Voyage of the Unicorn

Last updated
Voyage of the Unicorn
Voyage of the Unicorn.jpg
Directed by Philip Spink
Written by
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography John Spooner
Edited by Ron Yoshida
Music by
Distributed by Hallmark Entertainment
Release date
March 2, 2001 - March 3, 2001
Running time
170 min.
Countries
  • United States
  • Canada
LanguageEnglish

Voyage of the Unicorn is a 2001 television film directed by Philip Spink and starring Beau Bridges, Chantal Conlin and Heather McEwen. The film is based on James C. Christensen's book Voyage of the Basset .

Contents

Plot

In part one, Dr. Alan Aisling is an antiquities professor who has lost his wife and is about to lose his job when the new dean informs him of changes to the curriculum. His younger daughter Cassie daydreams about the mythical world her illustrator mother left behind in her drawings and annoys her older sister Miranda, who believes she needs to be more grounded.

That night, several monstrous trolls led by Skotos attack the house, and the family find themselves fleeing with an elf named Sebastian (who quickly develops a crush on Miranda) and a dwarf called Malachi. They board a mysterious ship called The Unicorn, capable of passing through the "Sensible" world, and into the "Landscape of Imagination". They sail to Faerie Isle, where a dryad directs them to the castle of Avalon, home of Oberon and Tatiana. There it is explained that they are prophesied to save the faeries, and end darkness. They are given a quest to find the benevolent dragon that patrols the isles before the trolls do, as he who possesses the dragon shall rule the land. To help them, Tatiana gives Cassie a jewel that will always point out the way home, Dr. Aisling a lens that will eliminate the glare of deception, but nothing for Miranda, who Tatiana believes has many gifts, though she does not use them.

Meanwhile, the trolls take a ship of their own and pursue the Unicorn. The winds carry the Unicorn to a seemingly deserted island, and the family goes ashore to search. They find ruins which turn out to be a reflection of the palace of king Minos of Crete. Cassie chases a goat into a part of the ruins and gets lost in an underground labyrinth. Dr. Aisling remembers the legend of the Minotaur, and he and Miranda gather stones to make a trail. Cassie runs into the Minotaur, who chases her further in. Trapped in a dead end, Cassie manages to befriend the Minotaur. He admits he is also lost and cannot leave. Cassie uses her jewel to point them out of the labyrinth. The Minotaur goes with them to protect Cassie. On their way back, they find the bones of the dragon.

They take the skull back to the ship. On the way back to Faerie Isle, Skotos' ship catches up to them. During the battle, the troll's main mast is destroyed and the Unicorn gets away, but only to sail into forbidden waters. Dr. Aisling believes there is more they need to do, and that they should go ashore the Ziggurat temple in the middle of the waters. Dr. Aisling begins to examine the references to snakes and shields, and realizes that they are in a reflection of the temple of the Gorgon Medusa. The doors to the Ziggurat close, and the gorgon approaches. She encourages them to open their eyes and forget the pain of losing their mother as they turn to stone, something that affects Miranda strongly. Dr. Aisling uses his lens to see how beautiful Medusa is. She lets them go in exchange for the lens. Cassie realizes how alone the gorgon is and offers to have her come with them. Hiding her face under a cloak, she accepts. As they leave, they are beset by the sphinx who demands Cassie answers her riddle. After she does, they welcome her to come with them, but she refuses.

Dr. Aisling turns the lens into a pair of glasses so Medusa can look at people without turning them to stone. Both quickly begin to develop feelings for each other. The trolls attack once more, this time boarding the ship. Part one ends and Part two begins with Dr. Aisling beset by trolls at the ships prow, about to go overboard. Skotos chases the girls into the ship, where he finds the dragon skull. As the trolls retreat, they damage the part of the ship that can take them home. One troll attacks, and Medusa tries to turn it to stone, but accidentally hits Malachi instead.

Skotos returns home with the dragon skull and unites the troll clans, but cannot summon its power because the skull was stolen. They begin to prepare for was against the faeries with help from Oberon. Meanwhile, the Unicorn floats for days, stranded while they try to fix Malachi's condition, as only he knows how to fix the part of the ship that can take them home. Medusa has heard of the College of Magical Knowledge, which they find in a great book in the library. The professor inside the book advises them to find unicorn tears, which can turn stone back to flesh. To convince the unicorn to help them, they need a princess and a silver apple from a tree guarded an ogre.

They find the tree, and pick several apples before the ogre attacks Dr. Aisling. The girls' gowns magically change so they look like princesses. A unicorn appears and Miranda offers him an apple. The Unicorn leads the girls through the woods and plays with them before finally accepting the apple and healing Malachi.

Meanwhile, the trolls attack the faeries. The Unicorn returns to Faerie Isle to see it has been decimated. Oberon gives Skotos a potent magic to summon a sea serpent, only to have Skotos go back on his word to spare the faeries. Miranda dances, calling a mermaid to break Skotos' spell and put the serpent to sleep. Everyone decides they can't run from the fight and sail to troll island.

Once there, they split up to try to find the dragon skull. The trolls prepare to attack other islands and the "Sensible" world. While Cassie creates a distraction and gets caught, Dr. Aisling Miranda and the Minotaur get the dragon skull. Miranda takes it to Malachi while Cassie tries to convince the trolls to change, but Skotos wants none of what she says. Dr. Aisling and the Minotaur come to rescue her. In the middle of battle, the sphinx grabs Cassie and flies her to the others near the ship. Miranda is chased by trolls to a swamp. Sebastian and Malachi try to draw the trolls off from the others.

The Minotaur, Sebastian, Malachi and Medusa are captured. Skotos tries to get the Minotaur to tell him where the skull is, but when he refuses, Skotos dehorns him. Miranda blows her cover and shows them the skull to save him. She and Dr. Aisling get separated, chased by Skotos. The Minotaur breaks free and destroys the troll's mine, causing the skull to be thrown into a pool of lava. Cassie grabs it before she, Miranda and Dr. Aisling are surrounded. Cassie calls on the dragon's power, which resurrects it. The Dragon chases away all the trolls while the slaves free themselves. During the fighting, Miranda realizes her feelings for Sebastian and kisses him. The fighting over, everyone is ready to go home.

Finally returning home, Dr. Aisling becomes the new dean, Medusa finds a way to their world, Miranda takes up music, Cassie continues drawing in her mother's portfolio, and the entire family finds a new enthusiasm for life.

Cast

Release

The film was released on a DVD with the TV film "The Old Curiosity Shop" (starring Peter Ustinov) in 2007. It was considered an "extra".

Both parts were released by Hallmark Entertainment as a single stand-alone feature on VHS.


Related Research Articles

<i>Titan</i> (board game) Fantasy board game

Titan is a fantasy board game for two to six players, designed by Jason B. McAllister and David A. Trampier. Each player controls an army of mythological creatures such as gargoyles, unicorns, and griffons, led by a single titan. The titan is analogous to the king in chess in that the death of a titan eliminates that player and his entire army from the game. The player controlling the last remaining titan wins the game. The game was first published in 1980 by Gorgonstar; the rights were later licensed to Avalon Hill and Valley Games. Upon its release, the game received positive reviews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monster</span> Fearsome and/or grotesque fictional being

A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fear, often in humans. Monsters usually resemble bizarre, deformed, otherworldly and/or mutated animals or entirely unique creatures of varying sizes, but may also take a human form, such as mutants, ghosts, spirits, zombies, or cannibals, among other things. They may or may not have supernatural powers, but are usually capable of killing or causing some form of destruction, threatening the social or moral order of the human world in the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorgons</span> Female monsters in Greek mythology

The Gorgons, in Greek mythology, are three monstrous sisters, Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa, said to be the daughters of Phorcys and Ceto. They lived near their sisters the Graeae, and were able to turn anyone who looked at them to stone. Euryale and Stheno were immortal, but Medusa was not and was slain by the hero Perseus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medusa</span> Goddess from Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Medusa, also called Gorgo or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her was turned to stone. Medusa and her Gorgon sisters Euryale and Stheno were usually described as daughters of Phorcys and Ceto; of the three, only Medusa was mortal.

<i>The StoryTeller</i> (TV series) British childrens fantasy (1987)

The StoryTeller is a live-action/puppet television series that originally aired in 1987 and which was created and produced by Jim Henson.

