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Gelfling! Check out these snuck preliminary sketches and art for POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL!!

Published at:  Jan 03, 2007 1:01:44 AM CST

Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with some rough, snuck sketches and designs for the upcoming sequel to the '80s classic DARK CRYSTAL titled THE POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL.

The below are a bit crude, but you get some nice glimpses at what's going on with the Genndy Tartakovsky directed flick! Really can't wait to see what Tartokovsky mixed with Jim Henson Studio looks like on the big screen! Thanks to "TaylorTackle" for the scooop! Enjoy!










































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    Readers Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 12:55:35 AM CST

    First?

    by iron pills

    Uhh, yeah?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 12:58:22 AM CST

    Fond memories of "The Dark Crystal"...

    by iron pills

    Curious to see how this pans out. Hardly anyone uses puppets these days.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:00:09 AM CST

    Tartakovsky is the man.

    by darth_chicken

    I have faith in this.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:04:42 AM CST

    Genndy

    by frederika bimmel

    can do no wrong. YOU ROCK!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:05:38 AM CST

    oh lord

    by badmrwonka

    I wills ee this no matter if michael bay directs it from a paul haggis script! I lvoe the dark crystal more than snorting coke off salma hayek's breasts on a pile of money that is goin g to be donated to AIDS charities.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:06:25 AM CST

    ok, I took that too far

    by badmrwonka

    I would never see anything that paul haggis wrote...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:13:12 AM CST

    As I've said before...

    by leadley

    If you want to re-imagine a popular 80s film, might I suggest one that would actually have a chance of MAKING money instead of LOSING it? One that DEMANDS our attention as filmgoers. One that COULD NOT BE IGNORED if and when it was released? Five words, folks: TANGO & CASH IN SPACE. (T&CIS)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:13:15 AM CST

    Creepy

    by scrivener

    The predominance of black sort of has me creeped out.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:15:25 AM CST

    Wow I Haven't Seen Fantasy Art

    by captdanielroe

    Like this since the margins of my sixth-grade math class notebook on off days. Hey no offense or anything but I could make a better Gelfling out of a sack of felt and a few sequins....

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:19:50 AM CST

    I remember dragging my parents to "The Dark Crystal".

    by kikuchiyoboy

    I think my mom dosed off. But man, did I thank them for taking me to see that. That world just blew me away. Watching it now I can see why they didn't get into it. The film is a little inconsistent, but damn that world is just simply amazing. It's brilliant. The magic they created still hasn't faded after all these years.

    That "Dying Forest" looks epic! Tartakovsky seems to really be on the right track. Looking at these made me dust off "The World of the Dark Crystal" booklet.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:23:28 AM CST

    cool

    by the_shogun_gunslinger

    think ive seen some of these before but cool deal none the less.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:37:58 AM CST

    hmmm....

    by streakerfreak1983

    I just don't know about this. But you know what, I am curious as too how well this might be done.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 2:14:34 AM CST

    I hope this doesn't suck.

    by swr 77

    I'd hate to hear that Tartakovsky raped anyone's childhood....

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 3:05:10 AM CST

    POTDC T-shirts available at Henson.com

    by monkey_king

    Another shirt features concept art from POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL(a Gelfling in armor and more).

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 3:48:08 AM CST

    Looks Dark.

    by mace tofu

  • Jan 03, 2007 5:08:57 AM CST

    Sketches look cool but will the final film?

    by reelheed

    It is the muppet lotrs after all. Although we have loved the original at the time it now looks disturbingly like the woeful Return to Oz flick.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 5:21:15 AM CST

    CaptDanielRoe -These are xeroxes

    by ray gamma

    you moaning nobber

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 6:15:28 AM CST

    Seriously, does anyone really care about this?

    by trazadone

    The original was a flop. Besides, I stopped caring about Muppets when I was 9-years old.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 6:35:01 AM CST

    Weren't these shown

    by sithmenace

    on this site months ago? I remember seeing most of them.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:06:06 AM CST

    HIGH SCHOOL NERD DRAWINGS ON A PEE-CHEE GOTTA EAT

    by pound sand

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:16:37 AM CST

    Oh They're Xeroxes All Right....

    by captdanielroe

    ...But bad xeroxes don't crud up overall forms of character and anatomy, or lettering and design.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:18:26 AM CST

    Faxed, Actually....

    by captdanielroe

    But we'll see....

