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The Last Unicorn
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Produced by	Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. Martin Starger
Written by	Peter S. Beagle
Starring	Alan Arkin Angela Lansbury Tammy Grimes Mia Farrow Jeff Bridges Christopher Lee
Music by	Jimmy Webb
Editing by	Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Studio	Rankin/Bass Topcraft
Distributed by	Jensen Farley Pictures ITC Entertainment DVD Artisan Entertainment (2004) Lionsgate (2007)
Release date(s)	November 19, 1982
Running time	92 min.
Country	United States Japan
Language	English
Gross revenue	$6,455,330 (Domestic gross)[1]

The Last Unicorn is a 1982 fantasy film produced by Rankin/Bass for ITC Entertainment and animated by Topcraft. The film is based on the novel of the same name written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay. The Last Unicorn is about a unicorn who, upon learning that she is the last unicorn in the world, goes on a quest to find the others.

The film features the voices of Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Tammy Grimes, Angela Lansbury, Jeff Bridges, and Christopher Lee. The musical score and the songs were composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, and performed by the group America with additional vocals provided by Lucy Mitchell. The film earned $2,250,000 on its opening weekend and grossed $6,455,330 domestically.^[1]

Peter S. Beagle is currently in a public conflict with Granada International, successor to ITC Entertainment, seeking to be paid what he feels he is contractually owed for the film from video and DVD sales, other distribution, and merchandising.

Plot

In an enchanted forest, a unicorn learns that she is the last of her kind and decides to embark on a quest to learn what has become of the other unicorns. The Unicorn discovers from the addled dialogue of a butterfly that an evil entity called the Red Bull has herded all of her kind to the ends of the earth. Venturing into unfamiliar territory beyond the safety of her forest home, she begins a journey to find them and bring them back. Along the way she is captured for a time by the witch Mommy Fortuna, and is put on display in the cages of the witch's Midnight Carnival. While most of the attractions there are simply normal animals with a spell of illusion placed on them, Fortuna has managed to capture the immortal harpy, Celaeno, as well. The Unicorn eventually escapes (and in the process, frees Celaeno, who kills Fortuna and her henchman) with the help of an incompetent magician in Fortuna's employ, Schmendrick, and later gains a second traveling companion, Molly Grue, the care-worn lover of bandit leader Captain Cully of Greenwood Forest. When the Unicorn nears the seaside castle of King Haggard, supposed keeper of the Red Bull, she comes face to face with the Bull (which turns out to be a monstrous fire elemental) and runs, afraid. At the last moment before her final surrender and capture, Schmendrick's unpredictable magic transforms her into a mortal woman. In this human guise, the Red Bull is uninterested in her and departs.

Schmendrick, Molly Grue, and the Unicorn (now in human form) proceed to Haggard's castle and seek entry. King Haggard is at first unwelcoming, and Schmendrick introduces the Unicorn only as his niece Lady Amalthea. Schmendrick requests that the three of them stay there as members of Haggard's court, only to be told that all of the royal complement has long since been dispatched: the only remaining occupants in the castle are Haggard, his adopted son Prince Lír, and four ancient men-at-arms. Haggard consents to lodging the trio, replacing his more competent on-call wizard with Schmendrick, and setting Molly Grue to work in his scullery. After a while, Amalthea begins to forget her identity and her reasons for coming to the castle, and eventually falls in love with Prince Lír. Caught in a complex web of newfound emotions, she struggles with thoughts of abandoning her quest for the sake of mortal love. Haggard confronts Amalthea in private conversation, hinting at the location of the unicorns, yet from the waning magic in her eyes, he has doubts regarding his previous suspicions that she is more than she seems.

Going through a secret passage in a broken clock in the castle basement, Schmendrick reveals Amalthea's true identity to Lír. Lír, however, isn't surprised at all and says that he loves whom he loves. This makes Amalthea want to stay human and marry Lír, but Lír thinks otherwise. The Red Bull soon appears, but is no longer deceived by Amalthea's false human form and chases after her. In an attempt to assist her escape, 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 earlier drove all the other unicorns, but she manages to run away and the bull gives chase. Lír gets between them and blocks the bull's path, but the bull doesn't stop and Lír is killed. Out of grief, the Unicorn aggressively turns on the Bull and forces him into the sea. Carried on the white surf of incoming tides, the other unicorns emerge en masse from the water, causing Haggard's castle to collapse into the sea as they rush past, with Haggard falling to his death from the crumbling castle parapet. On the beach, the Unicorn magically revives Lír before she departs for her forest. Schmendrick assures Lír, now the king, that he has gained much by winning the love of a unicorn, even if he is now alone. The Unicorn briefly returns to say goodbye to Schmendrick, who laments that he has done her wrong by burdening her with regret and the taint of mortality. She thanks him nonetheless for having helped to restore unicorns to the world, and though she is the only unicorn to feel regret, she is also the only unicorn to know love.

