The Last Unicorn

The Last Unicorn is a 1982 American animated fantasy film directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. and featuring the voices of Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, and Mia Farrow as the Unicorn. The film was produced by Rankin/Bass for ITC Entertainment, and animated by Topcraft. Based on the novel The Last Unicorn written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay, the film is about a unicorn who, upon learning that she is the last unicorn in the world, goes on a quest to find out what has happened to the others of her kind.

The film features additional voices of Tammy Grimes, Keenan Wynn, René Auberjonois, Robert Klein, Angela Lansbury, and Christopher Lee. The musical score and the songs were composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, and performed by the group America with additional vocals provided by Lucy Mitchell. The film earned $2,250,000 on its opening weekend and grossed $6,455,330 domestically.

Plot
In an enchanted forest, a unicorn learns she is the last of her kind; a butterfly reveals that a demonic animal called the Red Bull herded her kind to the ends of the earth. Venturing into unfamiliar territory beyond the safety of her home, the Unicorn journeys to find them and bring them back.

The Unicorn is captured by the witch Mommy Fortuna, and is put on display in the witch's Midnight Carnival. She makes friends with Schmendrick, an incompetent magician under the services of Mommy Fortuna. While most of the attractions are normal animals with a spell of illusion placed on them (like a Manticore being a toothless lion, a Satyr being a crippled chimpanzee, and the "Midgard Serpent" being a mere cobra), Fortuna has captured the immortal harpy Celaeno as well. With the help of Schmendrick, the Unicorn escapes, and in the process frees Celaeno, who kills Fortuna and her henchman Ruhk. The Unicorn and the wizard later gain a second traveling companion, Molly Grue, the careworn lover of bandit leader Captain Cully.

When the Unicorn nears the seaside castle of King Haggard, supposed keeper of the Red Bull, she encounters the animal, which turns out to be a monstrous fire elemental. At the last moment before her capture, Schmendrick's unpredictable magic transforms her into a human woman with white knee-length hair. In this guise the Red Bull is uninterested in her and departs. The Unicorn suffers tremendous shock at the feeling of mortality in her body. While Molly wraps the Unicorn's human form in a blanket, Schmendrick states that the magic chose the form and not him.

Schmendrick, Molly Grue and the now-human Unicorn proceed to King Haggard's castle. Haggard is at first unwelcoming, and Schmendrick introduces the Unicorn as his niece, Lady Amalthea. Schmendrick requests that the three of them stay there as members of Haggard's court, only to be told that the only occupants of the castle are Haggard, his adopted son Prince Lír and four ancient men-at-arms. Haggard consents to lodging the trio, replacing his more competent on-call wizard with Schmendrick, and setting Molly Grue to work in his scullery.

Amalthea begins to forget her identity and her reasons for coming to the castle, and falls in love with Prince Lír. Caught in her newfound emotions, she struggles with thoughts of abandoning her quest for the sake of mortal love. Haggard confronts Amalthea in private conversation, hinting at the location of the unicorns, yet from the waning magic in her eyes, he has doubts regarding his previous suspicions that she is more than she seems. Molly learns the location of the Red Bull's lair from a talking cat.

Molly, Schmendrick and Amalthea are joined by Lir as they enter the bull's den. Schmendrick reveals Amalthea's true identity to Lír after explaining what they are looking for. Lír is unmoved and says that he loves her anyway. This makes Amalthea want to abandon the quest and marry Lír, but Lír dissuades her. The Red Bull appears, but is no longer deceived by Amalthea's human form and chases after her. As Lír struggles to protect her, Schmendrick turns Amalthea back into the Unicorn, but she is unwilling to leave Lír's side. The Bull drives her toward the ocean, just as he earlier drove all the other unicorns, but she manages to run away and the Red Bull gives chase. Lír tries to defend her, but is killed by the bull. Enraged, the Unicorn turns on the Bull and forces him into the sea. Carried on the white surf of incoming tides, the other unicorns emerge en masse from the water, causing Haggard's castle to collapse into the sea as they rush past, with Haggard falling to his death.

On the beach, the Unicorn magically revives Lír before departing for her forest. Schmendrick assures Lír that he has gained much by winning the love of a unicorn, even if he is now alone. The Unicorn briefly returns to say goodbye to Schmendrick, who laments that he has done her wrong by burdening her with regret and the taint of mortality. She disagrees and thanks him for having helped to restore unicorns to the world; though she is the only unicorn to feel regret, she is also the only unicorn to know love. Schmendrick and Molly watch the Unicorn depart for her home in the woods.

