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The original movie poster.
I love this classic image!

I cannot remember how old I was when I first watched The Last Unicorn. The Last Unicorn is an animated feature length film released in 1982. The film is based directly on a fantasy book, The Last Unicorn, written by Peter S. Beagle. The book is heralded and accepted as an important fantasy work of this era, with many appreciative fans (myself among them).

The memories of watching The Last Unicorn are almost crystal clear in my mind, even now. I didn't realize I had these somewhat suppressed memories until I found a DVD copy today at a local pawn shop. I'd seen it before but was too frugal to buy it, even though it was used and cheap. I am very pleased that I made the decision to buy the movie, as all the memories came flooding back. I value only a few things in this life more than good memories. The older, the better - as my decrepit mind has robbed me of most of them.

My grandma, Nana, somehow had a copy of The Last Unicorn in her beta videocassette collection back when my sister and I were quite young. In the summers of our youth, Nana babysat us quite often. One of our favorite activities back then was to watch movies, most often the same ones over and over again! I remember watching Back to the Future day after day, countless times. Disney's animated Robin Hood was another favorite of that era (THE story of Robin Hood IMHO).

There is something magical about The Last Unicorn that cannot be explained aside from watching it for yourself. I'm not talking about the loads of magic depicted throughout the story, but rather the incredible uniqueness of the movie's presentation. Everything about the movie is solid gold. The drawings are absolutely beautiful, with little to compare to in the world of animation. Many of the characters are drawn in a style that closely resembles Japanese Anime, though most devout anime fans tell you that the movie cannot be categorized as such (they are very strict and picky). Perhaps this artistic uniqueness could be compared to that of another favorite of mine, The Secret of NIMH. This gauge of artwork is not predictably Disney or Warner Brothers. Some argue that Disney's work is a benchmark to measure all other animation against. To me, the animation in The Last Unicorn outshines such biased standards due to its singularity and charm.

Musically, The Last Unicorn is a gem. I myself am not overly familiar with or a big fan of the band, America. Nevertheless, the songs they performed for the movie are incredible - as composed and arrange by Jimmy Webb. They sound to me like ballads, and they have a timeless charm. Let me tell you, when I saw the DVD on the pawn shop shelf today, the first thing that came to mind after the rush of all the childhood memories was the music. I was humming the tunes all the way home, and now after watching the movie again I'm tempted to find (or make) guitar chords for it! :) The exception to my delight might be the "love" songs Amalthea and Prince Lir sing to each other, but they too have their place in the story. Unlike some annoying interruptions offered by Disney-esque song interludes, the music in The Last Unicorn is vastly important and effective. The songs amplify the poignancy and emotion of the film.

The voice talent recruited for The Last Unicorn is stellar. Through their voices, the characters are brought to life, and they echo in the mind long after the ending credits roll. The cast list includes famous actors and actresses like Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Christopher Lee, Angela Lansbury, and more. It's always fun to learn who the voices are, something I would not have cared about when I was a young child. I now appreciate how animated characters are often rendered to mirror some physical attributes of the actors who voice them.

The plot and character development of The Last Unicorn are well executed. Each of the motivations and ethics of each character shine through without any room for doubt or discrepancy. The imagery and morals of the movie are somewhat raw. I remember being somewhat scared by the menacing images as a child, but they are not too harsh in my opinion. They are authentic enough to portray a reality, even in total fantasy. Real danger, heartfelt sorrow, selfishness, beauty, nobleness, conflict, rage, fear, and bravery are more than adequately depicted in the animated film. It is a valid argument that the movie is not appropriate for the youngest audience (surprisingly, it is rated G though), I feel I benefited from watching it as a child. I've always had an abnormally inventive and creative mind, and movies like this further inspire my imagination.

I have always especially liked the poignant scene where Molly catches a glimpse of the unicorn for the very first time. It is revealed in the movie that the average person does not recognize unicorns when they see them. Instead, people see an ordinary white horse, with no horn. Only a select few can see and recognize unicorns, those who wish to see them or those who have magical viewing abilities - like Christopher Robin sees the world of Winnie the Pooh, the Pevensey children see and enter the world of Narnia, or non-muggles recognize magical happenings and realms in Harry Potter. Molly is revealed to be one who has a pure heart and has always longed to see a unicorn since she was a girl. Rather than exclaiming with glee at seeing the unicorn, she exclaims, "Where have you been!?" with tears, saddened that she had to wait until her youthful years were over to witness what she lived to see.

