Unicorn: Warriors Eternal
Entry updated 10 July 2023. Tagged: TV.
US animated tv series (2023). Cartoon Network Studios. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky. Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky. Written by Darrick Bachman and Genndy Tartakovsky. Voice cast includes Jeremy Crutchley, Grey DeLisle, Hazel Doupe, Jacob Dudman, Demari Hunte, Peta Johnson, Tom Milligan, Jason O'Mara, Alain Uy and George Webster. Ten 21 minute episodes. Colour.
Three Superpowered Heroes – gothic sorceress Melinda (DeLisle), celestial monk Seng (Uy) and elven warrior Edred (Dudman) – conquer a fiery creature in Ancient Egypt; whereupon their leader, Merlin (Crutchley), appears and declares "the Evil will return and so must you ... your souls will protect the world throughout eternity", then points to the rotund, top-hatted Robot that accompanies him: "This is Copernicus, it will command your souls to return; I have brought him from the future". When a unicorn appears on a nearby dune and strikes a noble pose he adds, "We have the blessing of the Magic realm." Over the following centuries we watch Copernicus waken the reincarnated souls of our heroes in contemporary bodies (see Identity Transfer) whenever the Evil appears: an epic tone is maintained throughout ... until 1890, London, where Copernicus lies buried in a graveyard.
He is exhumed by three robots which attempt to destroy him but are easily defeated. However, being activated earlier than intended has consequences: shortly after, Copernicus interrupts the wedding of Emma Fairfax (Doupe) to reawaken her as Melinda: however, Emma's and Melinda's personalities do not blend, shifting between Amnesia and having one or other in control (see Identity). Next Copernicus goes to the ruins of the Squeersby School for Orphaned Boys (presumably a nod to the schoolmaster in Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist) where the abandoned children have run wild: one, Alfie (Hunte), is Seng; but he is too young to fully comprehend the cosmic realm. Eldred is Dimitri Dynamo (Milligan), a street magician in London: his transformation seems more successful, but he behaves like a lovestruck teenager around Melinda.
The trio battle a Zombie elephant, resurrected by a nine-tailed fox (a creature from Japanese Mythology), which is causing havoc in London. Scotland Yard, believing it part of a spiritualist conspiracy, round up all the capital's (almost entirely fake) psychics for questioning – including two who have spent their lives waiting to be reawakened as Melinda and Seng: as one comments, "Something clearly has gone wrong." London is a thoroughly Steampunk city, with Airships and overhead railways; the society is broadly Victorian in feel, though the city does have a female mayor. The core of the series is the struggle between Melinda and Emma, who are not helped by the demands of their respective beaux: Eldred and Emma's groom Winston (Webster) (who later becomes a Werewolf and joins the team, to Eldred's disgust). Emma learns that Melinda is the daughter of Merlin and Morgan Le Fay, with the latter being linked to the Evil; though Robots from the future also seem involved.
When Copernicus is broken by a kraken-like Monster, Melinda/Emma and Edred take him to Otto, a company that manufactures robots (or otto-men): they end up in a giant floating sphere – though having some steam elements it employs more futuristic Technology than we have seen so far. Here they meet Otto (O'Mara), a Scientist, who finds Copernicus both familiar and unfamiliar, as if something he has not invented yet: he repairs the robot, but it isn't operational: "He is man made, but what powers him is not." There is Magic in Edred's homeland that can help; but as Edred fled an arranged marriage to be with Melinda, this is not straightforward. However, the matter is conveniently resolved via an Identity Exchange and Copernicus is restored.
The Evil enters the Cosmic Realm through Seng, wishing to control all of Time and space: the others follow, but Emma is split from Melinda's spirit during a battle and expelled to Earth. Fortunately she meets up with the two people who had expected to be become Melinda and Seng: they have a Mecha version of Copernicus that takes them to the Elvish lands (which seem to be in Britain), whose magic returns Emma to the Cosmic Realm; to find years have passed (see Time Distortion) and that Evil is victorious, though her friends survive. Emma suggests Copernicus joins all the protagonists' spirits into one being: this done, they are on the brink of defeating the Evil when they discover its heart is the imprisoned Morgan Le Fay (a consequence of Melinda's actions whilst a child). Their surprise gives the Evil time to escape, and when the team return to Earth they find it inhabited by creatures and people from different eras. Melinda/Emma vows to rescue her mother and season one ends.
It took Tartakovsky nearly twenty years to get Unicorn: Warriors Eternal commissioned. On the whole it is a strong series, densely packed with adventure, Humour and engaging characters (of which Emma is the most memorable). It shifts between Fantasy and steampunk, the latter being more interesting; the former, particularly the language, can be a little Clichéd. This being a Tartakovsky show, the animation is excellent and here is deliberately in the style of Osamu Tezuka (particularly Astro Boy) and his influences, Walt Disney (see The Walt Disney Company) and Max Fleischer, while Emma's design recalls Betty Boop. [SP]
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