The Last Unicorn (animation): Difference between revisions

'''Schmendrick''': ''That's what [[The Hero|heroes]] are for.'' }}

 

 

In a certain lilac wood, the leaves and snow never fall. This eternal springtime is watched over, and caused by, its magical resident--a unicorn. Having never left her forest, the unicorn is surprised to overhear two hunters speaking about the disappearance of the unicorns. In fact, they believe her to be the very last.

 

The film's script was written by Peter S. Beagle himself. In July 2011, he finally got paid.

 

* [[Adaptation Distillation]]: The animated version is held in high regard as being faithful to the text, even though significant parts of the book, such as the poetry and songs, were left out.

* [[Animesque]]: Although always intended for an English-speaking audience, the dirty work of animating the film adaptation was done by a Japanese studio called [[Topcraft]] (members of which became founders of [[Studio Ghibli]], incidentally). The anime influence on the movie is unmistakable.

 

* [[Barbie Doll Anatomy]]: Amalthea, although the [[Godiva Hair]] might contribute a bit.

* [[Becoming the Mask]]: The danger of the unicorn's human guise.

* [[Counterpoint Duet]]: "Now That I'm a Woman"/"That's All I've Got to Say"--Amalthea's mixed feelings about being human and Lír's song about failed attempts to court her. Becomes a love duet at the end.

* [[Creative Closing Credits|Creative Opening Credits]]: The opening of the movie is drawn to resemble [[Shown Their Work|a series of medieval tapestries come to life]] (and a few images from the Book of Hours)--specifically, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_of_the_Unicorn the Unicorn Tapestries].

** Schmendrick's magic only works on occasion, and when it does, something usually goes wrong with it. {{spoiler|But by the end of the book, he is able to return the unicorn to her true form.}}

** Lír starts off as a lazy schmuck, but eventually {{spoiler|fights the Red Bull, [[Heroic Sacrifice|lays down his life to save the unicorn,]] and becomes King.}}

* [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Unicorns may be [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|incorruptible]], but they're also ''wild.''

* [[Harping On About Harpies]]

* [[Hannibal Lecture]]. King Haggard.

{{quote| '''Haggard:''' "I ''know'' you! I almost knew you as soon as I saw you on the road coming to my door. Since then, there is no movement of yours that has not betrayed you! A pace, a glance, a turn of the head, the flash of your throat as you breathe... even your way of standing perfectly still--they were all my spies!"}}

* [[Herald]]

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|That would be Lír.}} [[Back From the Dead|He gets better.]]

* [[Humanity Ensues]]: The unicorn is transformed by Schmendrick into a human woman, against her will.

* [[Humanity Is Infectious]]: Amalthea eventually gains enough to the point where she "dies" when Schmendrick changes the unicorn back.

* [[It Must Be Mine]]: Haggard and "his" unicorns.

{{quote| '''Haggard:''' They are MINE! They belong to ME! The Red Bull gathered them one-by-one, and I bade him 'drive each one into the sea!' I like to watch them. They fill me with joy. The first time I felt it, I thought I was going to die. I said to the Red Bull, 'I must have them! I must have ''all'' of them, ''all there are''! For nothing makes me happy... but their shining, and their grace.' So, the Red Bull caught them. Each time I see the unicorns--MY unicorns--it is like that morning in the woods, and I feel young, in ''spite'' of myself.}}

* [[Jumped At the Call]]: Both Schmendrick and Molly are willing to travel with the unicorn within hours of meeting her.

* [[Just Like Robin Hood]]: Captain Cully and his outlaw gang certainly aspire to be, but instead are quite the opposite. They rob the poor because they can't fight back, and pay off the rich to turn a blind eye.

* [[Loss of Identity]]: After being transformed into an human, she gradually forgets who she was, to the point she doesn't know anymore who (and what) she is.

* [[Love Martyr]]: ''Oh, Lír.''

* [[Marshmallow Hell]]: When Schmendrick accidentally converts the tree he's tied to into a living entity, he finds himself in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCvEL41kIQg this.]

{{quote| '''Schmendrick''': Oh God. I'm engaged to a Douglas Fir.<br />

'''Tree''': Galls and fireblight! She shall not have you. We shall perish together! }}

* [[Meaningful Name]]:

** The unicorn's alias, "Amalthea," is a reference to the nanny goat who nursed Zeus. The original Amalthea had lost a horn, which became the Cornucopia, effectively making her a unicorn.

* [[Naked On Arrival]]: Due to an aversion of [[Magic Pants]], this is the unicorn's human form at first sight. Copious amounts of [[Godiva Hair]] were used, naturally.

* [[No Name Given]]: The unicorn. "Amalthea" is just an alias used when in human form.

* [[The Power of Love]]: Turns Lír from a lazy coward into a [[Genre Savvy]] hero.

* [[Princess Classic]]: Amalthea, especially as her humanity becomes more evident, acts like this, and nearly became an actual princess.

** The book explains that she meant either "gizzard" or "weasand" (an archaic term for the throat), and amalgamated the two.

* [[What Measure Is a Non Unique]]

** If you look very closely in Schmendrick and Molly's final scene (when she's about to get on the horse after saying she will go with him), the cat is on the back of her horse.

** Four men-at-arms are mentioned (very minor characters in the book), but they never make an appearance.

* [[Wild Wilderness]]

** A major theme in the story is that immortal beings cannot appreciate mortality.

** Mommy Fortuna had a twisted view of immortality in regards to the Harpy: