The Grisly Cartoon Movie Ending That Haunts Fans
Among every mature cartoon movies I’ve ever watched, nothing has stuck with me quite like the dread-soaked conclusion of the viscerally violent as well as highly provocative film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, the Spanish filmmaker crafted a grim, bleak , often savage world that included a few small , forlorn twinges of hope.
Although The Unicorn Wars seems like it came from a drive to expand the medium further, the filmmaker clarified that it was actually an attempt to express a universal, cross-cultural theme regarding “the common origin of all wars.”
That idea is conveyed by means of a band of vividly colored bears , openly inspired by a well-known series of lovable characters.
Maturing in a community built around aggression as well as the defense industry, a lot of the bears are consumed by exterminating the mythical beasts, thanks to a holy book that tells the bears they previously were masters of the forest, before the unicorns forced them out.
Others did not entirely bought into the indoctrination, , would rather sample substances and engage sexually in the forest.
Unlike their friendly counterparts, these colorful critters show genitals , definite libidos.
For a certain notably brutal, cynical bear, the character Bluey, the war against unicorns transforms into a path to control — and particularly to dominance over his more tender, nicer brother the character Tubby.
This bear is a bully , an apparent sociopath , and when fear takes over his group and claims his comrades one by one, he takes increasingly power personally, through ever more violent, destructive ways.
Simultaneously, these mythical beings are enduring their own terror, in the form of a spreading, destructive monster in their forest.
“In the early stages, it appears as a comedy,” the director said. “However it evolves into a more dramatic and sorrowful movie. And by the end, it transforms into a terrifying movie.”
The Unicorn Wars begins similar to one of the most playful movies by a legendary animator, that discover a wicked pleasure in letting animated figures curse, shoot each other, or engage sexually.
Afterward it becomes something more like a more grim work by that same creator, featuring progressively graphic violence and a tangible link to the actual suffering of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes a full-on theatrical horror massacre.
The terror that makes the film a perfect Halloween movie kicks in well before than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the hardcore gorehounds, for lovers of intense movies who want to view a movie they have not viewed until now, and are able to withstand a narrative which delivers no restraint.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and the conclusion will burrow under your skin and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Available for rental or purchase on several streaming sites.
