Determined to reunite with them, she leaves her safe haven, venturing out into the cruel world populated by humans too caught up in worldly pursuits to realise the value and beauty of a unicorn - instead, they see her as a mere mare. Unfortunately, a selfish old witch (voiced by Angela Lansbury) captures the unicorn and turns her into a side-show attraction at a carnival. A kind but unskilled magician (sensitively voiced by Alan Arkin) manages to free her, and together, they set off to find the remainder of her kind. According to him, legend has it that the unicorns were last seen trapped by the coast on the edge of the world, at a place inhabited by the miserable and dour King Hagard (voiced by - who else? - Christopher Lee) and his adopted son Prince Lir (voiced by Jeff Bridges), and it is toward this destination that the wizard and the unicorn travel.

Along the way, they are waylaid by a gang of bandits, but this skirmish is eclipsed by the arrival of the Red Bull who has come to hunt the last unicorn down, to entrap her at the edge of the coast. Desperate to rescue her, the wizard conjures a spell which transforms the unicorn into a young maiden. Together with the bandits' moll, aptly named Molly (voiced by Tammy Grimes), they reach King Hagard's castle. He agrees to hire the wizard as a jester, whilst Prince Lir makes the acquaintance of the unicorn, now christened Lady Almathea.

As time passes, Molly and the wizard frantically attempt to discover the secret lair beneath the castle where the Red Bull resides, whilst Lir falls in love with the increasingly human Almathea. When the way is finally found, Almathea's love for Lir at first causes her to forego rescuing the other unicorns, but she finally faces up to her destiny and prepares for a showdown with the Red Bull. However, paralysed by fear, she is no match for the Red Bull until Lir sacrifices himself and gives her a personal motive for fighting. When the battle is won, the unicorn revives Lir, but they part, and the "last" unicorn remains the only one which has ever experienced human love and regret...

Made in 1982, this animated feature will, of course, not be able to hold a matchstick, let alone a candle, against the present-day Disney productions, such as Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In fact, even by 1982 standards, this film isn't all that fantastic, technically. The animation is rather stilted, and the editing of the images brings to mind VERY early Disney.

I wish I could say that in spite of all these technicalities, the film scores big on genuine emotion and feeling, but alas, that is not entirely true either. Based on a novel by Peter S Beagle, with a screenplay written by Beagle himself, The Last Unicorn has moments that resonate with great depth of feeling and emotion, but mostly, the film seems to amble along amiably, without much narrative drive. This means that the 85 minute duration of the film seems slightly longer than that, and younger viewers might experience restlessness.

The vocal talents of the cast assembled vary. Mia Farrow's habit of delivering her lines in a quivering voice becomes a little grating after a while, although she does sound rather ethereal, even though she occasionally lapses into a bizarre pseudo-Southern drawl. Jeff Bridges has a voice that is too distinct so that you can't shake the feeling that you're listening to him and not the character, plus his line delivery makes him sound too contemporary. There is a rather pleasant duet sung by (someone who is not Farrow) and Bridges, with the latter sounding especially soulful (and I'm not saying this just cos I'm a fan). Angela Lansbury and Christopher Lee both camp it up deliciously, and the veterans do their best as the villains of the piece to liven things up. Best of the lot is Alan Arkin as the shy, kind and befuddled wizard; his voice is mellow and mesmerising, losing itself in the character.

The overall standard of the film is uneven, with several plot elements which bog down proceedings considerably. Towards the end, the story begins to lose steam and several inexplicable developments occur - be prepared to explain these away if you've got children watching with you. The pace is more suited to older audiences, and children of today with short attention spans will probably find the whole thing rather tiresome. Also, as far as fairy tales go, this one seems somewhat lacking in terms of magical quality; there just isn't enough of the fantastic happening in here. Again, for this reason, adults, rather than children, might enjoy this film more, and indeed, some of the plot developments seem specifically tailor-made for mature audiences and their understanding of life. Jokes like "Yes, I am the hero, and this is what the story requires" are more likely to appeal to adults rather than the kids.

The Last Unicorn really isn't bad at all, but it hasn't aged well enough to entice the children of today. Watch it for the child in you, rather than the ones which are around you, and you will find it a thoughtful and rather enjoyable fable with several intelligent laughs to offer.

Thanks to Jonah Falcon for the following information:

A few corrections:
1) Yes, Mia Farrow does her own singing. In fact, in the original version, her singing was so bad, they cut out her song, "Now That I'm A Woman" completely out! The newer version does restore her singing -- be prepared to cringe.

2) It's King Haggard -- two "g"'s.

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