Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A unicorn learns from a riddle-speaking butterfly that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets out to discover the truth behind the butterfly's words. She is eventually joined on her quest by Schmendrick, a second-rate magician, and Molly Grue, a middle-aged woman who dreamed all her life of seeing a unicorn. Their journey leads them far from home, all the way to the castle of King Haggard.
The Last Unicorn is a genuinely singular animated film — a melancholic, philosophically rich fairy tale that refuses the sanitized optimism of mainstream animation. Its source material (Peter S. Beagle's novel) gives it an elegiac, bittersweet tone almost unmatched in the genre, and themes of mortality, regret, and impermanence are handled with unusual depth for a family film. Novelty earns a 4 for its unmistakable voice and emotional register. The plot is serviceable and faithful to the novel but meanders slightly in pacing, earning a 3. Voice acting is earnest and often effective (Christopher Lee, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury) but uneven in places. The animation, while charming and evocative in design, is inconsistent in quality — a product of its budget and era. The ending is emotionally resonant and thematically honest, carrying real weight, though it stops just short of truly devastating — a strong 3.