At a time when Dungeons & Dragons was captivating the country, Rankin/Bass produced the animated television version of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit. Following that success, they sought the help of a Japanese studio to bring another fantasy to life: Peter S. Beagle‘s best-selling tale, The Last Unicorn.
It’s not uncommon for young girls to love unicorns, but I don’t know if many can pinpoint the exact moment their obsession began. I can. I was five years old, visiting a great-aunt with my family. As the only kid on the visit, I was bored out of my mind when my mom’s cousin asked if I’d like to watch a movie. They had a giant TV for the ’90s, and my cousin was a movie fanatic and collected countless things about film. He happened to have a copy of the film and put it on. From the opening scene to the ending credits, I was enraptured.
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The story centers around a unicorn discovering her kin have all mysteriously vanished, so she embarks on a noble quest to find them. The journey proves tumultuous, as she is captured, meets friends and foes, and is forced to confront her immortality by facing the dastardly “red bull.”
While it is easy to write it off as a silly anime, it was actually packed with a star-studded cast, almost all of whom jumped at the chance to play their iconic roles:
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Mia Farrow as The Unicorn / Lady Amalthea
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Alan Arkin as Schmendrick the Magician
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Jeff Bridges as Prince Lír
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Tammy Grimes as Molly Grue
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Christopher Lee as King Haggard
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Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna
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Keenan Wynn as Captain Cully / The Celaeno Harpy
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Robert Klein as The Butterfly
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Paul Frees as Mabruk the Magician / The Cat
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Don Messick as The Roc / King Haggard’s Guards
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Nellie Bellflower as The Tree
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René Auberjonois as The Skull
On top of that, the soundtrack’s main song was performed by the legendary soft rock band America, and the original score is genuinely so good that it has a spot on my playlist.
The Last Unicorn’s Emphatic Cast
The big names you see on the credit sheet were all thrilled to be part of the project.
“We decided to get the best people we could get,” Jules Bass, one of the movie’s directors, said in an interview. “And one thing that’s interesting about it, and this is unique, is that every single person whom we approached to do it said yes immediately.”
When Bridges heard about the project, he reportedly called Bass to ask whether a role was open, according to Mental Floss. When he informed him that Prince Lír was available, he offered to do it for free or at whatever even the smaller characters were making. He was hired instantly.
Lee was particularly besotted with the role. In his obituary, written by Beagle himself, he noted that Lee jumped at the chance to perform the English and German versions of the animation, and told him he was a huge fan of the book. The two kept in touch over the years, and when Beagle called him on his 90th birthday, he once again declared his love for the book and film in a way only Lee could.
“I remember him assuring me that ‘if, by the time you come to make your live-action version of your movie, I have passed on, do not let it concern you. I have risen from the dead several times. I know how it’s done,'” he wrote.
I certainly know if The Last Unicorn is re-animated or remade in any way, I will be first in line with a ticket.
This story was originally published by Parade on Jul 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the Movies section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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