One of my most beloved animated films that I used to watch
as a child was The Fantastic Adventures
of Unico. It’s based on a manga written and illustrated by the legendary Osamu
Tezuka (the film adaptation was directed by Toshio Hirata) which was published
in the late 1970s. Unico is an adorable little pink-haired baby unicorn who has
the special power of making every creature he comes into contact with
lighthearted and happy. The gods above take issue with his abilities (they
think only they should be able to influence
emotions) and they have Unico banished to The Hill of Oblivion. Fortunately because
of Unico’s goodhearted and innocent nature he has help from outside entities,
but he still has many trials and tribulations to overcome.
The story is divided into two parts—the first half deals
with Unico befriending Akuma-kun (translation “little devil”), a lonely demon
who lives on a desolate island. The second half concerns Unico helping a small
kitten named Chao realize her dream of becoming a human girl so that she can
help her elderly caretaker with daily chores. While on the surface everything
seems bright and happy, both of these tales take dark unexpected turns—much more
subversive that modern children’s fare tends to be. This is something I miss
from the olden days of animation because it lends the narrative more gravitas
and emotional investment. Unico represents optimism in the face of despair, and
though the situations he encounters can be quite grim there is always a light
at the end of the tunnel.
Madhouse provided the animation for this film and it’s spectacular.
The backgrounds are lavishly painted with bright colors and gorgeous details and
the simplistic yet endearing Tezuka character designs are a joy to look at. The
way the characters move around and emote is so expressive and creative and the
animation is smooth and silky. It also has the weird neon “’eighties vibe”
going on which adds another layer of quirkiness to everything. Tezuka has
stated that he used Disney as an inspiration to his own work and you can see
the influence in the way the characters eyes look and some of their design
elements. My favorite sequences are when The West Wind and The Night Wind take
flight—they are personified as otherworldly looking women complete with long
flowing robes and ethereal forms.
There is a lot of music throughout the film but it’s not
necessarily a musical. It’s a mostly orchestral production with some synthesizer
elements thrown in as well. Masahiko Sato (Belladonna of Sadness) composed the
score and most of the songs are preformed by the voice actors for the
characters. I have seen both the Japanese and English versions of this film and
while the dub isn’t terrible, I much prefer the Japanese language (though some
of the voices can get a little shrill at times.).
Unico is a pretty obscure anime, but luckily Discotek
released it on Blu/DVD back in 2012. It had VHS releases back in the early
eighties, which is how I saw it, but it took twenty-five years for it to get a
DVD release here in the states. It’s well worth looking at for fans of retro
animation or Osamu Tezuka’s work.
-Michelle Kisner
-Michelle Kisner