Thelma the Unicorn

Story

Thelma (voice of Brittany Howard), a frizzy-haired, brown and white pony, has always had music inside her. She loves to sing and dreams of sharing her songs with the world.

When Thelma and her bandmates, Otis (voice of Will Forte) and Reggie (voice of Jon Heder), are laughed off the stage by judges who tell Thelma that she isn’t star material and will never make it, she’s devastated. But a freak accident sees Thelma covered in pink paint and glitter, and she’s mistaken for a magical unicorn. Thelma sings a song for a small audience and, thanks to social media, her image is soon shared with the world.

Vic Diamond (voice of Jemaine Clement), the corrupt manager of music diva Nikki Narwhal (voice of Ally Dixon), knows that Thelma will be the next big thing and he’s determined to sign her at any cost. Sabotaging Thelma’s band and manipulating Thelma into losing sight of what has always been important to her, Vic forces her into a fake relationship with internet sensation Danny Stallion (voice of Fred Armisen).

Quicker than she could ever believe possible, Thelma begins to realise all her musical dreams. She’s famous, she has a hit single, and she’ll be the opening act at a prestigious music festival. But she’s miserable. She misses her friends, she misses making her own songs and music, she misses being herself, and she feels like a fraud, underserving of her fame and fortune.

When the competition threatens to expose Thelma for the pony she truly is, Thelma throws away her much-loved songbook and tries to disappear forever. And while the world wonders what has happened to Thelma and her true friends search everywhere for her, a random stranger opens her eyes and gives her the confidence to share what has been buried in her heart all along.

Will the world be ready to hear Thelma’s message? Will people be able to see Thelma for who she truly is, or will they be blinded by ideas about what a star is meant to be?

Themes

Exploitation; consumerism; vanity; powerful ideals of beauty; branding; loss of self-identity; competition sabotage; greed and corporate corruption; the lure of fame and the loss of true friendship

Violence

Thelma the Unicorn has some violence. For example:

A stick of dynamite blasts a portable toilet into the sky. A man rolls out of it after it has crashed back to the ground.
A tractor nearly crushes Thelma.
A tractor crashes into and damages a hen house, sending hens scurrying everywhere.
A small fish is blown like bubble gum and seems to explode in Nikki’s mouth.
Thelma trips on a rock, and a trailer of manure lands on her.
Thelma crashes off the stage, a drum lands on top of her, and she gets tangled up in wires. The audience laughs at her, and she’s very sad.
Two men slap each other.
Two characters make toy figurines fight.
A blind character viciously pokes a man in the mouth with her walking stick.
Some characters believe that if they stop dancing, they’ll die.
Vic launches a mini rocket that hits and explodes against a car, which Otis and Reggie are travelling in.
A character rips his hair out with his fists.
Nikki screams as she chases Thelma and tries to impale her. Thelma scurries out of reach across a stage.
Nikki electrocutes herself in a bunch of wires, slices a circle through the stage with her horn and then falls through it as she crashes to the ground.
People run in fear, and there’s a fire as a concert is evacuated.
Nikki impales a television with her horn.
Nikki wants to destroy Thelma, and her assistant asks her whether she’s ‘talking about murder’.
Goblins lay siege to the Oregon Trail and attack settlers in covered wagons.
A pioneer woman hits a goblin with a frying pan, and another settler knocks a goblin in the head with a rolling pin.
Characters battle each other with swords.
Thelma is knocked over the side of a boat.
A character crashes into an elephant’s behind.
Danny tries to autograph an urn and ends up smashing it and scattering the ashes that were inside.
A goat repeatedly bashes her head on a table.
A goat bangs into another character.
Characters in a crowd throw eggs at Thelma and knock her down. They continue to pelt her while she lies on the pavement.
A goat destroys all the musical instruments on a stage.
A character throws water over Thelma and threatens to expose her on the internet unless she disappears.
Thelma says that she wants to flush herself down the toilet.
A vehicle crashes into things.
Thelma’s carrot horn is knocked off her head. It arches through the air and lands in a man’s bottom as he sits on a bench with his back to Thelma.
A blind woman hits a bear and 2 other aggressive characters with her walking stick. She knocks out all 3 characters.
A portable toilet falls off a truck and knocks a man to the ground, collapsing on top of him.
A booing audience throws cans at Otis and Reggie.
Otis kicks some characters into a door.
A character threatens Thelma with an electric Taser.
Nikki tries to poke Thelma and another character with her horn. They’re nearly electrocuted before the plan backfires and a character lands in Nikki’s blowhole.

Sexual references

Thelma the Unicorn has some sexual references. For example:

Nikki’s male back-up dancers pole dance on her narwhal horn, using sexy dance moves while they film a music video.
A group of broad-shouldered, male backup dancers wear skin-tight leggings with speedos on top, and many also have bare chests. They do sexy dance moves throughout the movie.
In a sleazy move, Vic tucks Thelma’s contract into his pants.
Thelma is forced to say that Danny is her ‘stud’.
Thelma and Danny are referred to as a ‘hot new couple’.
Thelma and Danny make a music video about ‘chewing the cud’, which is meant to be sexy but isn’t.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in Thelma the Unicorn.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s some nudity and sexual activity in Thelma the Unicorn. For example:

A character is reputed to have a fake nipple on their chest.
There is a close-up of a man in tight pants, rhythmically moving his bottom.
Vic is shown in his swimsuit with a bare, hairy chest. Another character has his chest hair shaved into a heart shape.
Thelma is forced to have a fake boyfriend and pretend that they are in love and are the perfect couple.
A male character in a singlet flashes a close-up of his thigh and calf.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Thelma the Unicorn:

‘Pigstagram’ is used like Instagram and looks very similar.
A group of male horses perform a song and dance like the Back Street Boys.

Coarse language

There is some mild coarse language and name-calling in Thelma the Unicorn, including ‘You ding-dong’, ‘heck’, ‘dumb’ and ‘moron’. Also, Thelma mentions that she’s so nervous she thinks her heart will drop out of her butt.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Thelma the Unicorn is an animated adventure based on the popular children’s book by Aaron Blabey. The movie features vibrant characters and a lot of musical numbers. It also explores timely concerns about how we see the world around us, how the world sees us and how this affects everyone.

At first glance, Thelma the Unicorn seems to be a movie for young children. But because of its content and themes, it’s more suited to children aged 11 years and older, with parental guidance for children aged 7-10 years.

The main messages from Thelma the Unicorn are to stay true to who you are, embrace your own uniqueness and never compromise your values just because someone else thinks it’s the best way. It’s not the only way to be successful, and it’s important to let the world see you shine as only you can do.

Values in Thelma the Unicorn that you could reinforce with your children include friendship, courage, honesty, dedication, perseverance and integrity.

Thelma the Unicorn could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like:

listening to people who tell you that you aren’t good enough
getting caught up in excessive commercialism and vanity
changing who you are to fit an image of what someone else thinks you should be
putting aside your values and self-respect for the sake of fame and fortune
excluding people who don’t conform to conventional social expectations and who dare to live outside the box
buying into celebrity culture and unrealistic ideals that make you feel inadequate or worthless.