# What's happening with the new live-action movie "The Last Unicorn?" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 12, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080 "2006-03-12T21:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2006, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/1 "2006-03-12T21:13:11Z")
Peter S. Beagle’s 1968 _The Last Unicorn_ is one of my favorite fantasy novels. I was never satisfied with the 1982 animated film version. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084237/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084237/) I was really looking forward to the scheduled December 2006 release of a new live-action adaptation, with Christopher Lee as King Haggard and Angela Lansbury as Momma Fortuna! [http://www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-112179//](http://www.movietome.com/movietome/servlet/MovieMain/movieid-112179//) Only, now it appears the project has been sucked down into a Production Hell maelstrom. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Last\_Unicorn#New\_film\_development:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Unicorn#New_film_development:) > [@](#): > > A live-action adaptation of the original book has been announced as in development for several years, but it is not clear what progress (if any) has been made towards production. A minor controversy erupted in 2005 over the producers’ plans to create their screen unicorn by filming trained horses and then using CGI to modify them. This runs directly counter to the physical description of the unicorn in the book, which explicitly states that the unicorn looks nothing at all like “a horned horse,” and has thus upset the book’s fans. > > In February 2006 Continent Films’ unveiled a new official website for the project which made clear that the film was still in development, not pre-production. It was not yet funded, did not have a shooting script, and had not been cast. In the new website all actor names but Christopher Lee’s had been removed; and even Mr. Lee’s involvement was revealed to be nothing more than a promise to appear in the film if he was available and if terms could be worked out with his agent. > > On March 8th, 2006, the Internet Movie Database shut down their page for the project because they were unable to verify that the film was actually being made. Does anybody know more about this? There is an official website for the movie – [http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/](http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/) – but it clears up nothing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/2 "2006-03-14T00:24:19Z")
Nobody knows? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/3 "2006-03-14T02:24:27Z")
Well there is a controversy between Peter S Beagle and Granada Media at present. [You can read about it here](http://www.conlanpress.com/youcanhelp/index.html) and I wouldn’t be surprised if that is leaking over into the production of the movie. I’ve been watching for this one for a good long while and maybe one day it will get made, but to be honest I don’t see it happening anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/4 "2006-03-14T04:58:13Z")
If the unicorn doesn’t look like a horned horse then what the hell is it suppos to look like? Marc ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/5 "2006-03-14T05:11:41Z")
Something closer to a goat, or an antelope - the Medieval conception (or at least the heraldic one) has cloven hooves and a beard, and also a long tail that only has a tuft at the end. Also more gracile than your average horse. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/6 "2006-03-14T06:59:59Z")
A pretty darn good [unicorn](http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/i/n/indi/wm_telkella.jpg.html). I am _such_ a unicorn geek. :o ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/7 "2006-03-14T08:32:25Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > A pretty darn good [unicorn](http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/i/n/indi/wm_telkella.jpg.html). We’ll have to disagreeon “pretty” or “good” - I’ll spot you the “darn” though. While the detailing of tail etc. is OK, the body shape is still that of a large-ish horse. And don’t get me started on the colour… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a period depiction of a unicorn that wasn’t white or close to it - they’re Christ symbols after all! The tapestry unicorns, for instance, are a colour I like to think of as “champagne”. A pied unicorn is just…wrong. All that goes out the window when you consider Marco Polo’s “unicorn”, of course, better known as the “rhinoceros” - that would make for one cool unicorn film 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/8 "2006-03-14T09:23:35Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > A pretty darn good [unicorn](http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/i/n/indi/wm_telkella.jpg.html). > > I am _such_ a unicorn geek. :o As a classic unicorn, that picture is just wrong. It appears to be a pied horse, with the addition of a beard and something like a unicorn’s tail. The feet are hidden, so we cannot see whether the hooves are cloven or not, nor can we see the fetlocks. Apparently, this is a depiction of a specific unicorn in a book, but all told, it’s a bad example of what a unicorn should look like. