NOTE: To ensure that Peter S. Beagle gets his share of the profits for this film, please purchase copies from him directly. The Amazon affiliate link here is for reference only.
The Last Unicorn is another of the great “lost” animated productions, and for so many reasons that a description threatens to turn into a catalog. It was a lavish adaptation of one of the most beloved of fantasy novels, mentioned in the same breath along with the Narnia books and Tolkien’s Ring cycle; its failure at the box office sent it into a limbo from which it still has yet to emerge completely from and which has caused both its author and its audience much grief; and it features an array of talent from many countries, including what would eventually become the nucleus of one of the most prestigious animation studios on the world.
It’s also quite simply a wonderful movie, literate and intelligent, and that in itself is reason enough to see it even if it had no cult following. It deals with, as the title might imply, the last unicorn (Mia Farrow) — a creature living in a timeless forest where it is always spring, and where nothing ever changes except the outside world. The Unicorn has grown restless and curious, and has come to wonder if there are any others like her. Her fellow animals tell her of the Red Bull, a monstrous creature who herded all of the other unicorns to the end of the earth for reasons unknown. Find this beast, she reasons, and I shall find the others like me — and so she sets off to do exactly that.
The last unicorn of the title has heard stories of the Red Bull,
the beast who herded all of the other unicorns to the end of the earth.
Her journey brings her into the clutches of a witch’s sideshow, and the friendship of the incompetent magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), who’d like to do something a little more substantial than card tricks with his magic one day. He is able to set her free, and even lead her to the Red Bull where his real power manifests for the first time: he transforms her into a human girl. Unfortunately, the Unicorn doesn’t belong in a human form — “I fear this (mortal) body more than I do the Red Bull,” she laments — and it may indeed be impossible for her to change back. She also comes under the attention of King Haggard, the keeper of the Red Bull, who is convinced this girl is a unicorn is disguise, and will go to just about any lengths to test his theory.
What is most interesting about the story is how it is not really about the Unicorn’s quest, but about how her journey opens her eyes. At first she is rather self-important and closed-off: she only cares about the other unicorns, and not about anything else that crosses her path. She glosses over stories about how the iron-fisted Haggard has despoiled the land so that she can hear more about the Red Bull. It takes being human, and a certain degree of forgetting about her self-appointed mission, to discover what the real importance of this whole adventure has been. This extra layer of insight, and the poetic way the screenplay expresses it (as written by the book’s own author, Peter S. Beagle), is a big part of what makes the film stand out for those who see it. It’s not just a forgettable romp.
The Unicorn's quest brings her into the hands of Schmendrick, the incompetent magician who
hones his magic thanks to her — and the last maiden who waited fruitlessly for a unicorn to appear.
Many people are startled to discover on watching the film that the animation crew is not American or even European, but Japanese. The animation was the product of a studio named Topcraft, an oufit that had worked on other key Rankin-Bass productions, the TV adaptations of The Hobbit and The Return of the King. In 1984, Topcraft were hired by a company named Tokuma Shoten to work on a production that would become even more legendary — and would also wind up only appearing in the USA in mutilated form, only to vanish for decades on end: Nausicäa of the Valley of the Wind. After the success of that film in Japan, producers Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata formed their own animation company, Studio Ghibli, and hired in most of the best people at Topcraft to fill the desks.
The film looks delightful, of course, and even if the animation is not as technically sophisticated as today’s productions — what could be? — it has a warmth and spirit to it that seems to have gone missing from most of the more recent digitally-enhanced work. Many individual moments are specifically reminiscent of Ghibli-era productions, too: in one shot, the Unicorn crosses a bridge while a heavy rain begins to fall, while birds nest in the hollow of a nearby tree and look on forlornly. The Red Bull itself is a masterful piece of animation work, downright terrifying to see (and probably a big part of the reason for the movie’s reputation as being too strong for children). The only major criticism I have is sometimes how the animation doesn’t really live up to the vigor of the voice performances; look at how blandly Schmendrick is rendered during his chest-thumping speech to the Unicorn in the carnival. Then again, that may just be me having seen so many other animated productions where such things are exaggerated to the point of absurdity.
Schmendrick transforms the Unicorn into a human girl, the better to keep her out of the hands of
King Haggard — he who herded the unicorns to the ends of the earth, but why?
