The Gruesome Cartoon Movie Ending That Lingers Audiences
Out of all the mature cartoon movies I have ever viewed, nothing has stuck with me quite like the dread-soaked ending of the graphically gory and overwhelingly transgressive 2022 movie The Unicorn Wars.
In 2015’s, this Spanish filmmaker created a dark, bleak , often savage universe with several minor , desolate twinges of hope.
While The Unicorn Wars feels like it came from a drive to expand animation further, the filmmaker clarified that it was actually an effort to express a universal, cross-cultural message about “the mutual source of each battle.”
That idea is conveyed via a squad of brightly hued teddy bears , openly based on a popular series of lovable figures.
Maturing in a community focused on warmongering as well as the military-industrial complex, numerous these creatures are consumed by killing the mythical beasts, because of a religious scripture which states them they used to be masters of the woods, until these creatures drove them out.
A few did not entirely accepted the indoctrination, and would rather sample narcotics and engage sexually outdoors.
In contrast to their cuddly equivalents, these vivid animals display genitals , obvious urges.
For a particular especially vicious, pessimistic creature, Bluey, the conflict with the unicorns becomes a route to power — and especially to dominance over his more tender, more compassionate sibling the bear Tubby.
This bear acts as a tormentor and an obvious antisocial figure , and while horror dominates his unit and claims his fellow soldiers one by one, he seizes progressively power for himself, through ever more bloody, damaging approaches.
At the same time, the unicorns are suffering their own nightmare, through an expanding, destructive monster in their forest.
“Initially, it seems like a lighthearted film,” the director commented. “But then it evolves into a more dramatic and melancholic film. And in the finale, it’s a horror film.”
The Unicorn Wars starts out similar to one of the most quirky features by a legendary animator, that discover a naughty glee in permitting drawn beings curse, fire weapons, or engage sexually.
Afterward it becomes something more like a more grim movie from that director, including ever more visual gore and a tangible link to the real horror of conflict.
In the finale, it becomes an outright Grand Guignol bloodbath.
The terror that makes the film a perfect Halloween watch kicks in much sooner than one might expect.
Unicorn Wars is ideal for the most dedicated lovers of violence, for fans of intense movies who want to view a film they’ve never watched previously, and who can handle a narrative that offers unflinching brutality.
See it in a dark room without any distractions, and the conclusion will crawl deep within you and take up residence there.
Where to watch: Accessible via rental or purchase on several digital platforms.