Sailor Senshi/Scouts

 * Terri Hawkes (Kae Araki in the Japanese adaption) as Usagi/Serena Tsukino / Sailor Moon
 * Karen Bernstein (Aya Hisakawa in the Japanese adaption) as Ami Mizuno/Amy Anderson / Sailor Mercury
 * Katie Griffin (Michie Tomizawa in the Japanese adaption) as Rei/Raye Hino / Sailor Mars
 * Susan Roman (Emi Shinohara in the Japanese adaption) as Makoto/Lita Kino / Sailor Jupiter
 * Stephanie Morgenstern (Rica Fukami in the Japanese adaption) as Minako/Mina Aino / Sailor Venus
 * Jill Frappier (Keiko Han in the Japanese adaption) as Luna
 * Ron Rubin (Yasuhiro Takato in the Japanese adaption) as Artemis
 * Toby Proctor (Tohru Furuya in the Japanese adaption) as Mamoru Chiba/Darien / Tuxedo Mask

Cardcaptors

 * Carly McKillip as Sakura Kinomoto
 * Rhys Huber as Syaoran Li
 * Maggie Blue O'Hara as Tomoyo Daidouji
 * Nicole Oliver as Meiling Li
 * Richard Newman as Cerberus
 * Sam Vincent as Julian Star

Characters of the movie

 * Mia Farrow as the Unicorn / Lady Amalthea, the titular "last unicorn" who, in her search for the other unicorns, is transformed into a young woman and learns about regret and love.
 * Alan Arkin as Schmendrick, a magician who accompanies the Unicorn on her quest to find others like her. Beagle commented that he was a bit "disappointed" by the way Alan Arkin approached the character because it seemed "too flat".
 * Jeff Bridges as Prince Lír, King Haggard's adopted son who falls in love with Lady Amalthea. Although he is later told by Schmendrick that she is a unicorn, his feelings for her remain.
 * Tammy Grimes as Molly Grue, the love of Captain Cully who joins Schmendrick and the Unicorn. While explaining that there was no particular reason that he did not write a detailed background for Molly Grue's character, Peter S. Beagle stated that he has "always been grateful" to Grimes because she "brought such vocal life to the character that she covered things I didn't do."
 * Robert Klein as The Butterfly, the creature that gives the Unicorn hints as to where to find the other unicorns.
 * Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna, a witch who uses her illusory magic to run the Midnight Carnival, which showcases mythical creatures that are, in truth, just normal animals. Later, the harpy Celaeno, one of the two real mythical creatures, kills her and her henchman, Ruhk.
 * Christopher Lee as King Haggard, the ruler of a dreary kingdom who has never been happy, save for when he looks at unicorns. Beagle described Lee as "the last of the great 19th Century actors, and either the most-literate or second-most literate performer I've ever met." When Lee came in to work, he brought his own copy of the novel wherein he took note of lines that he believed should not be omitted. Lee, who is fluent in German, also voiced King Haggard in the German dub of the film.
 * Keenan Wynn as The Harpy Celaeno, a real harpy that was captured by Mommy Fortuna, freed by the Unicorn, and kills Mommy Fortuna and Ruhk out of vengeance for trapping her, the Unicorn and the other animals
 * Wynn also voices Captain Cully, the leader of a group of bandits.
 * Paul Frees as Mabruk, King Haggard's court magician who is replaced by Schmendrick.
 * René Auberjonois as the Skull that guards the clock that serves as an entryway into the Red Bull's lair. Beagle praised Auberjonois' performance, saying "he could have played any role in that movie and I would have been happy ... He's that talented."
 * Brother Theodore as Ruhk, a hunchback who works for Mommy Fortuna. He, along with Mommy Fortuna, is killed by the Harpy Celaeno.
 * Don Messick as the Cat that gives Molly Grue clues regarding the whereabouts of the Red Bull's lair.
 * Nellie Bellflower as the Tree that speaks and falls in love with Schmendrick after he accidentally casts the wrong spell on it.
 * Edward Peck as Jack Jingly, Cully's Men
 * Jack Lester as Hunter #1, Old Farmer, Cully's Men
 * Kenneth Jennings as Hunter #2, Cully's Men