The Last Unicorn (film)


The Last Unicorn is a 1982 American-British-Japanese animated fantasy film about a unicorn who, upon learning that she is the last of her species in the world, goes on a quest to find out what has happened to the others of her kind. Based on the 1968 novel The Last Unicorn written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay, the film was directed and produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. It was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions for ITC Entertainment and animated by Topcraft.
The film includes the voices of Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, and Christopher Lee. The musical score and the songs were composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, and performed by the group America and the London Symphony Orchestra, with additional vocals provided by Lucy Mitchell. The film grossed $6,455,330 domestically.

Plot

A talking unicorn learns from a butterfly that she is the last of her kind. The Red Bull has herded unicorns to the ends of the earth. The Unicorn journeys to find them.
The Unicorn is captured by the witch Mommy Fortuna and displayed in her Midnight Carnival. Most of the attractions are normal animals enhanced by illusions to appear as mythical beasts. Fortuna uses a spell to create another horn on the unicorn's head, as the carnival visitors cannot see her real form. Fortuna keeps the immortal harpy Celaeno captive as well, deeming the risk secondary to the deed's prestige. The unicorn is befriended by Schmendrick, an incompetent magician in the service of Mommy Fortuna. With the help of Schmendrick, the Unicorn escapes, in the process freeing Celaeno, who kills Fortuna. The Unicorn and Schmendrick gain a second traveling companion Molly Grue, the careworn lover of Captain Cully.
When the Unicorn nears the seaside castle of King Haggard, keeper of the Red Bull, she encounters the animal, a monstrous fire elemental. Before she can be captured, Schmendrick uses his unpredictable magic, transforming her into a woman. The Red Bull becomes uninterested in her and departs. The Unicorn is shocked by the feeling of mortality. Schmendrick promises to return her to normal after the quest is complete.
Schmendrick, Molly Grue, and the now-human Unicorn proceed to the castle. Haggard is at first unwelcoming. Schmendrick introduces the Unicorn as Lady Amalthea, and requests that they become members of Haggard's court, only to be told that the only occupants of the castle are Haggard, his adopted son Prince Lír and four ancient men-at-arms. Haggard consents to lodge the trio, replacing his more competent wizard, Mabruk, with Schmendrick, and setting Molly Grue to work in his scullery. Mabruk leaves after recognizing "Amalthea" for what she truly is, jeering that by allowing her into his castle Haggard has invited his doom.
Amalthea begins forgetting her identity and falls in love with Prince Lír. Caught in her newfound emotions, she considers abandoning her quest in favor of mortal love. Haggard confronts Amalthea, hinting at the location of the unicorns, yet from the waning magic in her eyes, has doubts regarding his suspicions that she is more than she seems. Molly learns the location of the Red Bull's lair from a talking cat.
Molly, Schmendrick, and Amalthea are joined by Lír as they enter the bull's den. Schmendrick reveals Amalthea's true identity to Lír after explaining what they are looking for. Lír declares that he loves her anyway. This makes Amalthea want to abandon the quest and marry Lír, but Lír dissuades her. The Red Bull appears, no longer deceived by Amalthea's human form, and chases after her. As Lír protects her, Schmendrick turns Amalthea back into the Unicorn, but she is unwilling to leave Lír's side. The Bull drives her toward the ocean just as he drove the other unicorns, but she runs away with the Red Bull pursuing. Lír tries defending her, but is killed by the bull. Enraged, the Unicorn turns on the Bull and forces him into the sea. Carried on the incoming tides, the other unicorns emerge from the water, causing Haggard's castle to collapse into the sea as they rush past. Haggard falls to his death while laughing.
On the beach, the Unicorn magically revives Lír. Schmendrick assures Lír that he gained much by winning the love of a unicorn, even if he is now alone. The Unicorn says goodbye to Schmendrick, who laments he wronged her by burdening her with regret and the taint of mortality, which could make her unable to properly rejoin her kind. She disagrees about the importance of his actions, as they helped restore unicorns to the world; though she is the only unicorn to feel regret, she is also the only unicorn to know love. Schmendrick and Molly watch the Unicorn depart for her home.

