Unicorn Blood (2013)

“Moffy” is striding out on his hunt for an unicorn, but he has to stop and await his pesky brother “Gregorio” who is, let’s face it, not the fittest of teddy bears. Indeed his rather cruel sibling points out that his cute and cuddly days are behind him. Anyway, off they go in search of their quarry and it’s delicious blueberry flavoured blood. Along the way, we are forewarned of the terrible dangers of killing the last of these mystical creatures, but the hunters hear none of those warnings so is bear-kind doomed to live forever in a dark and desolate world? The contrast between the epitome of the benign children’s toy, seen here with arrows replete with love-heart blades, and the slaughter of the essence of innocence and purity hasn’t been wasted by the animators as they introduce a little dark religiosity to their simply but effectively drawn proceedings. There is also some substance from the dialogue, too, and with skulls liberally strewn around their flower-bedecked meadow, this is actually quite a macabre short feature that’s well worth ten minutes.