THELMA THE UNICORN – 2024 NETFLIX ANIMATION

March 19, 2025

116

The story serves as both an entertaining fairy tale and a cautionary message about the cost of sacrificing one’s identity for superficial success, directed by Jared Hess and Lynn Wang, based on the children’s book series by Aaron Blabey

Thelma is a small, unassuming farm pony with a big secret: she harbours a passion for music and dreams of becoming a famous singer. Along with her loyal bandmates Otis (a warmhearted donkey) and Reggie (a quirky drummer), she performs with their modest group, The Rusty Buckets. Despite their talent, repeated auditions (especially for the prestigious SparklePalooza festival) leave them humiliated and overlooked because Thelma’s plain appearance isn’t considered “star quality”.

After another discouraging rejection, fate intervenes in an absurdly magical way. While Thelma is working on the farm, a clumsy truck driver distracted by his own mishaps loses control, and his vehicle splashes pink paint and glitter all over her. Adding to the spectacle, Thelma ends up wearing a crooked carrot on her head, which mimics a unicorn horn. Overnight, the accidental transformation convinces onlookers that she is a magical unicorn. Seizing the moment, Thelma takes to the makeshift stage in her pasture and sings for a gathered crowd. Despite Otis’s protests about deceiving people by pretending to be something she isn’t, Thelma decides to embrace this new persona in the hope of achieving her dreams.

The viral buzz from her impromptu performance soon reaches Peggy Purvis a retired, blind record dealer with a keen ear for talent. Peggy, eager for a comeback, signs Thelma (and by extension her band) as her new attraction. The newfound popularity catches the eye of Vic Diamond, a slick, opportunistic manager who works for the self-absorbed pop diva Nikki Narwhal. Vic sees Thelma’s “unicorn” image as a marketable goldmine and convinces Peggy to book her as the opening act for Nikki’s upcoming concert. In a dramatic and darkly humorous turn, Vic even orchestrates a situation where Peggy, along with her husband Gerald, Otis, and Reggie, is left behind when he literally destroys their ride clearing the way for him and Thelma to proceed.

At the concert, with her friends absent, Thelma is forced to perform solo. To everyone’s surprise, she wins a standing ovation, and Vic quickly makes her sign an exclusive contract, cementing his role as her manager. Meanwhile, Nikki, enraged at being upstaged and having her status threatened, attempts to attack Thelma on stage but is met with a disapproving crowd that only further undermines her reputation.

As Thelma’s fame grows, Vic pushes her further down the path of inauthenticity. He persuades her to feign a relationship with internet sensation Danny Stallion a manufactured romance meant to boost her marketability. At the same time, Nikki, desperate to regain her spotlight, orders her assistant Megan Shank to dig up dirt on Thelma that could ruin her image. In a poignant moment later on, while out among her adoring fans, Otis confronts Thelma about the absence of her true friends. Even when she confesses her secret (that she isn’t really a unicorn), Vic dismisses it, arguing that in show business, image is everything.

The turning point comes during an awards ceremony held as part of Thelma’s Rising Star tour. While backstage, Megan catches sight of Thelma’s “horn” starting to come loose. In a tense confrontation in the bathroom, Megan washes off the glittery disguise and threatens to expose Thelma’s deception unless she quits the music business altogether. Feeling cornered and deeply conflicted, Thelma reluctantly agrees to disappear from the public eye, and she vanishes without a trace leaving fans and industry insiders in shock.

Two weeks later, by a twist of fate, Thelma hitches a ride with none other than the same eccentric truck driver whose accident transformed her. During the journey, he confides in her about his own secret: he has been hiding parts of who he truly is from someone he loves for fear of rejection. Inspired by his honesty and vulnerability, Thelma realizes that living a lie for the sake of fame has left her feeling empty. She urges him to be true to himself and, with renewed resolve, she asks to be dropped off at a gas station where she reunites with Otis, Reggie, and Peggy.

Determined to set things right, Thelma and her friends crash the backstage area at SparklePalooza just as Nikki is about to perform. In a climactic confrontation, they outwit Nikki and Megan’s henchmen. On stage, Thelma dons her unicorn guise one last time but this time, she dramatically removes the disguise in front of a live audience. She lays bare her truth and explains why she once felt compelled to hide behind a false image. Though some in the crowd are initially shocked or disappointed, many are moved by her honest performance. Joined by her band and friends, she performs a heartfelt song celebrating the importance of being true to oneself. The moving performance not only wins back her fans but also prompts a change of heart in Nikki, who ultimately rejects both Megan and Vic for their exploitative ways.

In the film’s final moments, Thelma, now celebrated for her genuine talent and integrity, continues her career under a new record deal with Peggy. In a light-hearted twist that echoes the film’s opening, the eccentric truck driver reappears. In a mishap reminiscent of the original accident, he inadvertently drenches Otis with glue and feathers transforming him into a “pegasus.” The film ends on this humorous note, with Thelma laughing along with her friends as they embrace their quirky, true selves.