This movie is of unexpectedly high quality, mixed up in melancholy and nostalgia, though I don't think I actually saw it in the 1980s. It begins with a power 80s ballad, which the kiddos made fun of, but still very catchy. Schmendrick, the bumbling magician, reminds me of Cedric the magician in Sophia. And the Red Bull looks like the Balrog, not the energy drink. The tale is all a little random and confused, but has some interesting twists like the _adopted_ prince who pushes the unicorn to stay true to her original identity rather than marry him (take note Ariel). Fighting the inevitability of old age and death is another theme of interest, especially through the witch who runs a zoo with magical creatures and the crazy king who hoards the unicorns because they make him happy. Both the witch and the prince (if not the king) achieve a kind of immortality by leaving their mark on the deathless creatures: the Harpy will always remember that she was captured in the circus, and the unicorn will always remember that she loved the prince.

It's also fascinating to me that Hayao Miyazaki worked at the studio which made The Last Unicorn, Topcraft, which made Nausicaa soon thereafter. I don't see that many connections in terms of the animation aesthetics; but I haven't yet seen the Hobbit animated films also made by Rankin and Bass/Topcraft, so I can't comment there.

On a personal note, we watched this in NYC the day we went to Princeton, but didn't pay much attention to it; Seb got the blu ray for his 6th birthday and chose to watch it that night.

Based on a book of the same name by Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn has remained one of the most beloved animated fantasy cult classics of the 1980s. Created by Rankin-Bass, most well known for their stop-motion Christmas specials from the 1960s, the film went on to gross a modest comeback financially and received positive reviews. It wouldn't be until it was released on home video, however, when it grew relatively popular, at least in terms of people watching it as children back in the day. As for what I think of it, I'll admit that there are many admirable qualities to it, but it's not something I ever care to watch again.

The story of a unicorn searching for the rest of her species with the help of an amateur magician sounds promising enough, and to the film's credit, it does take some interesting plot directions from time to time. Without giving away anything, let's just say that the spells that come from this amateur magician, Schmendrick, should happen more often in fantasy films. However, what bogs the story down is how lackluster the characters are, as most of them only stay interesting for so long and don't grow much outside of their basic archs. The unicorn herself does go through the most development in the second half of the feature, but until then we have to sit through padded out action scenes, boring character interactions, and even additional archs that aren't even memorable in the first place.

Considering that the film was animated in Japan, the animation and production design present the film with an anime aesthetic, with luscious colors, gorgeous backgrounds, and well detailed designs. Unfortunately, due to the low budget, the character animation is rather stilted and the bland facial expressions don't really help elevate the wonderful vocal performances from the likes of Mia Farrow, Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, etc. When you can't even visually display one of the biggest fundamentals of animation on screen, there's a big problem. That being said, the special effects are very well done, and along with some imaginative usages for potions and spells, the film really embraces how magic works on a visual level as much as an ideology.

To sum it all up, The Last Unicorn is a serviceable effort for an animated fantasy film from the days of The Dark Crystal and The Secret of Nimh. While the plot can get sidetracked sometimes, the characters are two dimensional at best, and the animation is hit or miss in terms of quality, it does feature some interesting philosophies on how magic works, the voice-cast is fantastic, and it at least knows how to tell its story. If you grew up with this film and you'd like to re watch it or you're into the cult classic family-friendly fantasy films during the Reagan era, by all means give it a watch. As for me, I had some fun with it, but it didn't keep me invested enough to want to view it again anytime soon, although I adore the opening musical number by Jimmy Webb.