Because of my parents’ conservative Christian beliefs, there was always a blurry line in my childhood regarding the content I could engage with. He-Man? Oh, he was never permitted for he didn’t invoke Jesus but rather the power of Greyskull. Movies such as Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia were embraced with open arms since they were symbolic of Jesus in one way or another. The Last Unicorn is the kind of movie that used to be shown on TV during Easter or Thanksgiving. I would see the announcements for it but it was deemed to be “Devil’s Work” so I was not allowed to watch it. When my younger siblings were about to join high school my parents slowly started loosening these restrictions which did not entirely go away as the memories of them were used to judge others. So now, after all these decade, I was finally able to view The Last Unicorn, and let me tell you, it was um… alright.
While discussing the Red Bull, evil creature that hunted and killed unicorns, Mia Farrow overheard a meeting that revealed to her how she came to be the only unicorn left. The unicorn sets off on an adventure after coming across mommy Fortuna, a witch who operates a circus. With the assistance of Hendrick the magician, Alan Arkin, she helps the equine but there are violent disputes. At last, The Unicorn and her many friends discover where the Red Bull came from and make a bold move to return the unicorns to power and honor the old traditions.
I’ve come across numerous reviews of The Last Unicorn by queer people who watch it as children and use it as a metaphor, at least in my opinion, that is an incredibly important aspect and one of the best things about movie theater as a child when you are able to come across something that resonates with you even when the audience around you doesn’t it is such a crucial aspect of the cinema to do, when most of it is detrimental. I do not wish to cave in on those pronouncements concerning the film, still I will maintain that I did not like this one too much. I do not recall how many times I would have divorced myself from this picture in my childhood, because there are no warm feelings, only boredom.
The art style of the animation in The Last Unicorn being a lost art is a Rankin & Bass animation, so in a sense it is glued onto The Hobbit which was animated by them a couple of years earlier. The visuals have that soft 1970 inverse porn ethos, where, instead of going through formal artistic training, people who saw war to try and paint went through acid trips, resulting in sleek abstract lines. What gets created is terrifying yet awe-inspiring. The Red Bull segments let the film step outside of reality into a more high concept approach where shapes fluidly and chaotically move in a similar motion of being tossed around in water. Not to mention the very memorable and beautifully done location where the other unicorns rise from the ocean using hand drawn animations, which is quite mesmerizing.
The plot and the pacing of The Last Unicorn are jumbled up, and not the best or most well-adapted together. In a sense, the themes are straightforward as it is with most children’s movies, however, it would have been better if the script added slight nuance to it. The author of the book, Peter Beagle, also wrote the screenplay and has done it together, without reading, very closely. Children will find this video stimulating and engaging as they start to contemplate on it while in my case, as an adult, I found it terribly dry.
One of its weaknesses to some degree seems to be now doing justice to The Last Unicorn as a musical. This story was not the kind that required songs but rather came off as in convenient and in an effort to increase the length of the show. They’re loss and no footage was required. Even now, where I believe Beagle is attempting to bring her ideas to life, it is all excellently overwhelming and brilliantly written to an extent.
I absolutely adore musicals, but there has got to be more of a rationale behind the songs apart from, “it’s a child’s animated film, therefore it should have songs.” Just wait for Jeff Bridges in the second half of the movie when he is the prince trying to sing one of the songs.
As previously mentioned, the animation was done by a myriad of artists who eventually became a part of studio Ghibli. I think that may be a suitable ways to describe this movie, Studio Ghibli. Again, they tackle many of these subjects in their works but do them, as their fans say, much differently to say the least, more artistically. For part of that is different cultural expectations. In the US, animation was (and is, by some) viewed as a kid`s sphere which brings forth the expectation of overcrowded simple songs. Spirited away, pond stars, and my neighbor Totoro do not require songs because they abstract in the artworks and tell stories that are truly multi layered. To be honest, I think I would have much more enjoyed the Last Unicorn, produced under Hayao Miyazaki, than this one.
Between 1982 and 1986, the two legendary pieces of animation emerged: The Last Unicorn and Rainbow Brite which dominated the hearts of young children, including mine. They had unconventional storytelling complemented with bright eye-catching art. Today, people like us get branded as children’s animations’ connoisseurs. With all that’s said, any contemporary 21st-century kids can enjoy the movie. I’d cringe at the thought of suggesting it to young children. Even as a five-year-old, the film’s strong critique of society’s barbarism and features gave me a rude awakening.
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