It had been some time since I last watched the "Redwall: The Movie" edit of the first season, so I recently gave it a rewatch. It's a very serviceable adaptation of the Redwall story, far more focused than Season One ever was (dropping as it does the traveling circus, Farlo the spice trader, and most of Matthias' back and forth trips between the farm/quarry and the Abbey).
One of the unfortunate aspects of Season One was that they exhausted more than half the book in the first four episodes, necessitating a lot of filler material like Wild Ivy and Farlo. It also screwed up the sequencing, leading to Chickenhound's encounter with Methuselah before they'd finished the riddles they needed Methuselah alive for.The Movie doesn't fix all of these elements (Methuselah is still attacked out of sequence), but the core story is so identifiably Redwall that it doesn't grate as much.
It almost addressed one of my chief complaints, which was how the series had Matthias venture to the farm, back to Redwall, back to the quarry, back to Redwall, back out to attack Cluny, then back to Redwall for the climax. Obviously the book was Matthias venturing out to the farm & quarry and then returning to Redwall for the climax. The former made the world seem smaller than it should have and also lessened the impact of the quest Matthias was actually on. The movie almost addresses this issue in its removal of filler, save for the fact that Matthias still pops back to the Abbey for a short scene between the farm and quarry. Otherwise it's far more faithful.
Bottom line, compared with each other, the Movie is a far more faithful adaptation of Redwall than Season One ever will be (albeit still sacrificing some truly well-done moments in the interest of time). That doesn't mean it fares so well up against the book itself. One will always look at the quality of Mattimeo and Martin the Warrior and regret what could have been-- but what we got is still plenty enjoyable.
As an aside, I was mildly amused to read a review of a DVD release on Amazon from someone clearly looking for the Movie edit and thinking that Season One took the movie and added material rather than the reverse.![]()