The Unicorn in the Garden (1953)

Director:

William T. Hurtz

Writer:

James Thurber (story)

Release Date:

24 September 1953 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Fantasy

Plot:

A henpecked husband sees a unicorn outside his window--or does he?

Plot Keywords:

1950s | Telephone | Ambulance | Garden | Fantasy

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #16073) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

United Productions of America (UPA)

True Spirit of A Unicorn

Very few movies can truly capture the spirit of its subject. "The Last Unicorn" literally changed my life, my way of seeing the world, of understanding why people do what they do, and what is my role in it. But, before that, there was "The Unicorn in The Garden". It is not an ordinary movie, it is "sincere", like very few artworks turn out to be, mainly nowadays. It's not that computer generated graphics and super surround sounds are not a wonder to see and hear, but if you don't have a good story to hold everything in place, all you get are some minutes of entertainment that you will just forget after you watch the next movie. The opposite is not true, though. If you have a good story, and you know how to tell it, then it doesn't matter how your graphics look, or that the sound doesn't shake your guts every time something explodes on the screen, and the makers knew that. "The Unicorn in The Garden" has a wonderful story, it is extremely well told, with a good "timing", and even the graphics, that may seem "drafty", at first, have their purpose, they enhance the focus on the story and not in the action (no, it is not an excuse, it's easy to see that watching other U.P.A. productions of the same time). A must-see to all Unicorn lovers...