A few people have recommended The Last Unicorn (1982) to us over the years. Now, we’ve finally got round to giving it a whirl. It’s from an era where animated films were often terrifying and surreal, such as with the enigmatic and eerie Time Masters (also 1982).

This was an American animated fantasy film directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass and starred the vocal talents of Alan Arkin, Mia Farrow, and Christopher Lee.

Sadly, despite decent critical feedback the film bombed. Yet it’s since developed a considerable online cult following. Is it all deserved!? We shall seashells.

Exploring Identity and Mortality in The Last Unicorn

Adapted from Peter S. Beagle’s eponymous 1968 novel, the story follows the life of a sole female unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow). She learns from a butterfly she’s the last of her kind due to a monstrous bastard of evil called the Red Bull (presumably not the energy drink).

However, she also learns the bull has herded her kind to the edge f the Earth. Thus, she takes it upon herself to head our there, find them, and restore unicorn equilibrium.

Classic fairy tale type stuff, then, all told through the visual stylings of much purple and other dramatic set pieces.

She heads off on an intrepid adventure to find more of her kind, leaving the safety of the forest behind. It’s at this point some brilliant artwork is in place, some of the best we’ve ever seen—remarkable stuff for 1982.

Jeff Bridges also stars. The Last Unicorn was one of his favourite childhood books, so he volunteered to do his parts for free and also recommended Jimmy Webb for the film’s score.

Webb went on to compose the music and the result was very bloody impressive indeed. Definitely one of the most notable aspects of this film, which comes across as pioneering in its creative efforts.

Due to the unusual nature of the plot, we don’t particularly want to drop any spoilers here. The unicorn’s journey is peculiar, facing up against unusual anti-hero types.

You must question if this is a film for children. It’s styled that way and offers many life lessons as that of a fairy tale, yet there are also vaguely disturbing and sexualised characters such as a tree with huge breasts.

Then there’s the lingering sense of mortality and being the last of your kind, as pursued by other ruthless maniacs.

We must say, just watching The Last Unicorn for its aesthetic is enough. That can be a bit on and off, and the story lacking, but there’s something about this unicorn taking on the Red Bull that impressed us.

Maybe it’s just the offbeat tone. Some of the characters are lovable rogues, it’s a bit weird, and just unusual. We guess that’s a good thing! Why not be a bit different? Although we can understand why it failed over 40 years ago, in a year when Steven Spielberg’s classic E.T. launched.

The Last Unicorn is well worth a watch if it intrigues. It’s old-school animation and, as we cover below, paved the way for a certain studio to lay down various masterpieces.

The Production of Last Unicorn and its Lasting Legacy

Peter S. Beagle waited some time before he was satisfied a studio could faithfully recreate his work. He resisted several offers whilst remaining insistent it had to be an animated film (rather than live-action).

Rankin/Bass Productions took over the project, but most of the animation was completed by Toei Animation in Japan. Some of the staff working at Toei eventually went on to form Studio Ghibli.

As such, we can sort of view The Last Unicorn as an early Ghibli film. Ish. Maybe pushing it a stretch there, but the staff in their formative years were busy developing out their various skills.

The budget was around $3.5 million but, despite largely positive reviews, it tanked. Box office figures are sketchy, but its earnings were between $6.5 and $3.4 million.

It’s since gained a lot of traction online and been subject to considerable analysis, with its peculiar tone and sense of foreboding making it more of an adult animation than children friendly. One of our favourite dudes in Georg Rockall-Schmidt recently gave it a brief overview.

Elsewhere, there’s Mortality over Legacy: An Analysis of The Last Unicorn as a prime example of the critiquing going on.

“The Last Unicorn is a film about mortal salience, displaying an awareness of death and valuing life despite it. Rankin and Bass impart wisdom to the spectator on the fragility of life and the beauty of love through an epic quest across a fantasy land. The film is a dark fantasy that lives on today as a ‘cult classic’ (Milas 2022), yet it should be particularly remembered for the way that it teaches the audience the core values of memento mori: be wary of greed and obsession, find love, and value the few fragile moments we humans are given.”

It’s easy (and lazy) for onlookers to dismiss animated films and fantasy as “childish”, but this sort of films is a reminder of how animation can tackle weighty things. All whilst making them accessible for various ages.

The Last Unicorn may not be perfect, but there’s something about its brooding malice that remains very influential. From games such as Ori and the Will of the Wisps (2020) to various other Ghibli films, we see its presence lurking.