The Last Unicorn finally comes to R1 on 3/16. However... (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

DVDEmpire has a new listing for The Last Unicorn, as an R1 release finally! The street date is shown as 3/16, with a list price of just $14.98:

[c] [/c]


Running time is listed at 93 minutes, which is about right. "Songs Performed By America" is mentioned, so hopefully this is a strong indicator that there aren't any music rights issues.


Here's the "but": Artisan is the studio. And they are well known for their MAR releases lately!

We have no idea if their merger with Lion's Gate will change anything...though you should keep in mind that Artisan's prez, Beeks, ended up being prez of the combined company.


I already own the R2 release of this (the OAR German version with the English soundtrack), so it doesn't much matter to me. But I wanted to let everyone know. I hope it turns out to be OAR!

 

[David Lambert]

Can a mod please fix the spelling in my subject? I surely didn't mean "Unicord"!

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Merry Christmas Dave, and thanks for this info ++

 

[Eric F]

Any chance we'll see Flight of Dragons any time soon?

 

[Mark_TS]

I have heard that the UK folk/rock/classical group RENAISSANCE originally did the soundtrack for this, and it was replaced by the music from AMERICA. Too bad that couldnt be included too, as an isolated music track.

 

[JohnAP]

Quote:
Any chance we'll see Flight of Dragons any time soon?


That's a release I'd like to see. I'd also love for Ralph Bakshi's Wizards to finally make it.

 

[Dick]

WIZARDS is coming. THE LAST UNICORN is one of those "I've been waiting forever for this" titles that I look forward to breathlessly until I discover Artisan is bringing it out. Now it's strictly ho-hum... another useless pan and scan piece of crap. Unless, that is, someone can irrefutably state that it was shot 1.33:1.

 

[Eric F]

Like Unicorn, Flight of Dragons is a Rankin and Bass production, that's why I asked.

FoD gets alot of airplay on the Disney Channel.

 

[Kevin M]

I personally have always wanted to see Takashi's animated Metamorphoses/A.K.A. Winds Of Change (1978) in it's non-Americanized (I.E. non-Winds Of Change) version.

 

[Sean Campbell]

Isn't there a new live action adaptation of The Last Unicorn due for theatrical release around Christmas 2004? If so, what are the chances of Artisan re-releasing the movie again in December as a collector's edition?
BTW, I have the German R2 edition - excellent picture and sound quality. It's presented in 16x9, but the UK and Australian editions are 4:3. I suppose it's possible that it could have been filmed 4:3 with the intentions of it being matted for theatrical release. I've also heard that when the movie was initially released on VHS in the 80s, it had extra material not included in the theatrical edition. Anyone have any info on this?

 

[streeter]

A live action Last Unicorn (with much of the cartoon's cast coming back to reprise their roles) has been in development for a long time. They're probably still looking for funding.

 

[Beast]

Here's the official site for the Live Action version. Great cast list, and some really amazing designs are showcased there. It says they hope for a December 2004 Release Date. We'll see.

http://www.the-last-unicorn.net/

 

[David Lambert]

The live-action film is on track for Christmas 2004 release, by all accounts. Here is the homepage of the project.

Christopher Lee reprises his role as King Haggard. Mia Farrow is back, but this time as Molly Grue. Rene Auberjonois is also back, as both the Talking Skull and as Captain Cully. Look for Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna (nice bit o' casting there), and anyone who's seen Bend It With Beckham knows that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who played the girls' soccer coach, has the perfect build and voice to play Schmendrick the Magician!


Edit: heh...I went to go help the wife do something before finishing up this post and submitting it, and now it seems that Mike beat me to it!

 

[streeter]

That site has been up for a while. Filming hasn't started yet, and the release date has been pushed back before. Plus, the site hasn't been updated in ages. The latest news bit was the casting of Mia Farrow, and that was a long time ago.
Pardon my skepticism...

 

[WillG]

Just of note. DVDFile is reporting that the Artisan Release will indeed be Full Screen

 

[DaViD Boulet]

grrr

 

[David Lambert]

I had that pegged, didn't I? :rolleyes

 

[WillG]

Quote:
Here's the "but": Artisan is the studio. And they are well known for their MAR releases lately!

David, that's all saw in this thread. I did not take it as confirmation. Let me know if I missed something

 

[David Lambert]

That portion you quoted was my way of saying "I expect this to be a MAR release, just like everything else Artisan has released lately".

 

[Joel C]

I guess I'll keep the snazzy R3 release in anamorphic widescreen 5.1. The additional German track is even good, Christopher Lee still does his own voice.