Each character is memorable in their own special way. The butterfly that the last unicorn meets early in her quest is hilarious and very well drawn. The acting is genius. There are no stock clip-art animated figures used in the movie. Each character is uniquely drawn, often with contrasting but meshing styles. Take the group of Captain Cully's outlaws - each face is given special attention and one-of-a-kind attributes. The intelligence of the script is endearing, surely a credit to Peter Beagle's writing ability. There are numerous sophisticated and thoughtful allusions in the film as well as much well-constructed prose, poetry and riddles. These sort of literary structure, as well as the fantastic plot and character development set The Last Unicorn apart as a classic fantasy tale, rather than another dumb cartoon to add to the stack of forgotten footage.

It is possible to pull some moral conclusions and metaphors out of The Last Unicorn, though I am uncertain if they were intentional. I don't really like to analyze such things when I don't know the author's intentions. However, sometimes symbolism makes its way into art, even when an artist has no intention. Occasionally my own artwork receives such inspiration, so I know all about it. The legend of the unicorn is one that has passed down through mythology stemming possibly back to Biblical times, heightened and formalized more in medieval times. Down through history, the mythological creature has been ascribed some religious undertones. There is an odd connection found in some ancient artifacts and artwork between the unicorn and the virgin, Mary. Some even consider the unicorn to be a symbol of Christ Himself - though I find that somewhat strange.

This is what the old DVD looks like. The drawings on this cover have been altered and don't reflect the beauty and unique style of the film. Here they look too "cheerful" and bright. I'm pretty sure a rainbow doesn't even appear in the film, nor do most of the colors seen here. The curves are way too rounded, and it looks like it was airbrushed. The only character that looks remotely accurate here is King Haggard on the top right. See the picture and link below for the DVD you should buy if interested in owning the movie.

Giving it some thought after my latest viewing, I found a pretty blatant Biblical metaphore in The Last Unicorn. The movie is about a unicorn who finds herself alone and wondering about the lost state of her race. The story follows her adventures as she attempts to find, and even redeem the other unicorns. Being that the unicorn is white, pure, beautiful, immortal, life sustaining (the forest where she lives is protected by her mere presence and is always in spring), and lacking faulty human traits (comparable to sin), she could be a symbol for Christ. The fact that she chooses to leave her protected forest (paradise) to seek the lost parallels that of Christ leaving heaven to save the lost human souls. The unicorn even becomes a human, much like God became man in the form of Jesus Christ. The enemy who has captured the other unicorns very closely resembles a fiery demon or Satan himself. As Christ earned the redemption of human souls through His death, the last unicorn fights off the red bull to free her kind. The goofy magician, Schmedrick exhibits Christlike submission when he calls upon his magic with the words, "Magic, do as you will", much like Jesus gives glory to God His Father for all the miracles done through Him (Luke 22:42, Philippians 2:5-11, John 4:34, John 6:38). What appears to be agape love is demonstrated through the character of Prince Lir, who is not just interested in Amalthea (the last unicorn in human form) simply because of her beauty. He is willing to give up his life for her, and even denies his own desire to be with her for the good of not only Amalthea, but to the freedom of all the unicorns. His actions not only show his desire to impress the one he loves, but his sincere wish to serve her. He even says to Molly, who is coaching and encouraging his love for Amalthea, "Except that I wish to serve her, as you do, to help her find whatever she has come here to find. I wish to be whatever she has most need of. Will you tell her so?".

If you haven't seen the movie, watch it. If I know you (likely if you're one of the 5 people who reads my blog!), come on over and watch it with me! I can always stand to watch it again... and again, and again, and again :)

In my looking around on the web for stuff about The Last Unicorn today I discovered something interesting about the creator and author of the book the inspired the movie. Not only did Peter S. Beagle create the entire fantasy, he was instrumental in capturing its magical essence in the movie adaption. Unfortunately, as often happens in the harsh world we live in, he was taken advantage of as an artist who doesn't know the world of business. Granada Media, the company that published and distributed the film did not give Mr. Beagle his proper credit and payment. The Last Unicorn has sold untold thousands of copies and has raked in quite a fortune, but the artist behind it all hasn't seen any reward. It is a horrible injustice. As an artist and creative individual myself, I hate to see this sort of thing happen. It is my wish to see the companies that do this sort of thing not only pay the artist what he is owed by contract, but be made an example of when they take advantage of people like this. The court should reward Mr. Beagle all the profits Granada Media gained from the sales of The Last Unicorn, so this huge corporation feels the pain of their crime. The reward should not be a pittance, but should have a significant effect on the pocketbooks of the heartless tyrants in charge of this monstrosity. Without the creativity of the artists, this company would not have the money it has, and therefore the situation should be made right.

