
Following a tonal path more akin to the acerbic adult recurring theme of BoJack Horseman rather than the painless franchise of Sing by Illumination studios, Thelma the Unicorn (2024) presented on Netflix manages to not be totally derivative owing largely to its overused trope due to sustained violent streaks of humor and a wide array of eccentric nonmain characters. Adapted from the graphic novel for kids released in 2015 authored by Aaron Blabey, what we see is a fairy tale of sorts about a female pony who wants to become a famous musician and so covers herself with a disguise of being a magic horned animal. But by pursuing such dreams and transforming her character along with them, Thelma deceives herself and those who see her for who she really is.
Conflicted singing heroine this is how former Alabama Shakes frontwoman Brittany Howard interprets her character in the fantasy film. There is this interesting clash in the appearance of her stubby pony and the powerful pipes of the performer, whose vocals sound like they belong to a rock and not a pop star. Howard’s privileged blond voice conveys the message well, it is not the looks of Thelma that should be highlighted but the fact that she is talented.
In terms of the external features, Thelma is probably the most significant shift from the source material, taking Howard’s hair and personality as her paradigm. Animals in this world do not seem to be owned, however, Thelma does work on a farm with her donkeys and bandmates, Otis (Will Forte) and Reggie (Jon Heder from Napoleon Dynamite).
When Thelma the Unicorn has a funny moment when it leans into its satire of the music business, more like Popstar Never Stop Never Stopping, this is the case with the character Vic. There are moments where Thelma is, for example, bullied by another character for disrespecting pop culture. There is a scene where an American socialist artist bulldozes into Vic’s office where he spends time telling readers about his personal life and gaining notoriety. Once Thelma decides to join Vic, she undergoes an image change and pretends to be in love with a famous horse, which is also a Hollywood cliche. There was even AI involved, who, when requested, began composing popular songs about cow’s milk.
Most of the human characters look like they can be easily copied and pasted from any random average looking the internet or even Despicable Me movie, while the animals look like they belong in Sing and such minute particulars wouldn’t cause the earth to shatter. The world is a huge place and there are things that may be distinct, to an average viewer, there’s no difference in the old wood, such rebellion presents little change to the drab symphony of art direction, texture, and illumination which is on offer.
Yet charms that beautifully perplex or contrast everyday moments within the film, seem to be the focus of the Hess duo. Unlike the somber theme of loss, there is a shrewd spoof of a baffled view in the form of a terminally short man who is genuinely obsessed with the titular character of the movie and wishes to adopt Thelma, which may just be aimed at those My Little Pony adult Bronie fans. Or there’s a girl who asks Thelma’s boyfriend if he’d sign the urn with her grandmother’s ashes in which the humor is simplistically dark. This collection of smaller moments of which there are many, is far more humorous and powerful than the main theme and its message. Hess and Wang’s efforts may not be as peculiar as that of Leo from last year, the film had more than enough courageous stylizations to redeem it.
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