The Unicorn in the Garden, 1953 James Thurber’s modern fable
“The Unicorn in the Garden” first appeared in the New Yorker on
October 31, 1939. David Raksin composed a charming score for
chamber orchestra and recorder for the 1953 United Productions
of America film. The studio elected to recreate Thurber’s
original illustration style. The Unicorn in the Garden has
sparse dialogue, because Raksin tells the story with the sounds.
Raksin’s score calls for a recorder to be the thematic voice for
the silent unicorn. Members of the animation field voted The
Unicorn in the Garden one of the fifty greatest cartoons of all
time. View all items from The Unicorn in the Garden, 1953 »