Parents' Guide to Unicorn Wars

While some may praise the use of "kids' cartoon"-style animation as a way to drive home the horrors of war, this Spanish-French production's provocative content misses the mark. For many years now, YouTube creators have been getting cheap, easy clicks from kids by putting characters like Elmo and Peppa Pig in compromising situations -- or by creating horror content with childish appeal, like Huggy Wuggy. So subverting characters that resemble Care Bears in order to shock viewers into watching isn't new or especially creative. And, yes, the Unicorn Wars filmmakers say it's for adults, but since the movie's visuals could easily signal to children that it's made for them, it's hard not to be concerned about what might happen if they stumble across it on a streaming service or TV channel.

And Unicorn Wars may have colorful, beautiful animation, but its envelope-pushing offensiveness feels immature. The only reason to show a close-up of a teddy bear penis seems to be to elicit a gasp and a giggle. And then that same gag gets taken even further, with a close-up of a teddy bear penis urinating. True, it may not be something you've seen before. But likely neither is watching a teddy bear murder his mother. Or eat a comrade he assassinated. Or kiss his brother. Or get high. Or get gored to death by a unicorn. The story imagines itself smart but is ultimately nothing special. Not only could Alberto Vázquez's animated war satire ruin your day, but it might wreck your childhood, too.