Adaptations
An animated version of the story was released by United Productions of America in 1953. The cartoon was directed by William T. Hurtz, and was originally intended to be part of a feature based on Thurber's work, to be called Men, Women and Dogs. It was later voted #48 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field.
The fable was also adapted to the stage as part of the 1960 revue A Thurber Carnival. The original cast for this portion of the stage production was as follows:
- Paul Ford - Man
- Alice Ghostley - She
- John McGiver - Psychiatrist
- Peter Turgeon - Narrator
- Charles Braswell - Policeman
The fable was animated again as part of the My World and Welcome to It episode "The Night the House Caught Fire", which first aired October 13, 1969. In the episode, William Windom as John Monroe tells the story to his daughter Lydia (Lisa Gerritsen) as his accompanying drawings come to life for the viewer. The episode was written and directed by series creator Melville Shavelson. The animation for the series was by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises.
Also in 1969, a musical adaptation of "The Unicorn in the Garden", composed by Russell Smith, was performed by the Denver Lyric Opera in Denver.
An audio adaptation of the story, read by Peter Ustinov, was released by Caedmon in 1986 (ISBN 0-89845-641-X).
Read more about this topic: The Unicorn In The Garden