| “ | "Did you just give me a compliment, Blackberry? From this moment on, we're inseparable!"
―Bluebell in the miniseries
|
” |
Bluebell is one of the survivors of Sandleford Warren.
Appearance
In the miniseries, he has gray fur and bright blue eyes. In the graphic novel, he has lighter gray fur and blue eyes. After surviving an encounter with Cowslip and his vengeful group, Bluebell is missing the top part of his right ear. He also has several scratches from escaping the destruction of Sandleford Warren.
Personality
| “ | I wouldn't care about my spirits if my legs weren't so tired. Slugs are lucky not to have legs. I think I'll be a slug.
―Bluebell in the book
|
” |
He is Holly's faithful friend who uses humor to lighten up situations. Bluebell tells stories almost as well as Dandelion.
Bluebell is known to make jokes all the time. He chatters non-stop, and it helps Holly cheer up from the destruction and murder he had seen at the Sandleford Warren and also helped keep him moving. He never stops joking and chattering unless something really shocking and serious happened, or if someone is telling a serious story. Hazel is initially irritated by him because he found Bluebell's jokes inappropriate, but warms up to him when he realizes that the jokes really are cheering Holly up, and often exchanges humorous couplets with Bluebell throughout the rest of the book. Bluebell is good friends with Holly and possibly Dandelion and Pipkin.
Books
Watership Down
Bluebell, Holly, Pimpernel, and Toadflax were some of the only rabbits that were able to escape, but Toadflax soon died after they left Sandleford. They soon ran into the Warren of Snares, where they were ambushed by Cowslip and his people, who killed Pimpernel. Holly cornered Cowslip and threatened to kill him if he didn't tell him where Hazel and Bigwig were; Cowslip said that they were on Watership Down. When they got up on the Down, Bluebell sensed elil coming towards them. Bluebell couldn't get Holly to move, so he fled into a bush. Holly shouted "ZORN!" and called Bigwig's name. Bigwig heard his calls, but he thought that it was the Black Rabbit of Inlé. He went up anyway and found Bluebell and Holly, and the two injured bucks were welcomed into the Watership Down Warren as brethren.
Bluebell and Holly then recount the harrowing tale of the destruction of Sandleford Warren. While Holly explains what the men were doing on the outside, Bluebell describes the true horror of the poison gas and senseless fighting inside the warren, and how he escaped through the Slack Run.
Later, Bluebell is part of the expedition to rescue does from Efrafa.
Tales from Watership Down
Bluebell has an extremely minor role in this book. It is mentioned he assisted in digging burrows, and he tried to keep the morale of the group up when they were running out of food during the same winter that also led to Acorn's death.
Miniseries
Bluebell appears in the miniseries. Unlike the book, he joins Hazel and the others into escaping Sandleford before Holly does. He is also shown to be close friends with Blackberry and takes Dandelion's role as a storyteller. Also, Bluebell is shown to have an innocent and somewhat timid personality, fulfilling an absent Pipkin's role from the book.
He is shown to overreact to one simple compliment, as shown when he is overjoyed when Blackberry compliments his storytelling, and even starts kissing him, saying that from that moment on, they're inseparable, much to the annoyance of Blackberry.
"The Journey"
Bluebell eats a carrot for the first time at Cowslip's warren.
While walking in the forest away from Sandleford, Bluebell is extremely terrified to the point he makes stories involving the Black Rabbit which makes the rest of the group nervous, Blackberry calls him out on it.
At Cowslip's warren, Bluebell tells a story of El-ahrairah and the king's lettuce, only to be brought down by Cowslip, who says that El-ahrairah's trickery means nothing to the warren, and that rabbits need dignity, and the will to accept death when it comes. He then brings up Silverweed, instead. Later on, he assists Blackberry in threatening Cowslip, when he tries to stop the rabbits from helping Bigwig, who is caught in a snare.
"The Raid"
.png){kind=link}
"I'd take it back, that's the biggest rabbit I've ever seen" Bluebell upon seeing the massive Woundwort.
He inadvertently goes with Holly and Blackberry to ask for does from Efrafa after being told about it by Kehaar. He talks throughout the entire trip, which again, annoys Blackberry, who tells him not to make jokes at inappropriate times at Efrafa. Blackberry proceeds to say that he tends to be a liability, which offends him. He still proceeds to try and make a joke after being captured by Captain Orchis, but is promptly silenced by Blackberry, who cites what he told him earlier.
During the night, the three of them make a break for it, but they are seen by Vervain, who chases them. With the help of Hyzenthlay, they make it to a railroad track, just as a train is coming. Vervain battles Blackberry on top of the tracks, but Holly manages to knock him down with Bluebell's help and jump out of the way in time, before the train comes through, and kills Vervain.
Blackberry says that Bluebell saved him.
"The Escape""
The three make it back to Watership Down, and Bluebell tells them what had happened, and what Efrafa is like. Holly hammers in that not even a great storyteller like Bluebell could say in words just how bad it was there. After Bigwig makes it into Efrafa, Bluebell and the others wait for Kehaar to come help them escape. However, he doesn't come, bringing the rabbits at a loss for ideas.
The rabbits meet Bigwig outside of Efrafa, after he'd finally gotten out of there with the does. However, Woundwort catches up to them.
"The Siege"
Just as Woundwort's about to strike Bigwig, Kehaar swoops in and knocks him down, before moving to the Efrafan officers, allowing the rabbits to escape to Watership Down. However, the Efrafans track them there. While hiding from Woundwort, Blackberry tries to calm Bluebell by telling him a joke, but all he gets is a tiny laugh. He would manage to survive the battle, as Hazel and Blackavar lead Bob to the warren. The dog kills Orchis, who has gone tharn, and turns to Woundwort. The outcome of the battle is unknown.
Bluebell with his two kits.
Several months or years later, he has kittens with an unknown doe. They want to play fight with him, but he claims that "Uncle" Blackberry is the one that likes to play fight, which he denies, but the kits still tackle him.
As the episode ends he tells the story of how Hazel led the Sandleford escapees to Watership Down Warren, which starts with the opening of the Watership Down novel.
Trivia
- Bluebell is absent from the 1978 film and 1999-2001 television series.
- Bluebell is a combination of Dandelion and Pipkin in the miniseries, being a storyteller like the former, and very timid like the latter.
- In the miniseries, Bluebell may be interpreted as bisexual or pansexual as he tries to kiss Blackberry on several occasions, or is at least open to making very affectionate gestures to bucks. He also has kits with an unnamed doe. As such, he could be interpreted as the closest the Watership Down franchise has gotten to LGBT+ representation.
Gallery
Main page: Bluebell/Image Gallery