Force Fed Films: "The Last Unicorn"

Jim gave me an interesting title for me to watch. I have never heard of “The Last Unicorn” before, but after Jim’s short description it seemed interesting enough. He knew of my liking towards cartoons, children’s tales and the 80’s so he really wanted me to see this. Now from looking from the front cover itself, it does look like a girly kid’s movie. But don’t let the cover deceive you, for what is inside this movie is entirely different. Details after the jump.

The story starts off with a unicorn who has heard from a bunch of humans that she is the last unicorn. Then a butterfly riddles her about Haggard and the Red Bull (does not have any wings). Out of curiosity, she seeks out on a quest to find out more about herself and her people by going to Haggard. During her quest she is kidnapped by a wicked witch and this is where the unicorn meets Schmendrick the magician, who helps her be free. Of course the incompetent magician loses his way and needs help from the local outlaw’s bride, Molly Grue. And the movie does get a bit weirder, when the magician turns the unicorn into a beautiful woman to trick the Red Bull. The three finally meet Prince Lir and Haggard. After then learning the truth the unicorn needs to make a final decision, stay a woman or a unicorn.

Here we have Lady Amalthea (unicorn in human form) and Molly Grue

To start off, this is not your typical family movie. It might be a bit too complex for children to fully enjoy. The movie is filled with complex story lines and evolving characters. It does simplify some of the movie for kids to enjoy, but not to the full extent that most folks will get out of it. To add on, the story of this movie completely drew me in; it was fantastic and probably the most interesting one all year.

Now I need to talk about the music. It is different from what I usually listen to or expect from a family movie. Disney movies make the most epic of soundtracks using the full ranges of an orchestra. In The Last Unicorn, you can hear the lack of budget this movie had. They were sung by an old American Folk band, Americas and even some of the actors have a few pieces too. A few of the voice actors are Jeff Bridges (The Big Lebowski) and Angela Lansbury (Beauty and the Beast). But back to the music, the instrumentals and singing was good enough, though the lyrics felt awkward and out of place. But it does not hurt the movie’s entertainment value.

The last thing I would like to bring up is the characters. I was delighted to see a full range of characters from a wicked old witch to the comical magician. But by far my favourite is the trippy butterfly who talks only in riddles. His humour is dry and won’t be appreciated by many, but I liked him a lot; sadly he was only in it for the first 15 minutes. The closest thing to him would be Cheshire the Cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Overall the movie was good; I loved the story and the characters. The only thing that holds this movie short from amazing is the weak lyrics and the overly complex story. The animation was well done, especially knowing that this was done in the early 80’s. I wasn’t too sure how seriously to take this movie, but I took it rather seriously and was pleased. Totally recommend to any movie goer that enjoys fantasy or cartoons.