The Last Unicorn (1982)
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The Last Unicorn Movie Review
The Last Unicorn is a 1982 animated fantasy film directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. It is one of the darkest and most interesting animated movies of the decade.
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“There are no happy endings because nothing ends“
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A unicorn finds out that she may be the last surviving species of her kind. She decides to find the other unicorns. A magician and a woman join the unicorn in her mission. This is one of the best Rankin/Bass productions and one of the most underrated animations from the eighties. Based on a great fantasy novel, the story was well adapted to the big screen and particularly memorable for its more adult and sophisticated themes and imagery.
Admittedly, this is a film that tries to appeal to both children and adults rather unsuccessfully as it skews much more heavily toward the latter audiences, though the dialogue itself could have been more sophisticated. But what worked here in particular was the exceptionally effective somber tone that made the movie both dark and very emotional. You root for the protagonist to find others of her kind as her suffering is deeply felt.
With that being said, she is not among the best developed animated protagonists out there. She is lovable and you really care for her, but she needed more personality at the end of the day. Other characters fared better with the magician dude being very likable and pleasingly goofy and Molly being quite cool. Those two made the main trio memorable.
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The villains steal the show. King Haggard is excellent and very well realized. The backstory surrounding him was innately disturbing and Christopher Lee excelled at playing this evil dude as he obviously relished voicing him. This voice cast is insanely amazing with Jeff Bridges, Alan Arkin, Mia Farrow and even Angela Lansbury rounding out the cast.
Lansbury played this very memorable witch character that met a very gruesome death, but was so much fun while she was alive. The scene with the harpy was so striking that it’s a shame how the film discarded that subplot with the other creatures later on. The prince character felt unnecessary and similar thoughts go to the butterfly and tree characters, both resembling surreal animation, but acting as filler within the larger story.
The Last Unicorn is often criticized for its animation style, but I wholeheartedly disagree with the sentiment that its visuals look cheap. Yes, they are extremely old-fashioned, but that is what I loved about it. It genuinely resembled works from the Golden Age of Disney Animation in its lovely backgrounds while being highly similar to the Bakshi feature ‘The Lord of the Rings’ in some character models. Japanese animators that worked on this movie would go on to work in Studio Ghibli, and that influence is clearly evident in some character designs – the witch looks eerily similar to Zeniba from ‘Spirited Away’. Some of the more colorful imagery was also impressive with the color purple being particularly arresting here.
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What did not work as well was the score. The soundtrack on this project was done by the rock band America, and although the titular number was wonderful and quite memorable, the rest of the songs failed to make any proper impression. In fact, they stalled the film as they were accompanied by the worst filler material. Still, the movie is mostly very engaging, it is enchanting in its magical elements and its mythology is genuinely fascinating. The story’s literary feel and dark, sad atmosphere made it highly unique, especially for its time.
