And Now For Something Completely Different.

If we may, let's take a little break from Disney movies. They didn't hog all the animation, you know! Our next review is of a somewhat lesser-known (but still known!) movie called:

The Last Unicorn
Theatrical release: November 19, 1982

This animated feature was created by Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. through the animation studio Topcraft. It was released by ITC Entertainment. The story, based on Peter S. Beagle's novel--he was the main screenwriter, as a matter of fact, so the movie and the book are much more similar than Disney could ever manage--centers around a unicorn who learns that she is the last of her kind and sets out to find the others. Along the way she makes a few human friends, has a handful of misadventures, and learns what it means to be mortal. This movie has been described as one of the most mature, frank, and emotional of the G-rated movies. (Nowadays it would probably be re-rated to PG, due to very mild swearing and partial nudity. The uncensored version, that is. In my opinion, censoring stuff this mild in order to "keep it G" instead of just saying it's PG is stupid, but they did it anyway for the 25th anniversary DVD release! I find censoring bothersome and tacky anyway, but this is just sad. Luckily I own the original, untouched VHS.)

Okay. Censorship rant over.

I noticed right away that the animation was of a slightly lower caliber, but maybe that's just because I'm used to Disney. Most of the time it was fine, but several specific elements of animation kept grabbing my attention when I didn't need them to. One, the birds were animated poorly when in flight. Two, the water stood out like a sore thumb. Three: in several scenes the Unicorn moves her head around way more than she actually would, usually as a way to punctuate her thoughts or make a static shot look more "interesting." On the backgrounds: the occasional shot used extremely stylized scenery and shrubbery which kept distracting me, though this was mostly in the Unicorn's home forest. These were the only things that really bugged me, though. The way they drew long hair and manes was definitely unique and pleasing to look at. The opening credits, using the art from those old tapestries, were really clever.

Actually, I thought was interesting when I learned that Topcraft went on to get hired by Hayao Miyazaki and eventually morphed into Studio Ghibli. But I digress.

This film's weak point is most definitely the music. The score seems to receive undue emphasis in strange places and go unnoticed where it's needed. So the Butterfly's showcase of crazy memorization skills got a fancy score while the intense discourse in the Red Bull's cave went along without any interesting music? Tsk tsk. The songs were even more annoying. Here, I'll rank the songs from most annoying to relatively okay.

1. "Now That I'm A Woman"
2. "That's All I've Got To Say"
3. "In The Sea"
4. "The Last Unicorn"
5. "Man's Road"

There you go. Well, okay, they weren't totally horrible. They had meaningful lyrics and all. But still, "Now That I'm A Woman" was a torture to listen to, though perhaps not as bad as our old favorite "I'm Wishing."

All rightey, time for the character study! (I'll try to make it shorter this time.) Our Most Lifelike Character award this week goes to Molly Grue. I liked her gruff annoyance with Captain Cully, it loaned a lot of spunk to her character. Yet she's extremely kind to her friends, namely Schmendrick and the Unicorn, and her heart's in the right place. Schmendrick and Mommy Fortuna are about tied for second place. While Schmendrick's true desire is to become a real magician, Mommy Fortuna's wish is to leave a mark on the world through the Harpy's memory: "So there's my immortality, eh?" Schmendrick cares deeply about his friends. Mommy Fortuna has a sense of protection for the animals in her cages. The Unicorn/Lady Amalthea ranks near the top of the list as well. Sure, it's kind of hard to write down the thoughts of an immortal being since it's a little difficult to find one in real life, but I think Peter S. Beagle and the others did well. She doesn't have any problem with being friendly with those who deserve it. I could almost imagine her agony when she was first forced into a human shape. I even managed to catch an amazing quote: "I can feel this body dying all around me!" Her gradual confusion in her human body really touched me. The lesser characters of the skeleton and the cat each have their places as well; the skeleton is unusually funny and the cat is refreshingly witty. The Harpy and King Haggard are all right. Hey, they have their motives. Poor Haggard, he just can't make himself happy. :( Characters that could have done with some more work were the butterfly and Prince Lir.

I have noticed that the minority of people who are familiar with this movie seem to really like it. I must say that even though I was looking for flaws and imperfections, which I did find, this film has a deep collection of emotional and existential conflicts. What does it truly mean to love? Where is the dividing line between reality and illusion? Is immortality all it's cracked up to be? Is Disney really all that great? (Heh. Just kidding.) Though I've seen movies that I liked better overall, this one holds a special significance to me despite its flaws as a film. If you have never seen this film or haven't watched it in a while, it's most definitely worth a look.

And just so you know, before you worry, Mahewa didn't have much to say. I think she's a little groggy from this weekend.

Mahewa's rating: 3.4/5




New feature: here are a few other reviews of this movie, not done by us. The one from The New York Times is an original from 1982. The others are from The Unknown Movies and DanielThomas.org.