Unicorn sports the most interesting voice cast for any English-language animated production I’ve seen yet. Many of the names are familiar: Angela Lansbury, Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Tammy Grimes, Christopher Lee. Some are now cult figures: Keenan Wynn and Rene Auberjonois. Most striking, however, is the presence of Brother Theodore (aka Theodore Gottlieb), the “stand-up tragedian” with a cult following of his own at least as enduring as the one for this film, and who voiced Gollum in both earlier Topcraft-animated Tokien adaptations to boot.
The problem behind the movie’s failure at the box office was that, like many other animated films that weren’t explicitly designed as “children’s movies,” it had no audience — none that the marketers could see, anyway. It was no Disney film; it was closer in spirit to riskier productions like The Plague Dogs, or even Miyazaki’s own Nausicäa, the latter of which had twenty minutes of character development and motivation sliced out of it by its American distributors. (That butchery soured Studio Ghibli on distributing any of their films Stateside for almost twenty years, and ironically enough it was Disney who struck a deal with them to bring their catalog into the USA — uncut and in its original language.)
It takes being mortal and vulnerable for the Unicorn to understand what her quest alone cannot show her.
If the way the movie has been treated inspires ire, it pales compared to the way Peter S. Beagle himself has been given short shrift. None of the current video versions of the film — especially not the Carleton / ITC video version available in the US and UK — generate any revenue for him, despite it having sold over 600,000 copies (and being of poor enough condition that it should never have been released in the first place). Someday I imagine this film, and its creator, will get the respect they both deserve. Today, sadly, is not that day.
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i know they were planning a live action version of this, but i just tried to search it out and couldnt find much... im wondering if they canned it or something like that... http://www.the-last-unicorn.net this is supposed to be the official site, but its pretty crappy... anyways, i grew up with this movie and still love it today.. hopefully you are right and it will find its proper place in movie history...
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Doesn´t seem to me crappy at all...
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I adored the movie as a kid. I had bought it on VHS at a supermarket way back and I watched it so many times the tape literally snapped. They really need to release a proper version of this, the one that was released in North America is pitiful.
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I don't know who wrote this review, but it is both delightful and insightful. Thank you. And thank you, also, for spreading the word about how Peter is being treated by Granada Media, the company that currently controls the film.
As to the film's future...well, Peter and I are working on that. And we have hope that someday there will indeed be a version of this movie that does its own potential justice. Please let us know how we can fill you in, come the day we succeed.
-- Connor Cochran Business Manager for Peter S. Beagle
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A wonderful review of a great movie. I have both the book and the American release of the film, and have enjoyed them for many years. I would dearly love to see a newer version of this story released someday. One of my favorite parts of the movie was the soundtrack by America ("Man's Road", and the title track). My best wishes to Peter that this delightful and strong story will soon get the recognition it so well deserves.
Ali
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This movie has been with me since i can remember on tape and now dvd... i have watched over and over and over and still can not get over how you feelings and thoughts can change with age on how you see the movie.... i always end up crying at some point in the movie.... i have bought and read the book and will even be getting a tattoo done on the last unicorn herself so she will be with me always.
thanks again to everyone involved in making the animation and Peter for giving us the book that started it all....
the last unicorn will be remembered forever
Denise
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esta pelicula es la mas bella!!!!! waaaaaa kiero verla denuevo!!!
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"The Last Unicorn" was my childhood movie; speaking deeper depths of me than even other animated classics I saw when I was little-- those big-time Disney films, that is. The song "The Last Unicorn" was the lullaby I have hummed throughout the years to myself as I drifted to sleep, and Mia Farrow's was the voice that echoed through my lonely dreams. This was also the movie that sparked my love of unicorns and folk tale and fantasy. My emotions of this movie are many and deep-seated. Though others may mock this movie for what it lacked, and though they may mock the unicorn itself as a mere young girl's dream, the lyrics will remain true in my heart: "When it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn- in the distance, hear the laughter of the Last Unicorn! I'm alive! I'm alive!
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"Man's Road" - America This song means a lot to me on many levels.