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/9 "2006-03-14T09:25:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Something closer to a goat, or an antelope - the Medieval conception (or at least the heraldic one) has cloven hooves and a beard, and also a long tail that only has a tuft at the end. Also more gracile than your average horse. My guess is the myth of the unicorn actually stemmed from the birth of mutated goats. For some reason, despite the beard and horns, they gained a mythic quality of goodness and not evil. But I’m just guessing. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/10 "2006-03-14T13:39:58Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > If the unicorn doesn’t look like a horned horse then what the hell is it suppos to look like? > > Marc [![](http://bali.co.kr/zoo/image4/%C3%84%C3%9A%C2%BB%C3%941%E2%81%844%C3%9217Black_Rhinoceros.jpg) ](http://bali.co.kr/zoo/image4/%C3%84%C3%9A%C2%BB%C3%941%E2%81%844%C3%9217Black_Rhinoceros.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/11 "2006-03-14T13:54:18Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > As a classic unicorn, that picture is just wrong. It appears to be a pied horse, with the addition of a beard and something like a unicorn’s tail. The feet are hidden, so we cannot see whether the hooves are cloven or not, nor can we see the fetlocks. Apparently, this is a depiction of a specific unicorn in a book, but all told, it’s a bad example of what a unicorn should look like. Huh. Guess I’m not such a unicorn geek after all. 😉 (I keed, I keed) Anyone have a good picture? Now I want to see what a real one should look like. Er, not “real”. You know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/12 "2006-03-14T14:14:19Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Anyone have a good picture? Now I want to see what a real one should look like. Er, not “real”. You know what I mean. The unicorn being essentially a heraldic beast, the version on the British royal arms (as a supporter) is about as authoritative as you can get: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal\_Coat\_of\_Arms\_of\_the\_United\_Kingdom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Coat_of_Arms_of_the_United_Kingdom) ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/13 "2006-03-14T14:27:35Z")
This is a [pretty good medieval Unicorn](http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/unicor1.gif) IMDB has actually delisted the new movie. It was listed a few months back. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/14 "2006-03-14T14:40:27Z")
Thanks, guys. I didn’t know they couldn’t be different colours. The picture I submitted was from a book I’d recently read (well, the artist was inspired by the book, it’s not associated with the book in any legal way), and they came in all kinds of colours. The book had no pictures, of course, but described them pretty much the same way **Lynn** did, only with various colours and patterns. It was new to me, and I was a little captivated by it. I see I was woefully misguided. Thank you for your help! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/15 "2006-03-14T14:57:30Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Thanks, guys. I didn’t know they couldn’t be different colours. The picture I submitted was from a book I’d recently read (well, the artist was inspired by the book, it’s not associated with the book in any legal way), and they came in all kinds of colours. The book had no pictures, of course, but described them pretty much the same way **Lynn** did, only with various colours and patterns. It was new to me, and I was a little captivated by it. I see I was woefully misguided. Thank you for your help! 🙂 Todays Unicorn is almost universally the One Horned Horse, coming in all colors and possibly with wings to be a Pegacorn. Todays version has little to do with the classic unicorn. It was a woodland creature and very shy. The greatest beast to hunt as one medieval bestiology described it. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/16 "2006-03-14T19:35:38Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > Huh. Guess I’m not such a unicorn geek after all. 😉 (I keed, I keed) > > Anyone have a good picture? Now I want to see what a real one should look like. Er, not “real”. You know what I mean. Here’s a few: [http://www.laceyville.com/KIDS-CORNER/ColorBook/UNICORN.gif](http://www.laceyville.com/KIDS-CORNER/ColorBook/UNICORN.gif) [theocracyofthepale.com](http://www.theocracyofthepale.com/images/unicorn.jpg) [http://members.aol.com/unifolk/unicorn.jpg](http://members.aol.com/unifolk/unicorn.jpg) Many modern artists simply stick a spiraling horn onto an image of a horse. Unicorns are classically depicted as having a single horn, cloven hooves, and a tufted lionlike tail. I was fascinated by unicorns when I was a preteen, and my daughter went through the same stage. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-happening-with-the-new-live-action-movie-the-last-unicorn/348080/17 "2006-03-14T20:17:22Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > …they came in all kinds of colours. The book had no pictures, of course, but described them pretty much the same way **Lynn** did, only with various colours and patterns… …so, they’re My Little Pony - with a horn! OK, I know some of the MLPs\* had\* horns I think one advantage of living in this provincial backwater is that only (I’m pulling a figure out of my arse) 10% of the possible fantasy books make it to the brick-and-mortar stores where I get my F&SF fix. I’m slowly coming to realise (via the 'net) what horrors I’ve been spared thanks to the winnowing effect of distance coupled with Sturgeon’s Law. If only Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan were in that 90%…