Cast

Peter S. Beagle stated that there had been interest in creating a film based on the book early on. Those who expressed interest included Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez of the Peanuts television specials, though Beagle had been convinced by one of their partners' wives that they were "not good enough", as well as former 20th Century Fox animator Les Goldman. At the time, Beagle believed that "animated was the only way to go" with regard to the film, and had never thought of making it into a live-action film. Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass' New York-based production company, Rankin/Bass Productions, had been the last studio that the film's associate producer, Michael Chase Walker, approached, and Beagle was "horrified" when he was informed that they had made a deal with Walker. Beagle stated that he has "…come to feel that the film is actually a good deal more than I had originally credited", and went on to say "There is some lovely design work – the Japanese artists who did the concepts and coloring were very good. And the voice actors do a superb job in bringing my characters to life…"
While Rankin/Bass provided the film's dialogue and story based on Beagle's work, the animation was done at Topcraft in Tokyo, Japan, headed by former Toei Animation employee Toru Hara, with Masaki Iizuka being in charge of the production. The studio, which previously animated The Hobbit and The Return of the King, The Stingiest Man in Town, Frosty's Winter Wonderland and other cel-animated projects from Rankin/Bass, would later be hired by Hayao Miyazaki to work on Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and their core members eventually went on to form Studio Ghibli. According to Beagle, the final film ended up being "remarkably close" to his original script, although one scene at the end involving an encounter with a princess was "animated but eventually cut."

Soundtrack

The musical score and the songs were composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, and performed by the group America and the London Symphony Orchestra, with additional vocals provided by Lucy Mitchell. The Last Unicorn soundtrack was recorded at De Lane Lea Studios in Wembley, England in 1982. The album was released in Germany in 1983 by Virgin Records, but has not been released in the United States; it includes the film score's symphonic pieces. In his review for AllMusic, James Christopher Monger called it, "an appropriately somber and sentimental blend of fairy tale motifs and dark, Wagnerian cues".

Release

U.S. distribution rights were sold to Jensen Farley when Universal Pictures, who were due to release Associated Film Distribution's product in the United States, were not keen on the film.
The Last Unicorn premiered in 648 theaters in the United States on November 19, 1982, and earned $2,250,000 on its opening weekend. It grossed a total of $6,455,330 in the U.S. and Canada.

Home media

The first U.S. DVD, released by Lionsgate on March 16, 2004, was made from poor-quality pan-and-scan masters. Upon the release of this DVD, Conlan Press lobbied Lionsgate "to do something about it." Lionsgate licensed the German video masters and audio mix and came up with a "25th Anniversary Edition" DVD which was released in North America on February 6, 2007. It has audio and visual quality superior to the original U.S. release, and is in 16:9 widescreen format, but has several swear words edited out, and as a result of being taken from PAL masters, plays 4% faster than the original film, resulting in a slightly higher audio pitch than normal. The new DVD edition includes a featurette with an interview with the author, as well as a set-top game, image gallery, and the original theatrical trailer. As of October 2011, over 2,500,000 copies of the DVD have been sold.
On June 9, 2015, Shout! Factory released new Blu-ray and DVD versions of The Last Unicorn entitled "The Enchanted Edition". This edition was transferred from a new widescreen 2K digital master, and includes the original uncensored audio as well as a commentary track with Peter S. Beagle, associate producer Michael Chase Walker, tour producer Connor Freff Cochran, and Conlan Press team members; highlights from the Worldwide Screening Tour; a new True Magic: The Story of the Last Unicorn featurette; animated storyboards; and the original theatrical trailer.

Reception

In a New York Times review, Janet Maslin called The Last Unicorn "an unusual children's film in many respects, the chief one being that it is unusually good. features a cast that would do any live-action film proud, a visual style noticeably different from that of other children's fare, and a story filled with genuine sweetness and mystery." and said that "no one of any age will be immune to the sentiment of the film's final moments, which really are unexpectedly touching and memorable". Beagle himself called the film "magnificent" in comparison to J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, for which he also wrote the screenplay. As of 2018, the film has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads: "The Last Unicorn lacks the fluid animation to truly sparkle as an animated epic, but offbeat characters and an affecting storytelling make it one of a kind for the true believers."
Todd McCarthy in Variety praised the script and voice acting but was not impressed by the film's animation. "However vapid the unicorn may appear to the eye, Mia Farrow's voice brings an almost moving plaintive quality to the character. For an actress to register so strongly on voice alone is a rare accomplishment." The review also praised the vocal talents of Arkin, Lee, and Frees.