The Last Unicorn (1982)

A unicorn (Mia Farrow) lives in a magical forest where she is the protector of the forest's animals. But she leaves the forest in order to find others of her own kind ..... or is she the last unicorn? Along her journey, she finds two human companions: an inept magician (Alan Arkin) and a cook (Tammy Grimes). Based on the popular 1968 fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle who adapts his novel for the screen and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. (FROSTY THE SNOWMAN). The animation, which has a lovely simplicity, was done in Japan by a group of animation designers that would later be a creative force behind Studio Ghibli and indeed, the film does have the rough feel of a Miyazaki anime. Although not a musical per se, the songs by Jimmy Webb (who also did the underscore) are very good and performed by America with Mia Farrow and Jeff Bridges (as a Prince) each having a solo number. The voice talent is of an unusually high caliber and Beagle was very enthusiastic about the voice work. Young children should love this and there's enough texture that adults can fully enjoy it too. With Angela Lansbury as an old witch, Christopher Lee as a King, Keenan Wynn as a bandit, Robert Klein as a butterfly and Rene Auberjonois who's hilarious as a wine loving skeleton.