This is what the 25th Anniversary Edition, remastered DVD looks like. Buy this one instead of the old one pictured above. Order direct from Conlan Publishing (link at bottom), so your order benefits the original artist behind the story.

If you are interested in purchasing The Last Unicorn for your own movie collection (It's a classic!) buy the new, remastered version direct from Conlan Publishing. It is a special 25th anniversary edition with greatly improved video and sound. Only by buying directly through this channel will Peter S. Beagle see a significant cut of the profits. It is a way we can reward his creative efforts. Not to mention that the regular, less quality DVD out there (the one I found at the pawn shop today) has a dumb-looking DVD cover that makes it look like you are buying a pansy movie like Care Bears or My Little Pony (no offense to fans of those stories, but that's not at all what The Last Unicorn is like). In addition, it is possible to express your frustration with greedy corporations like Granada Media by adding your name and comments to a list of fans who are speaking out against the corruption. I was glad to do so, as a fellow artist and lifelong fan of Peter's masterful work, The Last Unicorn. For the record, Mr. Beagle also wrote the screenplay for the animated Lord of the Rings movie released in 1978. This movie was one of several works directly influential on Peter Jackson and his modern-day film renditions of J.R. Tolkien's famous written works.

Normally I'm not able or interested in defending and pursuing causes like this, as I'm not exactly financially set in life, abounding in free time, or an activist. However, this bothered me a lot because The Last Unicorn is a great movie, renewing good memories from my childhood past. Artists should be rewarded for their work, not robbed by the already filthy rich. Not that I want to be rich - nor am I talented enough to be so - but if I had a genius work to my name, I'd hope to benefit from it. It's no different than working 20 years at an 8 to 5 job only to have your salary for all those years given to the president of your company, leaving you no money to buy food or comfort for your family. No one should have to endure this sort of corruption or abuse. It's like Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol. Since Peter Beagle has no ghosts of Christmas to help him fight against his Ebenezers, it's up to us fans to give him a much-needed boost. I feel like this is one of those times where, as an artist and follower of Christ (though among the least in both regards), to put the "Golden Rule" into action.

Over the last several years there has been talk out on the Internet about a live action movie remake of The Last Unicorn. I have mixed feelings about it, as I'm sure most do. First of all, I think it is almost impossible to match the quality and charm of the original, especially in the live action format. Second, I've heard that the unicorns would be modeled after horses, which would look really stupid and without mythological, fantasy attributes. I'm thinking corny Mr. Ed, since there are times when the unicorn speaks or thinks out loud. Even if emotion could be added to a model that looked like a real horse, it would stand out like a [artificial] sore thumb, like using Kai's Power Goo to distort faces in digital photos (like the relatively recent live action Scooby Doo and Garfield movies - dumb!). The way the unicorn is drawn in the animated version is superior, and it may not work out well in a live action format. In addition, the features of all the human characters are so exaggerated due to the stylistic drawings, that there are no real actors and actresses that could do much justice to replicating the whole feeling and appearance of the original. Perhaps a better format would be to make a very beautifully rendered 3D CG version. At any rate, I would certainly watch whatever comes out - even if it stinks (if it ever becomes a reality).

Related Links:

• The Last Unicorn on Internet Movie Database (IMDB)
• The Last Unicorn on Wikipedia (the 1982 film)
• The Last Unicorn on Wikipedia (Peter S. Beagle's book)
• Peter S. Beagle web site
• Only buy your 25th anniversary edition of The Last Unicorn through Conlan Publishing!
• Conlan Publishing - How you can help Peter S. Beagle in his legal disputes
• More on how you can help
• An interesting article on the movie written by Marc Hairston
• A well-written article by Dan Patanella explaining the animation in the movie and comparing it to other well-known works