Cast

• Mia Farrow as the Unicorn / Lady Amalthea, the titular "last unicorn" who, in her search for the other unicorns, is transformed into a woman and learns about regret and love.
• Alan Arkin as Schmendrick, a magician who accompanies the Unicorn on her quest to find others like her. Beagle commented that he was a bit "disappointed" by the way Alan Arkin approached the character because it seemed "too flat".^[2]
• Jeff Bridges as Prince Lír, King Haggard's adopted son who falls in love with Lady Amalthea.
• Tammy Grimes as Molly Grue, the love of Captain Cully who joins Schmendrick and the Unicorn. While explaining that there was no particular reason that he did not write a detailed background for Molly Grue's character, Peter S. Beagle stated that he has "always been grateful" to Grimes because she "brought such vocal life to the character that she covered things I didn’t do."^[2]
• Robert Klein as The Butterfly, the creature that gives the Unicorn hints as to where to find the other unicorns.
• Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna, a witch who uses her illusory magic to run the Midnight Carnival, which showcases mythical creatures that are, in truth, just normal animals. Later, the Harpy Celaeno, one of the two real mythical creatures, kills her and her henchman, Ruhk.
• Christopher Lee as King Haggard, the ruler of a dreary kingdom who has never been happy, save for when he looks at unicorns. Beagle described Lee as "...the last of the great 19th Century actors, and either the most-literate or second-most literate performer I've ever met."^[3] When Lee came in to work, he brought his own copy of the novel wherein he took note of lines that he believed should not be omitted.^[4] Lee, who is fluent in German, also voiced King Haggard in the German dub of the film.

• Keenan Wynn as The Harpy Celaeno, a real harpy that was captured by Mommy Fortuna, freed by the Unicorn, and kills Mommy Fortuna and Ruhk out of vengeance for trapping her, the Unicorn and the other animals, and as Captain Cully, the leader of a group of bandits.
• Paul Frees as Mabruk, King Haggard's court magician who is replaced by Schmendrick.
• Rene Auberjonois as the Skull that guards the clock that serves as an entryway into the Red Bull's lair. Beagle praised Auberjonois' performance, saying "...he could have played any role in that movie and I would have been happy. ... He's that talented."^[3]
• Brother Theodore as Ruhk, a hunchback who works for Mommy Fortuna. He, along with Mommy Fortuna, is killed by the Harpy Celaeno.
• Don Messick as the Cat that gives Molly Grue clues regarding the whereabouts of the Red Bull's lair.
• Nellie Bellflower as the Tree that speaks and falls in love with Schmendrick after he accidentally casts the wrong spell on it.
• Edward Peck as Jack Jingly, Cully's Men
• Jack Lester as Hunter #1, Old Farmer, Cully's Men
• Kenneth Jennings as Hunter #2, Cully's Men

Production

The cover of the film's soundtrack, which was released in Germany by Virgin Records in 1982.

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, though Beagle had been convinced by one of their partners' wives that they were "not good enough", and 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. Rankin/Bass 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...".^[2]

While Rankin/Bass provided the film's dialogue and story based on Beagle's work, the animation was done by the studio Topcraft. The studio was later 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.^[5] 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."^[2]

Music

The film's music was composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, with songs performed by the group America. The title track plays while the scenes from the Unicorn Tapestries form a backdrop for the opening credits, and has been covered by Kenny Loggins on his Return to Pooh Corner album. The film's soundtrack that included the musical score as well as the songs was released in Germany by Virgin Records in 1982, but it has not been released in the United States.^[6]

Release

The cover of The Last Unicorn 25th Anniversary Edition DVD

The Last Unicorn premiered on 648 theaters in the United States^[7] on November 19, 1982,^[1] and earned $2,250,000 on its opening weekend.^[1]

The first U.S. DVD, released by Lionsgate in April 2004, was made from poor-quality masters and the video and audio both suffer.^[8] Upon the release of this DVD, Conlan Press lobbied Lionsgate to "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.^[8][9] 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.^[9][10] Conlan Press is offering the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD for sale. Due to ongoing contractual disputes, none of the proceeds of DVD purchases through other sources will reach Peter S. Beagle. However, because of the special agreement Conlan Press made with Lionsgate Entertainment, more than half of the payment for copies purchased through Conlan Press will go to Beagle. In addition to the standard version of the DVD, Conlan Press offers the option of purchasing individually personalized autographed copies.^[9] As of February 2009, over 800,000 copies of the DVD have been sold.^[11]

Reception

In a New York Times review, Janet Maslin calls it an "unusual children's film" and says 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".^[12] Beagle himself called the film "magnificent" in comparison to the animated Lord of the Rings film, which he also wrote the screenplay for.^[13] The film currently retains a 50% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[14]

A 1982 Variety reviewer praised the script and voice acting, but was not impressed by the film's animation.^[15] "However vapid the unicorn may appear to the eye. Mia Farrow's voice brings an almost moving plaintive quality to the character."^[15] The review also praised the vocal talents of Arken, Lee, and Frees.^[15]

Legal controversy

In September 2003, Carlton Communications (now known as Granada International after a merger with Granada Television), successor to ITC Entertainment in terms of control and ownership of the animated feature version, claimed that they earned over a million pounds in revenue from DVD and cable TV sales of The Last Unicorn.^[7] During this period, Peter S. Beagle had not received his contractual share of the income, which includes 5% of the net profits from all revenues from the animated film, 5% of the gross revenues from all related merchandising, $20,000 for any and every sequel or remake, and various fees for any possible television series adaptations or spinoffs.^[7] When negotiations with Granada over this issue failed to yield any results, a public campaign for support was launched on Peter's behalf by Conlan Press in August 2005.^[7] Over a thousand fans from 51 countries signed up to help make sure that he is paid what he is contractually owed for the film from these sales, other distribution, and merchandising.^[16] As of October 2008, Conlan Press has stated that "[t]here is a possible solution on the table, but it isn't an easy one to pull together".^[17]

References

External links

• The Last Unicorn at the Internet Movie Database
• The Last Unicorn at Allmovie
• The Last Unicorn at Box Office Mojo
• The Last Unicorn at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Last Unicorn FAQ

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