The Last Unicorn

I loved everything mystical when I was a kid. Unicorns, dragons, dwarves, wizards, mermaids, I just ate it up. For this reason I loved this movie. I remember it visually more than anything else. The animation was different than the Disney cartoons, it was stylized and the storyline wasn't as happy go lucky. Did I mention it had a unicorn!

Watching this movie again made me realize how morbid this movie actually was! I couldn't believe the ideals behind it. A woman becomes jaded and tarnished waiting over the years for happiness to come, an old witch plays with her fate by enslaving mystical creatures for her show (and the harpy has lots of boobies...I didn't remember that!), an old man loses his ability to see beauty in the mundane world, it's all so depressing!

Despite this fact, I still really enjoyed this movie again. I'm very much in love with the cartoon animation style of Rankin/Bass (who also did the Hobbit and Thundercats, HO!). I love how everything is not smoothed over and nice looking. There are hard lines in the faces of some of the characters and I don't feel it's as romanticized as Disney films tend to be.

The story itself was very mature, which I liked. It's definitely a great family movie I think since there is a double layer to it. Kids like the visuals and the silly little jokes where as adults can enjoy the deeper meanings behind the actions of the characters. As a kid, I couldn't comprehend many of the situations posed in the movie but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. It also was subtle enough that I wasn't introduce to any overly adult themes (besides the boobies...maybe).

All in all I think I will be enjoying this movie for years to come. It's a great Mystery Science Theater movie as well. The only think I would change is the musical score...that romantic love song in the middle...was that really necessary?