Dark Crystal and Labyrinth

When anyone says the name Jim Henson, what comes to mind? Kermit? Elmo? Miss Piggy? Snuffy?

Jim Henson’s creativity has brought us many memorable and lovable characters. He has helped us to learn the alphabet. How to count, ah, ah, ahhh. And, maybe most importantly, how to appreciate that it’s not easy being green. His characters have been inspiring us for sixty-five years and counting.

Today, I’m going to talk about two of his, not lesser-known but certainly, more divisive works- Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Both films were on last month’s film club discussion calendar. For anyone unfamiliar with the movies, Dark Crystal released in 1982 while Labyrinth hit audiences a few years later in 1986. These films bear only a passing resemblance to the other works of Jim Henson. However, they are both still targetting a younger audience.

For starters, both films are quite dark. According to Frank Oz, Henson was trying to leverage Grimm’s Fairy Tales and their, well, grimness.

Today, when we say fairy tales, most people probably think of the Disney adaptations. While I am a fan, Disney painted us extremely whitewashed versions. He wasn’t using a paintbrush or roller either. Cinderella’s stepsisters weren’t left to pout in their stately chateau when Grimm was done with them. Those sad ladies were left disfigured by the work of their own two hands. No, no. Let’s stop there, back to Henson. His purpose for trying to tap into the early 19th-century work was so kids would be afraid.

Well, sir, you nailed that one. Depending on how old you were when you saw either movie, they may be the things some of your nightmares are made of. And by that, even if you just watched them for the first time, your nightmares might still be infused with new material. Bowie’s pants in Labyrinth is enough to inspire a trippy terror or two.

On the one hand, using puppets to tap into the darker side of storytelling is brilliant. Henson took something his audience would have already been comfortable with, thanks to The Muppet Show and Sesame Street. It was embedding a covert safety feature into the storytelling. I remember being scared of the Skeksis. Fine, more than scared but less than terrified. Terrified is reserved for The Wheelers. But, it wasn’t enough to make me stop the movie.

On the other, because of the use of puppets, kin to Muppets, and the residents of Sesame Street, these films can quickly turn people off. These films would be subverting the light-hearted intension of puppets. But, I would say that reaction would be from adults more than from kids. Also, those folks have never seen a Punch and Judy skit.

Grimm isn’t the only source of inspiration for these cult classics. Henson’s inspiration doesn’t necessarily get brighter as we go along. The creation of The Dark Crystal began after Henson saw an artist’s rendition of Lewis Carroll’s poetry. That man’s mind went to some weird places. But, I like Lewis Carroll’s dark nonsense. Henson and his creative team weave that oddity and sense of the macabre throughout The Dark Crystal.

Labyrinth has been compared to The Wizard of Oz, which is so apparent that it passed me by when I was watching it. If I had made that connection while watching it, I’d probably dislike it more than I already do. There is only one Dorothy Gale. Ok. There are only two Dorothy Gales.

In Jareth, The Goblin King, and Sarah’s play-acting, we get the influence of the Gothic novel. Bleck. Sorry, Jane Eyre and the like are not my jam. Sarah certainly lives up to the Gothic heroine, all problems, and zero resolutions. She can’t even deliver her one important line with any sort of conviction.

If you haven’t guessed, I didn’t like both of these movies equally.

The puppets in Labyrinth and their personalities are honestly some of my favorite of Jim Henson’s creations. Who could not love Ludo? All of Sarah’s entourage really, but particularly Ludo. These puppets’ personalities come across more potent and far more defined than many of the characters in The Dark Crystal. But most of that is due to the difference in technology.

The mobility and emotability of the puppets grew considerably in the four years between The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. The difficulty in making the Gelflings talk is why a lot of the story is done in either an internal monologue or flashback sequences. Much easier to voice over.

Technical difficulties aside, The Dark Crystal is the better package overall. Never once did I want Jen to drop off the side of a cliff. Or into The Bog of Stench. Nor did I hope that the Skeksis would accidentally lock themselves in their own Oubliette. I mean, I wouldn’t have complained if Jen got some help from Ludo, but he would have brought too much cute into the movie. Fizzgig would have been pissed.

Some people would say that you can’t revisit The Dark Crystal once you’re an adult. I don’t know how many people have said that to me. And they are correct on a certain level. The Dark Crystal’s narration sets viewers up to sit criss-cross applesauce on the library carpet and strap in for storytime. The audience is taken in hand and led through the entirety of the film. For adults, that can come off as patronizing, annoying, or at the very least, disengaging.

I won’t stay that I didn’t feel a little bit of that annoyance. But those feelings were offset by the complexity and richness of the world we are given in the film. All of the practical effects used to build up Thra would be impressive if the film was released now, let alone back in 1982. Even as an adult, you can revisit Jen’s adventure discovering things you never noticed before.

Labyrinth lacked the same wow factor. The land of the Goblin King recycled too many references. I was half expecting a puppet to hurl the flagrant insult “Your father smelt of elderberries” during the siege of The Goblin King’s castle. Terry Jones’ style was very, very omnipresent throughout the movie. It felt like the Monty Python boys hijacked L. Frank Baum’s storyline but didn’t have enough budget.

But that’s my take on it, which one did you prefer?