As a child, this was one of the happiest moments I had as a child. I would go and visit my father and watch a movie called "The Last Unicorn." This song is one of the many good ongs in the movie. This movie is in the fantasy genre and came on when HBO used to be one of the ONLY cable stations that played movies...and there was only 1 HBO. I used to sit with my father and my sister and by happy, but sad at the same time knowing the weekend would be ending soon and I would have to go home. Not that I didn't like home, but I did miss my dad :-)
The other level was that as I got older and life happened to me, I got to listen to this song again after looking around for music. Without the cartoon to go with it, the song took a whole new meaning for me. You see, as a child I heard the words, but I never really listened nor understood what was being said. As an adult, I have taken a whole new meaning from this song.
My new feeling for this song is no less powerful, or any more or less sad. I at times feel tired and weary...walking through life...in actuality, I was sitting on the train coming from work (ha...listening to this song as a child...who'd have thought I would be doing the daily grind) and I was thinking about money...then I thought to myself, "Self, why do I need money?"
To live... Why? Because you need heat and food and electricity to see...and you need a phone to communicate and you need... But why do you need these things? To live... So you live to make money so you can live....to make more money...so you can live? Yes... Self? Yes? That doesn't seem like much living... I know...
So yes..this song has taken on a new meaning to me. I can appreciate the times my father fell asleep during movies on our visits, I can understand why he couldn't see us whenever he and we wanted...
Horizon rising up to meet the purple dawn Dust demon screaming, bring an eagle to lead me on For in my heart I carry such a heavy load Here I am on Man's road, walking Man's road, walking Man's road
I'm hungry, weary, but I cannot lay me down The rain comes, dreary, but there's no shelter I have found It will be a long time till I find my abode Here I am on Man's road, walking Man's road
Moon rising, disguising lonely streets in gay displays The stars fade, the night shade falls and makes the world afraid It waits in silence for the sky to explode Here I am on Man's road, walking Man's road, walking Man's road Walking Man's road, walking Man's road, walking Man's road ...
(I posted this to my blog...and then came acroos this site while looking for a picture to go with it)
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wonderful fantasy movie, I love it :)
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This was my ultimate childhood memory. I love this movie. I cry every time I watch the movie. It brings back very deep emotions and wonderful childhood memories. It's fantastic. my vhs tape was so worn out from playing it over and over that one day my brother without reading the vhs label decided to tape over the movie with an episode of "The Transformers". I was so torn by that I cried over the fact that I would never see this movie again. But then one day, I came across is at Blockbuster and realized that it was available in DVD and purchased it at Best Buy!! Hooray! (highly recommend it along with the soundtrack)
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This was my ultimate childhood memory. I love this movie. I cry every time I watch the movie. It brings back very deep emotions and wonderful childhood memories. It's fantastic. My vhs tape was so worn out from playing it over and over that one day my brother without reading the vhs label decided to tape over the movie with an episode of "The Transformers". I was so torn by that I cried over the fact that I would never see this movie again. But then one day, I came across it at Blockbuster and realized that it was available on DVD and purchased it at Best Buy!! Hooray! (highly recommend it along with the soundtrack)
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I really have no idea why, but I believe I saw this movie when I was about 4 years old. I only saw it one time, and occasionally I get a flash of memory from it in my mind. I know it might sound ridiculous, but whenever I think of it, I get these strange chills. I just remember this picture of a unicorn running and there's not much more to the memory. Anyway, I know this was random, but maybe its interesting to somebody. :)
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I've seen this film when i was a child and since then i've been looking for it...after 10 years without finding it, i still remenber the song and the caracters, and the voices... I'm studying animation because of it! The book is right here, next to me... Thanks, Peter, for what i am today... MFA, Portugal.
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I thought this web site is awesome already, but being I love horses, that makes it even more lovable. I have this movie, by the way! :)
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I love this site it shows the beauty and intelligence of this movie first off I love unicorns and mythology and this film talks about a unicorn in a forest who ventures out to find others of her kind after hearing that one is the lat by a hunter. Also a butterfly who sings and says poetry tells her that all the unicorns were drivendown all the roads long ago to the ends of the earth by the red bull but inside it in riddle and rhyme and that is all in said. I just love this movie and I love the beginning song by America
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As the last eagle soars over the last crumbing mountain and-the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain you can hear her in the distance though she may be old an worn in the shadows of the forest is the last unicorn or at least I think that is how the song goes anyway... if you know how it goes please port them I really love that song... Uhh
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http://www.aleystria.de/texte/LastUnicorn.pdf. You are welcome.
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