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1!!The book and the film
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3* {{Adorkable}}: Schmendrick, based on his smiles and how he tends to stammer at times.
4* {{Applicability}}: Could the story in general carry a metaphor for a woman's virginity/women growing up? After all it all but mentions it with Molly's story (''"Where were you when I was new!? When I was one of those young and innocent maidens you always come to!?"'') and unicorns being described as being incredibly pure creatures. You could even say the Unicorn/Amalthea carries this allegory in her journey, starting by being this innocent, pure creature who doesn't know much of the world of men, and once turned into an adult woman (by the interference of a red colored being and a man, no less- possibly alluding to a woman's first period or her "first" time?) she begins fearing and feeling anxious, and finally she falls in love, common feelings for humans but before these thoughts and ideas were alien to her (''"I can never regret. I can feel sorrow, but it's not the same thing."''). It is not very different from how young people transition from childhood to adulthood, by experiencing new feelings and being anxious about it. It's exemplified by the song "Now That I'm A Woman" in the film.
5** Or maybe it can be about eternity and time? Much is made of the chase for immortality, which the unicorn and other fantastic creatures have, but people like Mommy Fortuna and Haggard do not. The last thing Schmendrick tells Lir is that he's achieved immortality because the unicorn will remember him long after humans have shuffled off this mortal coil.
6** The story could also carry an allegory against hunting, poaching and the exploitation of animals, since all the characters that carry this behavior (Mommy Fortuna, Haggard) are met with horrible ends, while the ones that help the unicorn or care towards other animals are given much happier endings. The land is claimed to be barren once unicorns disappear, and the Red Bull could be a stand-in for hounds which are used for hunting.
7** It could be about faith, and how close nature is to the unknown, and mankind takes it for granted. Unicorns are seen as almost holy creatures, spoken by men as if they were myths, and only animals and other magical beings (witches, magicians) can see them for who they truly are. Men can only see them if they truly believe in them.
8** The unicorn, judging by how people respond to her, could be an allegory for childish innocence, both in the [[IncorruptiblePurePureness good]] and [[AmbiguousInnocence not-so-good]] sense. Nearly every character has some massive blind spot regarding innocence - Schmendrick's too stuck in his own head to actually learn how to use his skills, Mommy Fortuna sells illusions to the credulous who ''want'' to see legends where there are none, Captain Cully and his crew refuse to acknowledge that they are ''not'' JustLikeRobinHood, Lir assumes he must be a [[PrinceCharming charming]] WarriorPrince but has no clear idea about what being TheHero actually entails [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy until the end]], and King Haggard is a ''deeply'' depressing PsychopathicManchild DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife and obsessed with the unicorns, who make him feel "young", which he apparently never did even when he was a child. Ironically, Molly Grue, who implies that she feels DefiledForever during her DespairSpeech, is actually the most idealistic character in the story; her CharacterDevelopment leads her to accept that she doesn't need "innocence" to retain the ability to see unicorns and to find beauty in the world. And in the book, she's the only character the Unicorn allows to touch her.
9* BaseBreakingCharacter: The butterfly. Some find him hilarious, and see him as a OneSceneWonder. Others claim he's an annoying [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] who slows the story down.
10* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The bit with the tree falling in love with Schmendrick is a peculiar bit of broad comedy plopped down in the middle of a wistful and melancholy work. It's handled much more subtly in the book. However, it fits right in with the CentralTheme of the book, as the tree croons, "There is no immortality but a tree's love." Sound familiar?
11* CryForTheDevil: King Haggard is evil, yes, and must be stopped; but one can't help but feel sympathetic when he tells Amalthea his true motivation.
12* DiagnosedByTheAudience: King Haggard's fatal flaw is some vague disorder that he is desperate to solve at ANY cost, even to himself. He experiences a deep unending misery that even he can't explain, a need for stimulation that he can only satisfy in fleeting and unsustainable ways, signs of hyper fixation and a LackOfEmpathy (both for others emotions and [[NoSocialSkills apparent difficulty reading or caring about social cues]]) and (given his disappointment that adopting Lír didn't stir emotional connection), can't even ''force'' himself to love someone. He's aware of all of this, and seems deeply frustrated that the only joy he can find in anything, ever, at all, is in "his" unicorns, and even then apparently only when he sees them once a day at the turn of the tide. Though mostly [[AllegoricalCharacter allegorical]], it's easy to read his literal self as a deeply mentally ill man grasping at straws for something resembling comfort.
13* FriendlyFandoms: Fans of the Last Unicorn are also often fans of other High-Fantasy Adult series like ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. It probably helps that the book, much like others in the genre, tackle fantasy in a more mature manner and aren't afraid of showcasing somber moments and bittersweet endings if the story calls for it. It helps that Peter S. Beagle and George R.R. Martin are friends in real life.