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:24:01 AM CST

    Yeah, Traz, people care about this.

    by childe roland

    Some of us have pretty fond memories of the first film and are excited to see Henson involved in something other than a Muppet Wizard of Oz. That's actually why most of us came into the talkback. Except you, of course. You came in to tell us all far more than we ever cared to know about you and your childhood history with muppets. Thanks for sharing. And don't worry...your dirty uncle can't reach you with that Ms. Piggy hand puppet from the federal pen. It wasn't your fault.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:25:51 AM CST

    "WAAaaaaSHHAAAAHHHHHhhhhhh!"

    by future help

    -Samurai Jack.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 9:08:53 AM CST

    Dark Crystal was quite successful...

    by teko

    Leadley, etc, the whole reason that Henson Co is revisiting Dark Crystal and doing things like Mirrormask is that the original movie, while it tanked in theatres (being released opposite of E.T. will do that), has made boatloads of money on home video now that it's a cult classic.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 9:42:19 AM CST

    Cult Classics

    by captdanielroe

    Start with works that are fit to be worshipped and evangelized. You have to ask yourself whether someone coming out of the nerd cocoon in college would show it to his or her first serious girlfriend with every naive expectation that it would be a lifelong bonding experience.

    (Do not attempt the above with "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.")

    I don't see that quality in those sketches, my comments about junior high margin-scrawling notwithstanding.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 9:48:52 AM CST

    DARK CRYSTAL didn't "tank" in theaters

    by laudnergomez

    $40 mil dom, 27 mil intl on a 22 mil budget is no flop. Perhaps Universal and Henson were bummed it didn't break out, but the film made money. And home video/DVD? The film is a cash cow.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 10:12:05 AM CST

    GELFLINGS = THE OLSEN TWINS

    by tylerzero

    Anybody else notice the uncanny resemblance?

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 10:12:54 AM CST

    Reelheed

    by scrivener

    I always though Return to Oz was great. Woeful maybe in box office bucks - but great nonetheless.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 10:13:40 AM CST

    WAY TOO SILVER!

    by wasserman

  • Jan 03, 2007 11:21:57 AM CST

    CaptDanielRoe

    by deuce hexx

    Are you saying Dark Crystal isn't a classic because it won't get nerds the gals? Cause it totally does. My girlfriend loved it. Although she is a special case. The first movie we ever watched together (which has now become "our" movie) was Forbidden Zone.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 11:30:24 AM CST

    i'm with childe

    by occula

    this film was very important to me as a kid, MUCH more important than 'the muppets.' one of the high points of recent years was finally getting to meet brian froud and telling him to his face his work on that film was the reason i became a production designer. ps - the gelflings look EXACTLY like the olsen twins. they should do mo-cap.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 11:36:56 AM CST

    well, that shows me very little

    by finky089

    I'd settle for a re-release of Darl Crystal rather than have a new production that merely capitalizes on the original production. Sequel or not, I'm just not sold on this new film.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 11:39:31 AM CST

    Teko, DC wasn't released opposite of ET

    by finky089

    At least not in the States because I remember seeing a trailer for DC when my parents took me to ET (and I remember it b/c the skeksi and the moaning of the Mystsics scared the crap out of me. Nevertheless, my hippie parents took me to see DC in the theater later on and I loved it. Thanks mom and dad!)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 12:05:44 PM CST

