Watership Down of his warren's success and its future. Leaving his friends and no-longer-needed body behind, Hazel departs Watership Down with the spirit guide. "Lapine" is a fictional language created by author Richard Adams for the novel, where it is spoken by the rabbit characters. The language was again used in Adams' 1996 sequel, "Tales from Watership Down", and has appeared in both the film and television adaptations. The language fragments in the books consist of a few dozen distinct words, used mainly for the naming of rabbits, their mythological characters, and objects in their world. The name "Lapine" comes from the
Watership Down (film) visited by El-ahrairah, who invites him to join his own Owsla, assuring him of Watership Down's perpetual safety and its future. Reassured, Hazel accepts and dies peacefully. His spirit then follows El-ahrairah through the woodland and trees towards the Sun, which metamorphoses into Frith, and the afterlife. Production of the film began in 1975 and was originally to be directed by John Hubley, who died in 1977. His work can still be found in the film, most notably in the "fable" scene. He was replaced by the film's producer Martin Rosen, his directorial debut. After the genesis story, which was