14* FridgeBrilliance: In addition to Lír [[MeaningfulName being named after]] a sea god in Irish mythology, other forms of his name hearken back to other aspects of his character:
15** The Welsh equivalent of the god Lír is called "Llŷr Llediaith", whose name means "half-speech", which may be a reference to Prince Lír's difficulty in telling Amalthea his feelings.
16** There's also Shakespeare's ''King Lear'', which, though not referring to Lír directly, is possibly an oblique reference to King Haggard's descent into madness born of misery.
17* GeniusBonus: Molly's initial reaction to seeing the Unicorn is sad enough in its own right - but when you understand the mythology behind unicorns (namely that they're the embodiment of NatureAdoresAVirgin), her line of "Where were you when I was new?" takes on a whole new level.
18* HilariousInHindsight: Red Bull became the name of an energy drink years later, making the big threat of the story a good deal harder to take seriously.
19* MoralEventHorizon: Celeano crosses it by trying to kill the unicorn [[UngratefulBitch after she frees her]].
20* TheWoobie: Practically almost all the characters except the butterfly and the cat. The villains too, though they could be considered more to be JerkassWoobie.
21
22!!The film
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24* AnimationAgeGhetto: The movie looks like an {{Animesque}} kids' cartoon; and the story can be mistaken for a standard fantasy story about quests and magic and unicorns. In truth, it's nothing of the sort. The book has won many awards and is considered by fans and other authors to be one of the best works of fantasy ever written and the film is a beautifully animated [[note]]Through a conjunction of Rankin/Bass and animators who would later to become part of Creator/StudioGhibli[[/note]] faithful adaptation of the story.
25* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The movie has a soundtrack that is ''way'' more awesome than a movie about unicorns has any right to be, especially with the songs written by Music/JimmyWebb and performed by ''Music/{{America}}''.
26* BaseBreakingCharacter: The Unicorn/the Lady Amalthea and Prince Lír are this to some. Either they're interesting, tragic deconstructions of classic fairy tale character archetypes (damsel and knight respectively), or they're bland and painfully follow the cliches straight. Lír especially is victim to this latter interpretation (since the movie axed the more unique aspects of his character in the book to simply portray him as a regular KnightInShiningArmor). While the Lady Amalthea has found fans of her own for her unique personality and gorgeous looks, very few people care much about Lír.
27* BestKnownForTheFanservice: Or in this case FanDisservice. The triple-breasted harpy is often mentioned when the film is brought up, despite the character appearing only briefly in the first act. Perhaps even more infamous though is the large breasted tree that sends Shckemdrick to MarshmallowHell. During some screenings of the movie, Peter S. Beagle admitted the triple-breasted harpy sequence made him very uncomfortable.
28** On a more applicable level, the Lady Amalthea is very well known in fan-art and cosplay communities, even though the film she comes from is not as well known or beloved as classic Disney films or their "similars" ala WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}} in the animation community. It helps that she's incredibly beautiful with a design that evokes otherworldliness and has a nude scene in the film itself (tastefully done, but still counts).
29* BrokenBase: Some of the songs - "Now That I'm A Woman" and "That's All I've Got To Say" in particular. They either add a lot to the story or else detract from it. Some of the ambivalence towards the songs might only be due to the probably unwise choice to allow Creator/MiaFarrow and Creator/JeffBridges to do the singing instead of hiring professional vocalists. Others feel that their somewhat unpolished singing numbers reflect a certain sincerity. Notably the songs by ''America'' are less divisive.
30** It must be noted in the original theatrical and HBO cuts, Farrow's singing was edited out, and during the duet with Lir, a different singer was used.
31* CrossoverShip: People have taken to ship the Lady Amalthea with many characters in the Non-Disney community: [[Franchise/TheLittleMermaid Ariel]], [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Princess Aurora]], WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}, [[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron the Horned King]]...Her design is certainly very alluring and many in canon are in awe of her beauty.
32* CultClassic: Often considered one of the most beautiful and forgotten gems of animation. The characters are cherished by fans for their tragic backstories and complex characterization, and Molly Grue and the Lady Amalthea are liked for being complex and strong female characters that are very unconventional for animation standards (Molly being old and not that pretty, Amalthea being cold and pessimistic rather than spirited and naive). Amalthea is also liked a lot by artists and cosplayers as an animated female lead due to her status as a unicorn and her beautiful design.
33* EnsembleDarkhorse: Peter S Beagle viewed Tammy Grimes[[note]]Molly Grue[[/note]] as the darkhorse of the film's cast.
34--> "Tammy Grimes brought such vocal life to the character that she covered things I didn’t do. I’ve always been grateful."