    E.T. came out in June 82, CRYSTAL came out in December

    by laudnergomez

    Simple homework, people

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 12:10:41 PM CST

    GenTar is gonna knock it outta the park

    by s-mart shopper

    keep an eye out for Samurai Jack in a cave drawing

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 12:43:11 PM CST

    I still try to hope

    by durendal

    I know this one wont be as good as the original, but I keep hoping that it will at least be decent. The concept art on those shirts makes me wonder if it will even be that. Gelflings in full armor? That's kind of a violation of the mythology. Gelflings were never fighters. And the hackneyed writing that brings back the Skeksis, Garthim, etc is still present, it seems. You'd think that if they wanted to put a lot of time and effort into a sequel, they'd at least make sure they stick to the story and rules that have already been established.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:25:52 PM CST

    Is that Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen?

    by little beavis

    fookin anorexic gelflings...

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 1:59:24 PM CST

    Durendal

    by deuce hexx

    RE: "the hackneyed writing that brings back the Skeksis, Garthim, etc is still present, it seems. You'd think that if they wanted to put a lot of time and effort into a sequel, they'd at least make sure they stick to the story and rules that have already been established." All the plot synopses I've seen have said that the Crystal gets split and a shard is removed, which is what caused the urSkeks to split into the Mystics and Skeksis in the first place. So I don't see how that is contrary to the "story and rules that have been established".

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 2:01:19 PM CST

    Durendal

    by deuce hexx

    RE: "the hackneyed writing that brings back the Skeksis, Garthim, etc is still present, it seems. You'd think that if they wanted to put a lot of time and effort into a sequel, they'd at least make sure they stick to the story and rules that have already been established." All the plot synopses I've seen have said that the Crystal gets split and a shard is removed, which is what caused the urSkeks to split into the Mystics and Skeksis in the first place. So I don't see how that is contrary to the "story and rules that have been established".

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 4:41:39 PM CST

    Deuce Hexx

    by durendal

    For one, the UrSkeks were present, and in the end of The Dark Crystal, they leave. Second, Froud expanded on the universe (Henson approved and published), creating a backstory where the UrSkeks entered the crystal during the previous Great Conjunction in an effort to purge their capacity for evil. Unfortunately it split them into good and evil counterparts. The crystal was cracked by a Skeskis shortly after. The act of cracking the crystal did not split the UrSkeks.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 5:29:11 PM CST

    My ass copied on a Xerox...

    by little beavis

    ...came out looking more clear than these fookin scans.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 5:36:09 PM CST

    Art

    by alienindisguise

    ok so i can't get a job as a concept or storyboard artist to save my life but these scribbles are what flies for art on a major film? That's nearly criminal!!!!
    www.tonytreloar.com

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 7:12:22 PM CST

    i'm assuming...

    by occula

    that since you put your website up, tony, you're looking for feedback. as a professional storyboard and concept artist, i think your work looks nice, but you might want to have some boards that have camera or blocking on them to show you really know the medium. even if you just boarded a sequence from an existing film or commercial, that would be what companies like storyboards inc. or frameworks would want to see so you can get representation. i would also push your concept work to be more inclusive of active environments like key art. if you want to see the kind of work that is more typical, check out craig mullins' work at goodbrush.com. the sketches for this dark crystal movie aren't usual because they're going off the original froud work, plus i wouldn't call them concept...i'd call them ideation. good luck to you and don't give up on the storyboarding companies - they are hardasses, but they will get you lots of work!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 7:35:13 PM CST

    Durendal

    by deuce hexx

    I stand corrected. Touché. Also I double posted. I am a douche. Still... Froud is involved in this, so hopefully it will fit nicely into the Dark Crystal world.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:23:39 PM CST

    froud

    by jedimindflayer

    does anyone know for certain that these are froud sketches? they look froudian, but there is no mention of any involvment on frouds website, and i'm not certain just how involved he is in this... i'm hoping alot.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 8:25:21 PM CST

    Appreciate it occula

    by alienindisguise

    much thanks!!!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jan 03, 2007 10:45:57 PM CST

    Boo-shay boo-shay boo-shay

    by osmosis jones

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