Summary

• Thelma the Unicorn, an animated musical on Netflix, offers a whimsical universe and universal themes of self-acceptance for all ages.
• Directors Hess and Wang aim to subvert the unicorn trope in the film while preserving the heartwarming friendship between Thelma and Otis.
• Award-winning composer John Powell's score enhances the emotional journey of Thelma, bringing her character to life in this magical tale.

Netflix's new animated film, Thelma the Unicorn, releases on the streaming service on May 17 and stars Brittany Howard, Will Forte, and Jon Heder. The feature is based on Aaron Blabey's popular children's book, but its whimsical universe and wholesome sentiments make it a worthy watch for viewers of all ages. Thelma the Unicorn is further elevated by award-winning composer John Powell, who created scores for animations such as Shrek, Happy Feet, and How to Train Your Dragon 2.

Jared Hess and Lynn Wang are thrilled at the opportunity to bring Blabey's work to the screen and preserve the author's theme of self-acceptance. The story resonates with both directors, as it captures the everyday struggle of being noticed in a world that relies too heavily on physical appearance. Hess and Wang use Thelma's style to subvert the unicorn trope and are hopeful that viewers will appreciate the film's universal message.

Jared Hess and Lynn Wang chat with Screen Rant about the importance of Thelma and Otis' relationship and the most predominant themes in Netflix's upcoming movie, Thelma the Unicorn.

Thelma The Unicorn Is Wang's Feature Directorial Debut

Screen Rant: Lynn, this is your feature directorial debut, so what drew you to Thelma the Unicorn?

Lynn Wang: I've been a big fan of Jared and Jerusha ever since Napoleon Dynamite. The chance to work with these two I just jumped at once the script came across my table. After reading the script, I just really resonated with Thelma's story, her journey, her emotional journey of self-acceptance.

Growing up, I really wish I had a movie like this to show me the way, in a way. Growing up in a small town, I definitely thought I had to change myself to be noticed. I really related to Thelma's journey. It's something that I'm still relating to now as an adult and struggling with. I'm still figuring it out. Working with Jared and Jerusha is just a dream come true.

And Jared, you also wrote this film with Jerusha in addition to being a director, correct?

Jared Hess: Yes, we did. It was super fun. We were big fans of Aaron Blabey. Our kids absolutely love the Pig the Pug books and The Bad Guys series. A good friend of ours connected us with him, and Aaron had wanted to reach out to see if we'd be interested in developing Thelma the Unicorn into a film. For whatever reason, we didn't even know about the book, and then we read it, and we were like, "Oh, my goodness, this is amazing." The themes are so strong, the characters, as always, in an Aaron Blabey book are so hilarious.

He finds ways of creating these lovable oddballs that you just really relate to. We really resonated with it and immediately wanted to do it. We spent a lot of time with Aaron before we took it out and pitched it about how we were going to expand it into a feature-length film. Pretty quickly, we were like, "We need to make Thelma a music star. This should be her big dream coming from this small farm. She really wants to get her music out there." Once we leaned into that, the story wrote itself.

Thelma And Otis' Friendship Is The Film's Anchor

You just touched on this a bit, but there are always altercations when you're bringing something to screen. What was most important for you to preserve from the book?

Jared Hess: The core relationship in the book is Thelma and Otis. Otis, from the get-go, loves her for who she is, and Thelma obviously struggles with self-acceptance. She doesn't feel like she's good enough. The world around her tells her that she's not good enough. And so she goes on this journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, and that was the most important thing to preserve from the book and protect that sweet relationship and friendship between Otis and Thelma. That was the anchor for the whole thing.

Lynn Wang: I think we also pulled a lot from Aaron Blabey's illustrations, and we really wanted to preserve the quirky and weird and lovable weirdos that he would illustrate. We really tried to make that apparent throughout the entire movie.

Appearance obviously plays a big role here, and you've mentioned wanting to subvert the unicorn trope. How did you land on the right look with the art department?

Lynn Wang: Like you said, subverting the unicorn trope we really leaned into. We wanted to make sure that that was apparent. If you think of a unicorn, it's really tall, really sleek, really princess-like, so we wanted to go the opposite of that and still make her just as iconic. The moment we signed on Brittany, so much of Thelma's design and attitude and personality was influenced by Brittany herself. Brittany's hair was definitely a big influence. I think it's very iconic. It's very rock and roll, so making her very cute and appealing.

Speaking of Brittany, she was phenomenal in this role. Were there any specific nuances she added to Thelma that surprised you?

Jared Hess: Yeah, every day. Every time that we would record with her, sometimes we'd have a real garbage line that was just written horribly, and we'd be like, "Brittany, we know we did not set you up for success here. Please bring your own special sauce to this line. Improvise. How would you say this, Brittany?" And every time, it was so great.