35* FriendlyFandoms: With fans of the [[Manga/{{Unico}} Unico franchise]] by Creator/OsamuTezuka in the West and Japan to a small degree. Since ''The Last Unicorn'' and [[Anime/TheFantasticAdventuresOfUnico Unico]] [[Anime/UnicoInTheIslandOfMagic series both]] contain darker moments and have a melancholy tone. Alongside the fact that both movies have unicorns as the main characters. Helps that fans of both works remember seeing both movies during the 80s and ''The Last Unicorn'' was a [[InternationalCoProduction Japanese-American co-production]].
36** With ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'' in the Disney fandom. Both films are set in a fantasy medieval period and base their unique art styles/design on medieval tapestries. Some people even like to pair up Princess Aurora with Amalthea.
37* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
38** ''I'm alive, I'm aliiiive...''
39** The Unicorn's whinny whenever she's excited.
40* NarmCharm:
41** The butterfly and the whimsical music accompanying him can come across as this.
42** As well the songs sung by ''America''; the lyrics are ''extremely'' corny and often try too hard to sound poetic. Yet you'd be hard pressed to find a fan who didn't enjoy them to some degree.
43** The aforementioned "Now That I'm A Woman" and "That's All I've Got To Say" on the other hand have really good lyrics, but are clearly done by actors who don't know how to sing. Many fans actually like this fact though, since it brings an earnestness to their performance.
44* OneSceneWonder: Numerous characters/voice actors quickly come and go, but Creator/ReneAuberjonois stands out as The Skull.
45* PopularWithFurries: Unicorns are popular with furries (alongside ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' fans), and the film does have beautiful animation, so it has some acclaim in the community.
46* SlowPacedBeginning: Due to how the butterfly seems to take forever to tell the unicorn everything, it's a while before the story really gets going.
47* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The 25th Anniversary DVD edited out a lot of swear words, which fans weren't happy about (one is a simple "damn you" from Molly when she first meets the unicorn). The 2011 Blu-Ray restored the original audio, with the edited one available as an optional feature.
48* UnintentionalUncannyValley: When Amalthea first becomes human, her naked limbs are noticeably thin and bony to an unnatural degree.
49* ViewerGenderConfusion: [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies Celaeno]] is constantly referred to as a female throughout, and has the [[MultiBoobage breasts]] to prove it, but when "she" is talking to the unicorn telepathically ("Set me free... we are sisters, you and I..."), the voice is clearly male.
50* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: This "kid's movie" has graphically adult content (such as a triple breasted harpy) and emotional themes that go way beyond a children's film.
51
52!!The book
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54* ToughActToFollow: In a 1978 preface, Peter S. Beagle remarked that ''The Last Unicorn'' would "haunt the rest of (his) career," and that he grew "increasingly shy of talking about (it)." In this case, it seems that it wasn't the writing that Beagle grew tired of; it was the book. At San Diego Comic Con 2006, his remarks on ''Unicorn'' indicated he's not tired of the book so much as writing it was in some ways extremely difficult and painful... in contrast with other stories, which seemed to flow from him freely. He stated he had to fight to get the story written. Not something he enjoys thinking about.
55* ValuesDissonance:
56** The book takes a few pot-shots at "silly women," which might be accurate for the setting but not very sympathetic for the audience.
57** Prince Lír falls in LoveAtFirstSight with the Lady Amalthea, and keeps pushing and pushing for her to love him back despite her lack of interest. Even Molly pressures her to return his sentiments rather than tell him to back off since the lady is clearly not interested, and the Lady Amalthea correctly deduces that he ''doesn't'' want to know her thoughts but wants to possess her just like the Bull did, and it frightens her. Later, Lír encounters the Lady Amalthea when she's struggling to remember herself and something important about her past, and he ''encourages her to forget'' because ''he'' feels uncomfortable seeing her true self (unicorn-in-human-form) and prefers the docile maiden he met (the lady Amalthea). Eventually she relents and returns his feelings, but only after surrendering remembering anything before she met him. It's even stated Lir prefers her as a blank slate so that he can write her past and opinions for himself, and she loves him because she has ''no'' memory or identity before meeting him. While previously these acts might have been considered romantic, in the age of [[DoggedNiceGuy Nice Guys]] and [[EntitledToHaveYou male entitlement]], and a growing understanding of {{Unequal Pairing}}s and possessive / controlling behavior, it makes the prince come off as a creep (and vaguely controlling) for taking advantage of a vulnerable woman for his own benefit. [[spoiler:Her returning to unicorn form and being unable to love him since she recovered her memory and identity can also seem less tragic and more of a dodged bullet.]] On the other side of the argument, Prince Lír does ultimately have a change of heart and is even the one who convinces Amalthea to turn back into a unicorn, with him being forced to let go and realise that it would be wrong of him to convince her to stay human for him, so it seems this may be an intentional example of CharacterDevelopment.

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