What age would you let your child watch watership down?

[inmyslippers]

Just that? Terrified me as a child but I'd still watch it 😆

I was 22 when I watched it as a new release (dubbed into German, but that's another story) and still remember some scenes with horror over 35 years later.
It is definitely not a fluffy bunny tale.

Wasn't there a bit of a minor hoo-ha a few years back when channel five decided it would be perfect Easter Sunday viewing?

Apparently lots of parents thought 'aw, a cartoon about bunnies, how cute'... Until they settled down to watch it.

I watched it as a nipper. It is dark, but I do think the parents get more traumatised by it than the actual kids in many cases.

99... Maybe...

I haven't got over it yet 😂

Oh Christ , 50. My mum traumatised my kids with that and Charlotte's Web, one weekend....

About the same age as I'd let them watch Ring of Bright Water or Kes. Never.

Never along with ET I still get nightmares over both of these 20+ years later! I have let them watch Jurassic park 1-3 though.

It’s rated 18 isn’t it?? (It should be...)

Never! I’m 42 and I can’t watch it! 😭

Never I still have nightmares.

My husband brought the dvd and I hid it.

It really upset me as a child. I still vividly remember it now so on that basis, I’m going to also vote for never.

My parents took me to see at it the cinema when it came out. I'm almost 50 now and still can't see a rabbit without bursting into tears! 😂

I watched Psycho with my Mum when I was ten

Never! It's a horrific film that still scares me now. How on earth its deemed OK for kids is a mystery to me!

@sashh Agreed. When The Wind Blows is probably the most horrifying book I've ever read. I was lulled into a false sense of security because it's by Raymond "The Snowman" Briggs, but it's absolutely terrifying.

I saw it at 6 and went straight out and bought the Bright Eyes single. I think the bad bunnies seem worse now I'm considerably older.

DS read it at 8.

Children are sensitive to different things. Some children thonk and think and transfer experience from fiction to reality, from anthropomorphic animals to humans... Some children utterly lack imagination or the ability to transfer from fiction to reality.

You have to know your own children, individually.

@ShutUpAlex

My 6 year old has seen it and all of the Jurassic park/world films. And 9! Didn’t realise 9 was an adults film.

Parent of the year, we'll done!

My dd had a thing about this film.,she was only about 6.watched it over and over.I hate it not scary just wierd

DS has always found books less scary or disturbing as he is able to skim read parts that he isn't as comfortable with, while he can't do that with a film or episode. So I would always recommend letting the child read the book before watching the film or series.

Watership Down is so traumatic! I watched it when I was about 7, thought I was going to be watching a nice cartoon about some bunnies 😩 this picture sums it up..

@ClashCityRocker that’s funny because I’m 38 and I remember it always being shown at Easter!

Agree horrific. We used to watch it as kids and I can still feel that uneasy feeling I got from it. I would be interested to watch it now as I am certain I wouldn’t have understood it at all then.

Our favourite but was when the seagull says ‘piss off’

I do know what age I first watched it - it was one of my favourite films growing up, but I used to sob and sob every time I watched it. If I hear even a couple of bars of ‘Bright Eyes’ I am in floods.

I'm 36 and never seen it. DM was horribly traumatised by it (and bambi, she had to leave the cinema!) so she never let us see either and now that I'm an adult I've no desire to watch something that will inevitably make me miserable!