▁UK ▁on ▁ 1 9 ▁October ▁ 1 9 7 8 , ▁and ▁was ▁later ▁released ▁in ▁the ▁United ▁States ▁on ▁ 1 ▁November ▁ 1 9 7 8 , ▁for ▁the ▁latter , ▁the ▁movie ▁was ▁distributed ▁by ▁AV CO ▁Emb ass y ▁Pictures . ▁ ▁The ▁film ▁has ▁received ▁a ▁mostly ▁positive ▁critical ▁reception , ▁with ▁an ▁ 8 2 % ▁' F resh ' ▁rating ▁on ▁Rotten ▁Tomatoes ▁based ▁on ▁ 3 4 ▁reviews . ▁The ▁critical ▁cons ensus ▁reads : ▁" A im ed ▁at ▁adult s ▁perhaps ▁more ▁than ▁children , ▁this ▁is ▁a ▁respect ful , ▁beautiful ly ▁animated ▁adaptation ▁of ▁Richard ▁Adams ' ▁bel oved ▁book ." ▁ ▁The ▁film ▁was ▁nominated ▁for ▁Hugo ▁Award ▁for ▁Best ▁D ram atic ▁Pres entation ▁in ▁ 1 9 7 9 . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁the ▁magazine ▁Total ▁Film ▁named ▁W aters hip ▁Down ▁the ▁ 4 7 th - gre at est ▁British ▁film ▁of ▁all ▁time ▁and ▁it ▁was ▁also ▁ranked ▁ 1 5 th ▁in ▁the ▁" 1 0 0 ▁Great est ▁T ear j erk ers ". ▁ ▁When ▁W aters hip ▁Down ▁was ▁released ▁the ▁film ▁was ▁very ▁successful . ▁According ▁to ▁financi er ▁J ake ▁E berts ▁the ▁invest ors ▁who ▁put ▁up ▁the ▁$ 5 0 , 0 0 0 ▁development ▁fin ance ▁" got ▁their ▁money ▁back ▁with ▁interest , ▁plus ▁an ▁additional ▁$ 4 5 0 , 0 0 0 , ▁making ▁a ▁total ▁of ▁ten