The Last Unicorn Script

I've put each scene on a different page, to make it easier to read and also for faster download time. The songs are place in the middle, the script is on the left side.

A Rankin-Bass Production

Based on the book by Peter S. Beagle

"THE LAST UNICORN"

(Scene: A forest in late afternoon. Two huntsmen on horses ride in. The first has a black beard; the second is younger and has red hair and a feather in his cap.)

ELDER HUNTSMAN: I mislike the feel of these woods. Creatures that live in a unicorn's forest learn a little magic of their own in time; mainly concerned with disappearing.
YOUNGER HUNTSMAN: Unicorns? I thought they only existed in fairy tales. This is a forest, like any other - isn't it?
ELDER HUNTSMAN: Then why do the leaves never fall here, or the snow? Why is it always spring here? I tell you there is one unicorn left in the world, and as long as it lives in this forest, we'll find no game to hunt here.
YOUNGER HUNTSMAN: Let's turn around, hunt someplace else.
ELDER HUNTSMAN: All right.

(They turn and ride to the edge of the forest.)

ELDER HUNTSMAN: (turns back and calls out) Stay where you are, poor beast! This is no world for you. Stay in your forest and keep your trees green and your friends protected. And good luck to you, for you are the last.

(They ride away. Close-up of a white, female unicorn {VOICE OF MIA FARROW.)

UNICORN (voice only): I am the only unicorn there is? The last?

INTRO.

AMERICA:
When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain,
And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain,
In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn,
They will stare, unbelieving, at the last unicorn...

When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing,
And you look to the north, and a pale moon is rising,
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn,
In the distance, hear the laughter of the last unicorn!
I'm Alive!
I'm Alive!

When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning,
And the future has passed without even a last desperate warning,
Then look into the stars, where through the clouds a path is torn,
Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn!
I'm Alive!
I'm Alive!

UNICORN (voice only): That cannot be. Why would I be the last? ...What do men know? Because they have seen no unicorns for a while does not mean that we have all vanished! We do not vanish! ...There has never been a time without unicorns. We live forever. We are as old as the sky, old as the moon. We can be hunted, trapped; we can even be killed if we leave our forests, but we do not vanish! ...Am I truly the last?

(Enter a butterfly {VOICE OF ROBERT KLEIN}, singing.)

BUTTERFLY: Wave the flag for Hudson Highborn, show them how we stand! ...I am a roving gambler; how do you do?
UNICORN: Hello, butterfly, welcome! Have you traveled very far?
BUTTERFLY: How far would I travel, yessir! - to be where you are? ...Clay lies still, but blood's a-rover. Red Rover, Red Rover, let Charlie come over! ...Won't you come home, Bill Bailey, won't you come home? ...My wild Irish rose. (Embraces her horn.)
UNICORN: Be a little respectful, butterfly! Do you know who I am?
BUTTERFLY: Excellent well, you're a fishmonger! You're my everything, you are my sunshine, you're old and grey and full of sleep, you're my pickle- faced, consumptive Mary Jane!
UNICORN: Say my name, then. If you know my name, tell it to me.
BUTTERFLY: Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name!
UNICORN: Say it, if you know.
BUTTERFLY: Rumpelstilstkin! Gotcha!
UNICORN: I should know better than to expect a silly butterfly to know my name.
BUTTERFLY: One, two, three o'lairy!
UNICORN: Butterfly, in all your wanderings, have you seen others like me? Have you seen even one?
BUTTERFLY: Oh, have you seen the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?
UNICORN: Butterfly, even one? Tell me that you saw only one?
BUTTERFLY: One? One alone, to be my own... [Up goes downwind, up go down!] Go and catch a falling star...
UNICORN: It serves me right for even asking you. All butterflies know are songs and poetry and anything else they hear. I guess you mean well. Fly away, butterfly.
BUTTERFLY: Oh, I must take the A train, oh, I am a cook and a captain bold and the mate of the Nancy brig. Has anybody here seen Kelly?
UNICORN: I hope you hear many more songs. I must find someone who knows me, who has seen others like me.
BUTTERFLY (serious voice): "Unicorn". Old French, "unicorne". Latin, "unicornis". Literally, one horned: "unus", one, and "cornu", a horn. A fabulous animal resembling a horse with one horn. Visible only to those who search and trust, and generally mistaken for a white mare. Unicorn.
UNICORN: Oh, you do know me! Please, all I want to know is if you've seen other unicorns like me, somewhere in the world.
BUTTERFLY: See you later, alligator! Close cover before striking!
UNICORN: Butterfly, have you seen the others? Where have they gone? Tell me which way I must go to find them!
BUTTERFLY: (strange voice) No, no, listen. Don't listen to me, listen. You can find the others if you are brave.

(Shows unicorns running down a path, and a great red mass chasing them.)

BUTTERFLY (voice only) They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footsteps.
UNICORN: Red Bull? What is the Red Bull?
BUTTERFLY: Hold tight. Hold tight. Hold tight, hold tight. ...(same strange voice) His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them, he shall push the unicorns, all of them, to the ends of the earth. Listen, listen, listen quickly!
UNICORN: I am listening! Where are the other unicorns, and what is the Red Bull?
BUTTERFLY: Listen, listen! (laughs) The king is in the counting house, counting out, counting out, counting... It's you or me, moth! Hand to hand to hand to hand to hand to hand... (He flies off.)
UNICORN: He said I could find the other unicorns. But where? Or was the story of the Red Bull just another of his songs? ...Oh, I could never leave this forest. But I must know if I am the only unicorn left in the world. Suppose they are hiding together, somewhere far away? What if they're waiting for me, in need of my help?

(A similar scene is shown.)

BUTTERFLY: (voice-over) They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints.

(The unicorn neighs in fear and begins running. She reaches the edge of the forest, where all the animals of the wood are looking at her. She stares at them for a second, then turns and runs down the road leading away.)

UNICORN: (voice only) I must go quickly, and come back as soon as I can.

(The unicorn runs down the road.)

BUTTERFLY (voice-over): You can find the others if you are brave.

(Shows unicorn running slower and slower through the seasons...)

Back