The Last unicorn
(Video)

Copyright: ITC Films, Inc. DCR 1982; PUB 19Nov82; REG 7Aug84; PA270-075.

Based on the novel by Peter S. Beagle.

Executive producer, Martin Starger ; associate producer, Michael Chase Walker ; animation coordinator, Toru Hara ; music and lyrics, Jimmy Webb ; camera, Hiroyasu Omoto ; editor, Tomiko Kida.

Voices: Alan Arkin (Schmendrick), Jeff Bridges (Prince Lir), Mia Farrow (Last Unicorn/Lady Amalthea), Tammy Grimes (Molly Grue), Robert Klein (Butterfly), Angela Lansbury (Mommy Fortuna), Christopher Lee (King Haggard), Keenan Wynn (Captain Cully), Rene Auberjonois (Speaking skull).

The Last Unicorn is memorable for its attempts to stay faithful to its origins, the Peter Beagle novel of the same name. The animation is vintage Rankin/Bass, and that's too bad; but there's an undeniable strength in this tale and telling. A unicorn (Mia Farrow)--she believes herself the last--searches for any others of her kind, while avoiding the malevolent Red Bull, the agent believed to have destroyed the rest of the herd. Along the way, she is mistaken, ignored, attacked, and obsessed about, finally finding help from a magician named Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and a knight named Prince Lir (Jeff Bridges). A haunting film that pays homage to mythology and the people who love it.