Line #20 WesternAnimation/TheUnicornInTheGarden


1	[[quoteright:312:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/UnicornInTheGarden_5176.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:312:"I'm absolutely certain you're going to need a strait-jacket."]]
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4	-->"The unicorn is a mythical beast."
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6	"The Unicorn In The Garden" is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1953]] animated short directed by William T. Hurtz, produced by [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons [=UPA=]]] and released through Creator/ColumbiaPictures. The short is based directly on Creator/JamesThurber's short story of the same name, originally published in ''Magazine/TheNewYorker'' magazine on October 21, 1939, and later collected in ''Fables For Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated'' (1940). The short closely imitates the style of the author's own illustrations and cartoons. Like many of Thurber's fictions, "The Unicorn in the Garden" deals with the fundamental conflict between men and women, and the romantic ''vs''. practical mindset represented by each, respectively.
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8	----
9	!! Tropes:
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11	* AsideGlance: The husband after [[spoiler:his wife is taken away to the asylum.]]
12	* CassandraTruth: The husband telling his wife about the unicorn, and later what the wife tells the psychiatrist and the police.
13	* CatchPhrase: The unicorn is a mythical beast.
14	* HaveAGayOldTime: Some younger viewers may not realize that "booby" here has nothing to do with breasts, but refers to the mentally ill: the "booby-hatch" is an insane asylum.
15	* HenpeckedHusband: Typical of Thurber's stories.
16	* IronicEcho: The wife first tells the husband "The unicorn is a mythical beast", then later [[spoiler: the psychiatrist asks if the husband told the wife there was a unicorn, which would mean the wife was not crazy, to which the husband replies "Of course not. The unicorn is a mythical beast."]]
17	* ItWasHereISwear: The husband tries to get his wife to come outside to see the unicorn, but she refuses. By the time he returns outside, the unicorn is gone.
18	* LimitedAnimation: The 'toon is ''extremely'' stylized, as was typical of all UPA animation. In this particular case, this may be because the style is that of the original story's author.
19	* LiveActionAdaptation: There is a live-action rendition of this short, which cleverly chooses not to show the unicorn itself. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkPOCJRlkUc here]].
20	* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: Music/FelixMendelssohn's "Wedding March" plays [[spoiler:-- as the wife is being carried off to the asylum, no less!]]
21	* MistakenForInsane: A man witnesses a unicorn in his garden, and tells his wife about it. By the time the wife looks, the unicorn is already gone, resulting in her attempting to get her husband committed to an asylum. The attempt fails... because the way she explains things to the doctors make it sound like she's the insane one, which leads to her being the one sent away. When the doctors question the man, the man wisely claims he did not tell his wife anything about a unicorn.
22	* PoorCommunicationKills: What gets the authorities thinking [[spoiler: the wife is crazy instead of the husband: the way she presents her story is as if she thinks the events are true, as opposed to just repeating the outlandish things her husband claimed. The husband's IronicEcho just seals the deal.]]
23	* SpoofAesop: [[spoiler: Don't count your boobies until they are hatched.]]

Context WesternAnimation / TheUnicornInTheGarden