Dark crystal puppets5/4/2023 Worried his baby wasn’t going to get the chance it deserved, Henson spent all of the money he had available to buy his movie from Court. ITC Entertainment had new leadership in the form of Robert Holmes à Court, who gave the film little advertising after its bad first screening. HENSON PAID $15 MILLION OF HIS OWN MONEY TO BUY THE FILM FROM ITS STUDIO. Henson asked Odell to add some voiceovers as well as some new dialogue so that the Skeksis could be re-recorded into English. Mostly because they were confused and unhappy with not understanding what the Skeksis were saying. crowd was one of the first groups of people to ever witness the original cut-and they didn't like it. THE FIRST PREVIEW AUDIENCE HATED THE MOVIE. However, the actors were too busy trying to work on their movements to learn new words, so they mostly spoke gibberish. THE SKEKSIS AND MYSTICS ORIGINALLY HAD AN INDO-EUROPEAN ROOTED LANGUAGE.ĭavid Odell wrote in the original script for the Skeksis and the Mystics to share a similar language, with the Skeksis using a “cruder, uglier” version of it. This was done with a “light flex” by Oscar-winning cinematographer Oswald Morris, who retired after his work on The Dark Crystal. IT WAS ALL SHOT WITH A FAINT COLOR TINT TO RESEMBLE FROUD’S CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS. (Since there were more than seven of them, some of the sins were repeated.) Froud described them as parts reptile, predatory bird, and dragon. That would be wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. HENSON MODELED THE SKEKSIS ON THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. One of the first scenes shot was the big showdown between Jen and Kira and the Skeksis in the Crystal Chamber. SIX PERFORMERS WERE OPERATING EACH CREATURE SIMULTANEOUSLY. Having two directors was so confusing and slowed things down for the crew so much that an assistant director was tasked with informing Henson and Oz that everybody wanted Henson to direct himself. Oz estimated that Henson helmed “70 percent” of the movie. In addition to the famous puppeteer performing as Aughra and Chamberlain in the film, Oz accepted Henson’s request to co-direct the film. He wanted to “get back to the darkness” of the original stories by the Brothers Grimm. THE ORIGINAL GRIMM’S FAIRY TALES WERE ALSO AN INFLUENCE.įrank Oz recalled that Henson wasn’t afraid to possibly scare the children who were his fans from the Muppet movies and his puppets from Sesame Street. Odell claimed Aughra’s line “He could be anywhere then” was influenced by Roberts’s book. HENSON MADE A MANDATORY BOOK RECOMMENDATION.īoth Brian Froud and The Dark Crystal screenwriter David Odell were told by Henson to read Jane Roberts’s 1972 book Seth Speaks: The Eternal Validity of the Soul, based on Roberts’s experiences channeling a multi-dimensional being that existed outside of time and space. With little else to do, Henson hand-wrote multiple pages of the movie’s outline for screenwriter David Odell to work with. Kennedy Airport in New York City in the midst of a blizzard. On February 6, 1978, Henson and his daughter Cheryl were forced to spend the night at a Howard Johnson’s at John F. HENSON WROTE THE MOVIE'S ORIGINAL OUTLINE WHILE SNOWED IN AT A HOTEL. She later sculpted and helped puppeteer Yoda for The Empire Strikes Back. BRIAN FROUD MET HIS WIFE ON THE SET.īrian Froud met his future wife, puppet designer Wendy Midener, while in production on The Dark Crystal when she was hired to sculpt 3-D versions of Brian’s Gelfling designs for the movie. FROUD GOT HIS DESIGN IDEAS FROM EATING LOBSTER DINNERS.Īfter enjoying his meals he would glue the shells together for design inspiration. Henson credited Froud with developing The Dark Crystal’s “symbolic structure.” 2. The movie was a combination of imagery from the minds of both Henson and Froud. Henson saw some art from the British illustrator in a book called Once Upon a Time, and soon asked him to collaborate. ILLUSTRATOR BRIAN FROUD WAS DISCOVERED BY JIM HENSON SIX YEARS BEFORE THE DARK CRYSTAL WAS RELEASED. Here are some facts about the film that was advertised as the first movie to not have a single human actor. Now a cult classic, the live-action fantasy adventure centers around Jen and Kira, the last two members of the Gelfling tribe, who are trying to stop the evil Skeksis from conquering the world. The Dark Crystal was a Jim Henson production that received a lukewarm reaction from viewers and critics alike when it was released in 1982-in large part because Henson fans, who were used to seeing lovable Muppets, instead witnessed something truly unique.
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