Discover the details of this moving film behind its production.
“The last unicorn” It has been an underrated animated classic, whose originality can be seen with the naked eye. It premiered in 1982 and is based on the homonymous novel by Peter S. Beagle (who was also in charge of writing the script). The story follows a unicorn (voiced by Mia Farrow) in search of other unicorns around the world, after learning that she is the last of hers. Along the way, she is kidnapped by the villainous Mama Fortuna (Angela Lansbury), she befriends the wizard Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), and she also has to face the terrifying Red Bull. She also meets King Haggard (Christopher Lee) and his son, Prince Lear.
There are so many weird, but wonderful scenes that make up this movie. First of all we have the film’s powerful reflection on regret; and, on the other hand, we have the songs performed by America, insofar as it represents a certain traumatic scene involving Schmendrick and a Douglas fir tree.
Without a doubt, one of the most relevant aspects of this film is its stupendous animation. The film was in the hands of Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, perhaps best known for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the 1964 stop-motion television special. animated “The Hobbit” in 1977 and the adaptation of “The Return of the King” in 1980 (these being the only rights they had over the Tolkien series).
Three years after the release of “The Last Unicorn”, Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki founded Studio Ghibli. Studio Ghibli is, of course, the big studio that has been behind such movies as “Princess Mononoke”, “Spirited Away” and “The Incredible Vagabond Castle”. So how did this Rankin/Bass production end up being a Studio Ghibli movie?
The same team behind “The Hobbit” and “Return of the King” was the same team behind “The Last Unicorn.” The author of the novel, Peter S. Beagle le confessed to Aaron Golden that at first he was not very convinced that he had chosen Rankin / Bass, since I was not exactly a fan of his work. But, although it took him a while to adjust, Beagle ended up accepting the film, especially the animation and the performances. In fact the animation is not only quite beautiful, but also one of a kind. And although Rankin/Bass was an American company, the amazing visual effects were created in Japan.
Although Miyazaki began working with Topcraft on “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” shortly after completing “The Last Unicorn”, and despite the success of “Nausicaä”, Topcraft soon went bankrupt and the Studio Ghibli re-emerged as a major project. Thanks to its animation style, “The Last Unicorn” is a feature film that many consider to be a proto-anime movie. And indeed, Beagle confirmed that they are constantly being invited to anime conventions as a result of this claim.
“The Last Unicorn” bears several visual similarities to the early Studio Ghibli films, and now that it’s known that Much of the same team participated in both, it is easy to understand why. There are many factors that have contributed to making this film a marvel, but it never ceases to amaze why part of the public has forgotten it.
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