Thelma the Unicorn is a 2024 animated musical comedy film written by Jared Hess and Jershua Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and directed by Jared Hess and Lynn Wang (Teen Titans Go!, Unikitty!) based upon the book by Aaron Blabey (The Bad Guys). It stars the voices of Brittany Howard, Will Forte, Jemaine Clement, Edi Patterson, Fred Armisen, Zach Galifianakis, and Jon Heder.
The film follows Thelma (Howard), a young, overlooked pony with big musical dreams. When a twist of fate leads to her being mistaken for a unicorn, she leans into the lie to make her dreams come true. Now Thelma must decide if her dream is worth the risks, both of her friendships and her life when a jealous rival comes after her. The film will release on Netflix May 17, 2024.
Previews:Trailer
Thelma the Unicorn includes examples of the following:
- Advertising by Association: The trailer promotes the film as being “from the creators of Napoleon Dynamite.”
- All Girls Like Ponies: The first person who notices Thelma after she "becomes" a unicorn in the trailer, is a little girl.
- Coincidental Accidental Disguise: The trailer shows Thelma posing with a carrot on her forehead when a truck carrying pink paint and glitter passes by and hits a bump, spilling its contents on her and making her look like a pink, sparkly unicorn.
- Daydream Surprise: The trailer opens on Thelma and her band performing on a stage to adoring fans. Thelma jumps into a mosh pit... and lands on a bale of hay in an empty barn, revealing that she was just daydreaming.
- Gonk: The agent character in the trailer is considerably more unusual looking than the other humans, being skinny, with tiny eyes and long, very British-looking teeth.
- Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: The trailer shows that movie takes place in world where Talking Animals live alongside humans as equals, and some (like Nikki Narwhal) can become celebrities.
- Talking Animal: The trailer establishes that animals in this universe are not only accepted as able to talk with humans, they are able to become big celebrities.
- Unicorn: The premise of the film, as laid out in the trailer, is that Thelma is pretending to be a unicorn to bring attention to her music.
