The Last Unicorn

[fuzzyoctopus]

They recently released the 1982 cartoon on DVD.  I know it was recently, because a year ago (the week after we got married) I was looking for the DVD, and learned it was only available in region 2 DVD.  (If you look it up on the IMDB, you'll note the cover they show is the German one, because that's the only one that was available!)

Then hubby and I were at the new video store last night and they had a copy of it on DVD for $7.  Needless to say, I had to buy it.  Much better than the German DVD rip that I downloaded last year.  This is such a good movie.  I remember watching it on TV as a kid, and thinking it was the saddest story I'd ever seen.  Of course I loved it.

Still do.  And it's still horribly sad.  But that's the kind of melodramatic person I am/was.  I'm excited to see what they do with the live action remake (scheduled for 2006, the lazy slackers...)  The best part is they're using many of the same actors!  Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, Rene Auberjonois & Christopher Lee.

[Eagle Prince]

I also bought this on dvd a few weeks ago.  I was just wandering through Walmart and saw it for $10

[Entsuropi]

Damned if i know what you are talking about, but oooh. Rene Auberjonois (Constable Odo) and Christopher Lee (Saruman)? Man, that should be able to best even the Odo -  Quark relationship.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

This was the first Studio Ghibli movie, before it was named Studio Ghibli and before Miyazaki came aboard. It's definitely a classic.

I had no idea they were even doing a live-action version. Same actors? That is definitely something to look forward to.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Yeah, Angela Lansbury, Rene Auberjonois & Christopher Lee are all cast to play the same parts - respectively, Mama Fortuna, the skull, and King Haggard.  Mia Farrow is playing Molly Grue this time around, which I find to be delightful.

Apparently Christopher Lee is a huge fan of the book, and when they did the recordings for the first movie, he would bring his copy with him to badger the writers/directors into not leaving out specific things.

[Tekiel]

Live action?!  That's definitely something I have to see.  I remember having nightmares about the red bull (we were driving in a car and it was chasing us).  

That is (and will continue to be) a great classic.  Now that it's out on DVD I will have to go and buy it.  Thanks for the heads-up!

[EUOL]

We had that movie when I was a kid, and boy--I just didn't get it.  I think it was over my head, and that confused me.  After all, it was a cartoon, so it was supposed to be for kids, right?  

[Spriggan]

Isn't Jeff Goldbloom in that?

[Fellfrosch]

I shudder to imagine a live action version of that tree.

[Tage]

The movie poster on IMDB prompted a slight flicker of memory, but I can't recall anything specific about that movie. I did a quick search on the web and couldn't find anything. Anybody got a web site I can go to and perhaps have my memory jogged?

[Slant]

There are sites out there where you can download entire movies and I am certain you can find Last Unicorn.  If you actually want to do it the hard way, you can always drive down to ye local Blockbuster and check in the family section.

I saw Last Unicorn about the same time I saw Wizards, and Wizards won by a landslide.  Last Unicorn wasn't terrible, but I found it sort of bland.

[fuzzyoctopus]

It was animated by a team of Japanese people.  We could have a TWG viewing!

Or, now that I have a legal copy I could give you the DVD rip I have on disc.

[stacer]

I vaguely remember trying to watch it, and not being too impressed, but I was sure it was a live action movie involving Christopher ... what's his name? The one who played in Back to the Future and Taxi.

At any rate, I must not have seen it. Anybody know the unicorn one I *am* talking about?

[House of Mustard]

Christopher Lloyd.  I have no idea of the movie, though.  I looked at him on IMDB, but didn't see anything Unicornish.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Legend? Did that have Lloyd in it? It had Tom Cruise...and unicorns...

My family rented that years ago and had to turn it off halfway through.

The Last Unicorn was produced by Rankin/Bass, the same people who were responsible for all those stop-motion animation Christmas specials like Rudolph. The animation was done by Topcraft, the studio that later did Nausicaa and later became Ghibli, same studio that did Mononoke and Spirited Away. As far as I know though a Japanese dubbed version of The Last Unicorn was never made.

(Rankin/Bass and Topcraft also did The Hobbit and The Return of the King, and some of the people involved went to the studio that did Thundercats and Silverhawks.)