The whole film is just littered with amazing little nuggets that are her own little Brittany-isms that she would throw in. It brings it alive and keeps it spontaneous in a way that doesn't feel canned. She's so hilarious. She's so full of life. We wanted to always have that and seek those moments out when we were recording. So we were always getting stuff beyond what what was scripted with her, and it was always better.

Lynn Wang: The first time Thelma comes out on stage in Vegas, we were asking Brittany what she would usually say. Maybe she says, "Hi, I'm Thelma the Unicorn, and I'm so grateful to be here. I'm so excited." We asked Brittany what she would say, and she was like, "I would just say, 'Hi, I'm Brittany Howard," and she would just start singing. And so we actually ended up doing exactly that.

Specific Story Decisions Heavily Influence John Powell's Score

You had John Powell on board, who's composed music for so many incredible animated films. How did you collaborate with him to find a sound that represented Thelma and this story?

Lynn Wang: John Powell is a legend. He is just amazing to work with. The first time we ever met him, he sat down with us, and we didn't really talk about music at all. He just went through the movie, he asked us why we made certain decisions. Why did we have a character do this? Whose point of view is the scene? He really dived into the story and the filmmaking of it. After that, that's when we started diving into the music. But he had to wrap his head around a lot of these story decisions to be able to influence the score, which is why I think his score is so emotional in a lot of other movies. That's why he's award-winning.

Jared Hess: He cares about character so much. He has the ability to really go deep and understand what the character is going through. And then he goes off, and he came back to us with themes that were so thoughtful that, instantly, when we heard them, we were like, "Oh, wow. That's Thelma. That's totally her at this moment in the film." It just really elevated the emotional experience and journey for her.

This is a hard one because the soundtrack is incredible, but do you each have a favorite song?

Lynn Wang: My favorite changes day to day, depending on what mood I'm in just because all the songs are so good in this movie. I feel like I'm tooting our own horn here. [Laughs] But I do think the music is really good in this movie. Jared, what would you say?

Jared Hess: I've got three. I really love "Fire Inside," I really love Vic Diamond's “Three Cs of Success,” and the final song that Brittany sings at the end of the film, "Just As You Are."

Lynn Wang: I think if I had to choose one, it would be "Just As You Are," also, just because it encapsulates everything that Thelma's gone through and the journey of what she's gone through. I think it's really powerful.

You mentioned wanting to mash together the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s, and the present in this film, so what steps did you take to accomplish that?

Jared Hess: I think the different characters are definitely stuck in different eras that they grew up in. Vic Diamond is definitely more a 70s, late 60s dude that loves his Boogie Down jams. And then you've got Peggy Purvis who definitely represents more of this authentic, soul, country-rock vibe. And then and then you've got Danny Stallion with these bangers that don't really have a lot of thought or meaning behind the lyrics. And then the 2000s stuff. You've got the pool boys that are doing their own thing. All the different characters just kind of had their own theme music, essentially, and their own genre. That's how we looked at it.

Lynn Wang: We pulled a lot of YouTube videos, because I think YouTube is a time capsule of different eras. Aerobic videos are a big one. 80s music videos were another big one. Anything that that was a fast fad we really leaned into for the humor.

Will Forte Perfectly Encapsulates Otis' Essence

We talked about how the friendship between Thelma and Otis is at the heart of this. Can you give some insight into how you crafted that dynamic and what you wanted these characters to learn from one another?

Jared Hess: So much of it was just in the casting. Will Forte might be the sweetest, most genuine, kind dude, but also the strangest on planet Earth. And that combo is just so beautiful. From the get-go, Will definitely had to be Otis. It's so weird when you're making a movie like this during the pandemic, and everybody's in different parts of the world. Nobody was ever in the same room together recording their lines. Brittany was always recording in Nashville.

Will Forte was either in New Zealand working on Sweet Tooth or in Los Angeles. We cross our fingers and hope that it would all work, and it would seem like they were genuinely playing off each other. We had such an amazing editor that really pulled everything together for us. It's weird to make a movie where you don't have the actors in the same room riffing off each other. Brittany and Will were so amazing. It was just a joy.

Lynn Wang: I think they infused a lot of themselves into the characters. Like you said, Otis is such a sweetheart, so genuine, and also such a weirdo, just like Will.

I feel like there are so many to choose from, but what message do you want people to take away from Thelma's story?

Lynn Wang: The story of Thelma is very universal. Especially nowadays in the age of social media, you're being constantly told what to do, how to dress, how to look, what you're supposed to dance like. I think the story of Thelma is so universal in that way, because people just ultimately want to be seen for who they are, and be loved for who they are. Who doesn't want that?

Jared Hess: Yes. I couldn't have said it better.

About Thelma The Unicorn

Thelma is a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamourous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost. Thelma the Unicorn is a quirky, hilarious, and heartfelt ride from directors Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Lynn Wang (Unikitty!).

Thelma the Unicorn premieres on Netflix on May 17.