then used for fully manual, shot-by-shot, restoration work and Diamant software helped to minimise any flickering, which was an issue in some shots.
None of the processes used artificial intelligence, but Weir says he can see a time when the technology might be of use on a targeted basis. “AI could be used on sections of a frame that may be missing or irretrievable. But until then, I’ve yet to see it used convincingly and I don’t think it’s a technology that should be used in the restoration of moving images.”
The first animated feature in Dolby Stereo
Aside from the pictures, the film’s sound has also had some work done. An interesting fact about Watership Down is that it was the first-ever animated feature film to be released with Dolby Stereo sound. “That meant we did as little as possible!” says Weir. “The sound had been transferred from the Dolby Stereo master tapes, no remixing or balancing was undertaken as it was in good condition, and we didn’t want to change it in any way. The dialogue and Angela Morley’s music sound fantastic.”
Weir is keen to stress that the aim of the project was to make the 4K version exactly the same as the original. The restoration team spent a lot of time ensuring that the restored film is presented exactly as it was in cinemas in 1978. “It is always the goal to present a film in the form the filmmakers achieved, not what they may have intended, as these can be very different things,” he adds.
“These are very minor issues inherent in the picture that were introduced as part of the original cell animation process, mainly dust and very, very small instances of ink or paint smudge and brush stroke textures. We didn’t want to remove that dust as it’s part of the film itself, as are the brush strokes. They are the human element and they would have been seen on original distribution prints.”
Watership Down also contains several different mediums such as watercolour and glass layers, which give the image depth and allow for multiple planes of focus. “Each of these processes tends to lend to some diffusion and it is our responsibility to present these as best and as faithfully as possible. I think we have achieved that!” he adds.
“In my opinion, it’s a masterpiece, a big part of my childhood, and it was an absolute privilege to be able to bring it to life in 4K. I can confidently say it has never looked or sounded better!”
Watership Down is re-released in UK and Irish cinemas on 25th October and on BFI UHD and Blu-ray on 11th November
