The Gruesome Cartoon Movie Ending That Stays With Audiences
Out of all the mature animated films I’ve personally viewed, no other has lingered in my mind as much as the dread-soaked ending of the viscerally violent and overwhelingly transgressive film from 2022 The Unicorn Wars.
In the year 2015, this Spain-based writer-director developed a grim, melancholy , frequently brutal world that included several minor , forlorn twinges of optimism.
While The Unicorn Wars feels like it originated from a desire to advance the medium even more, the director stated that it was actually a try to communicate a universal, cross-cultural theme concerning “the shared root of all wars.”
That message is communicated via a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , clearly modeled after a popular line of cuddly figures.
Maturing in a community centered on warmongering as well as the war machine, a lot of the bears are consumed by slaughtering the mythical beasts, because of a religious scripture that claims them they used to be masters of the woodland, until the unicorns expelled them.
Some haven’t fully bought into the propaganda, , would rather try out narcotics or mate outdoors.
In contrast to their cuddly counterparts, these bright beings have visible sexual organs and clear libidos.
For a particular especially vicious, cynical bear, the bear named Bluey, the battle against unicorns becomes a path toward dominance — and especially to authority over his more tender, kinder brother Tubby.
This bear acts as a tormentor and a seeming antisocial figure , and as horror dominates his unit and claims his fellow soldiers individually, he grabs more and more influence on his own behalf, via progressively gory, harmful methods.
Simultaneously, the horned creatures are experiencing their own horror, as a growing, destructive monster in their habitat.
“Initially, it feels like a humorous movie,” the filmmaker commented. “But then it evolves into a more intense and sorrowful movie. And in the finale, it’s a scary feature.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out similar to among the playful films from an iconic filmmaker, that discover a naughty glee in letting animated figures curse, shoot each other, or sex each other up.
Then it turns into more akin to a bleaker film from the same creator, featuring progressively graphic violence , a noticeable link to the actual horror of conflict.
Ultimately, it becomes a full-on extreme drama bloodbath.
The fear which makes the film an ideal spooky-season viewing kicks in much sooner than indicated.
The Unicorn Wars is ideal for the devoted gorehounds, for enthusiasts of graphic films who want to view something they haven’t ever watched previously, and who can handle a story that offers no restraint.
Watch it with the lights off free from interruptions, and the finale will burrow under your skin and linger.
Where to watch: Offered for digital rental or sale on various digital platforms.
