The Last Unicorn was the basis for an animated film made in 1982 from a screenplay by Peter Beagle. Produced by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, a pair known chiefly for their Saturday morning cartoon shows, this film surpassed many of the team's earlier efforts. This was largely due to the vocal talents of a stellar cast, featuring Mia Farrow in the tide role, Alan Arkin as Schmendrick, Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna, Jeff Bridges as Lir, and legendary horror film star Christopher Lee as King Haggard.

The animation was directed by Katsukisha Yamada, and its occasional use of abstract color and pattern is characteristic of the Japanese style that has come to be known as "anime."

Beloved fantasy novels are notoriously difficult to adapt to film, not only because of the challenge of depicting a world entirely different from our own, but because the reader often imagines what...