Another Childhood Favorite

I love this movie. "The Last Unicorn" is at the top of my Top 10 favorite kid movies. It's just so good. And totally cheesy. I remember watching it as a smallish girl, and becoming mildly obsessed with unicorns. And princes. The music is extremely catchy, too - America sings all of the songs. While I am not usually a fan of the band, I love the soundtrack for this flick. It's so soothing (at least to me). TLU also has a wonderful cast. It's a movie that I can just listen to - I don't have to actually watch it to be entertained.

When I was 14 I started babysitting a neighboring family. Their girls had the VHS of this movie, and I was once again transported back to my unicorn-loving early childhood. After I graduated from high school, I borrowed the movie (and kept it until last week. Yeah, I "borrowed" the video for 12+ years.). I watched it on a regular basis while in college, and I even made my husband watch it when we were first married (he really wasn't all that enthused with it).

One day this spring, the kids were fighting over which video to watch, and they finally settled on The Last Unicorn (Gabriel wanted something with animals, Elliott wanted something in a red box). They had never seen it, and I wasn't sure it was a good idea - it isn't exactly a Disney movie in theme or animation. Of course my hesitancy set them off on a loud and whiny tangent, so I caved. They immediately fell in love with the movie, too. As soon as Jon got home Gabriel started yammering about a red bull and a King Haggard. Elliott could only talk about a "horsey wif horn". Once Jon figured out what they were so excited about, he actually thought it was pretty cool. I think he might be sick of Disney movies. He even suggested buying the DVD so I could actually return the VHS to it's rightful owner.

At least 3 times a week, the kids watch The Last Unicorn. Gabriel has most of the songs memorized, and he asks if the iPod can play the Unicorn music (I have CDs of Disney music and a number of soundtracks from his favorite movies). Currently, the iPod cannot play the music, but soon it will be able to!!) And when he and his sister aren't watching and singing along with the movie, they are reenacting it with their Little People. Gabey gets out the castle, and he arranges his own small cast of characters - a unicorn (of course) and Lady Amalthea, King Haggard, Prince Lear (on a horse with a dragon for slaying), Molly Grue, Schmendrick the Magician, the Red Bull (or in our case, a fuzzy camel), and the salty Cat with a peg-leg. Elliott carries around her own unicorn, farmer (apparently he's Prince Lear), and lion (her Red Bull).

Am I the only person who loves this movie? Most of the time when I mention it, I get blank stares. No one seems to know WTF I am talking about. Do YOU know??