A variety of magical creatures are depicted in the fictional universe of Harry Potter, which is drawn from various types of media. Magical creatures appear in the Harry Potter novels and their film adaptations, in the Fantastic Beasts film series, in other books by J. K. Rowling, and on the website of the Wizarding World media franchise. In 2001, Rowling released Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which serves as a guidebook to the creatures described in the fictional universe. Some of these creatures were invented by Rowling. Others are derived from sources such as Greek mythology, English and Celtic folklore, and the works of Roman historians.

<i>Hex</i> (TV series) 2004 TV series or program

Hex is a British television programme developed by Shine TV and aired on Sky One. The story is set in a remote English boarding school with a mysterious past. Series one explores the supernatural relationship between a Fallen Angel named Azazeal and a student called Cassie who is also a witch. In the second series the story centres on 500-year-old anointed one Ella Dee, and Azazeal's son Malachi. Both series of the show are available on Region 2 DVD, with the first series released on Region 1 DVD in June 2007.

<i>Melody of Oblivion</i> Manga

The Melody of Oblivion is a 2004 Japanese anime television series planned by Gainax and animated by J.C.Staff. The series originally aired between April 7, 2004, and September 21, 2004, on TBS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorgon (Inhuman)</span> Fictional character; leader of Attilans Royal Guard and guardian of the Inhumans

Gorgon is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Gorgon is also a member of the Royal Family of the Inhumans, a race of superpowered beings that inhabit the hidden city of Attilan.

<i>The Spiderwick Chronicles</i> Series of childrens books

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of children's fantasy books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. They chronicle the adventures of the Grace children, twins Simon and Jared and their older sister Mallory, after they move into the Spiderwick Estate and discover a world of fairies that they never knew existed. The first book, The Field Guide, was published in 2003 and then followed by The Seeing Stone (2003), Lucinda's Secret (2003), The Ironwood Tree (2004), and The Wrath of Mulgarath (2004). Several companion books have been published including Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You (2005), Notebook for Fantastical Observations (2005), and Care and Feeding of Sprites (2006). A second series, entitled Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, includes The Nixie's Song (2007), A Giant Problem (2008), and The Wyrm King (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creature Commandos</span> Fictional DC Comics military team

The Creature Commandos are a fictional DC Comics team of military superhumans originally set in World War II. The original team was introduced in Weird War Tales #93, created by J. M. DeMatteis and Pat Broderick. The team was composed of a human team leader, a werewolf, a vampire, Frankenstein's monster, and a gorgon.

<i>Voyage of the Basset</i> 1996 book by James C. Christensen

Voyage of the Basset is an illustrated children's book published in 1996. It was written and illustrated by James C. Christensen in collaboration with Renwick St. James and Alan Dean Foster. It is about a widowed Victorian era professor, Algernon Aisling, his two daughters, Miranda and Cassandra, and their adventure on a ship called the Basset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural depictions of Medusa and Gorgons</span> Medusa and the other Gorgons in art and culture

The three Gorgon sisters-Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa-are mythological monsters who have been featured in art and culture spanning from the days of ancient Greece to present day. Medusa is the most well-known Gorgon, having been variously portrayed as a monster, a protective symbol, a rallying symbol for liberty, and a sympathetic victim of rape and/or a curse.

<i>Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison</i> 2010 novel by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison is the fifth and final installment in the best-selling Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petrifaction in mythology and fiction</span> Literary appearances of the theme of people or animals being turned to stone

Petrifaction, or petrification, defined as turning people into solid stone, is a common theme in folklore and mythology, as well as in some works of modern literature. Amos Brown noted that "Fossils are to be found all over the world, a clear evidence to human beings from earliest times that living beings can indeed turn into stone (...) Previous to the modern scientific accounts of how fossils are formed, the idea of magicians or gods turning living creatures into stone seemed completely plausible in terms of these cultures".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medusa (DC Comics)</span> DC Comics character

Medusa is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. Based upon the eponymous Greek mythological figure whose story was chronicled in Ovid's Metamorphoses, she is a snake-haired Gorgon with the ability to turn living creatures to stone with her gaze. Since her debut in 1964, Medusa's physical appearance has been presented variously as DC Comics' continuities have shifted and evolved. Though she has routinely been depicted with snakes for hair, she has sometimes been shown as bipedal and sometimes with a serpentine lower body. However across continuities, she has consistently been written with the ghostly ability to possess or influence other beings after her physical body has been killed, as well as an uncanny capacity for resurrection after death. Her characterization has been that of a dangerous immortal creature who is at turns both vengeful and sympathetic.