The Last Unicorn (1982)

I love this book, have read it many time.  my sister bought it for me sometime in the late 70s.  so when the movie was made, I was prepared for the worst, what with Rankin/Bass being involved (see The Hobbit for the exact reasons- and I like that cartoon to a degree).  the first time I saw it I was not impressed.  I have no idea why the band America was chosen to do any of the songs, as they were well past their prime by then.  it's not awful, but it kind of jerks you out of the movie on occasion.

nowadays, I really like the movie.  it's beautifully animated and pretty close to the actual book.  if they filmed the whole book it would have been 3 hours long.  Peter S. Beagle wrote the book and the script for the movie and did a good job of getting the important stuff in it.  that's the ugliest harpy ever animated, by the way.

our hero Schmendrick the Magician turns the unicorn human.  this leads to a whole host of problems over all, but also the solution (pretty obvious even in the book, but still powerful).

that's Christopher Lee's voice as the rather evil king Haggard, who is never happy.  people bring their own misery upon themselves.

I'm still annoyed that more people don't know what the real Red Bull is.  this thing will actually give you wings to fly away from it.  or if you are a hero, confront it.

the final battle is kind of anti-climatic, but it does get the job done.  the movie ends on a bittersweet note, just like the book.  both are worth seeking out.