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The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day looks like a Gelfling, smells like a Gelfling… maybe it is a Gelfling!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
Nope, not a Gelfling. But the Skesis with some human hands up its butt. heh.
At the big Your Highness triple feature held at the Alamo Drafthouse last night (consisting of The Sword and the Sorcerer, Your Highness and Krull) they showed a ton of great ‘80s fantasy trailers, including one for Dark Crystal. Just seeing little bits and pieces from the movie made me want to immediately race home and throw it on.
That “Henson Look” is such a massive part of my childhood it’s hard not to feel all warm and fuzzy inside when I see it. And Dark Crystal is oddly stands apart from Henson’s other work of the time. As dark as Labyrinth goes (bouncing heads and creepy well-of-talking-hands anyone?) there’s just an overall feeling of dread in the tone, atmosphere and design of Dark Crystal.
I really miss this level of giant-scale Henson muppet/puppet work, which is why I get so much joy from those owls in Where the Wild Things Are and why I could forgive the flaws of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
There’s no doubt Henson and his talented crew made real, tangible magic. You can see that just by watching any of the Muppet movies, Labyrinth, the Muppet TV show, Sesame Street and, of course, Dark Crystal. Or you look below and see the master at work.
Click to make bigger! Enjoy!
Tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Pic might just feature an illegal creeping up to rape a famous director. I’m pretty sure that’s what’s going on there… wait and see if you agree…
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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First. Bitch.
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When will we have solid news or images from this supposedly in production film?
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The value of underarm deodorant
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April 5, 2011, 9:16 p.m. CST
" there’s just an overall feeling of dread in the tone, atmosphere and design of Dark Crystal."
by D.Vader
Maybe that's because the End of the World is at stake here.
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Much more than I suspected.
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Had this on beta as a kid and I loved it. Have watched it recently and I am so afraid of a remake ... so afraid ..
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This film looks AWESOME on Blu-Ray.
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I often sit & wonder what kinds of films Jim Henson would make were he still alive. He was always able to take advantage of existing technology to make something incredible. I can only imagine what he could do with modern film techniques, which have evolved considerably since his death.
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Farscape!
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Who else was a little scared/disturbed by this film as a kid? For weeks, I thought one of the Skesis would bite at my ankles from under my bed if I didn't jump into it quick enough at night. Still, I loved the film. Pure magic. I miss Jim Henson as well.
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Loved it so much as a kid that I taught myself to play the main theme on the piano. Trevor Jones FTmotherfuckingW!!!
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April 5, 2011, 9:51 p.m. CST
tomorrow's is Danny Trejo sticking his cabeza in Robert Rodriguez's cornhole?
by Tigger Tales
excuse me, *MASA-HOLE*
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This movie made a deep, deep impression on my as a child, and I've watched it numerous times over the years. It never gets old. I most recently watched the Blu-Ray on a friend's huge HDTV, and the detail was exquisite. A magnificent score for Trevor Jones, also. I'm leery about prospects for a sequel. If they're going to go the route suggested by the early promotional blurbs, they can shelve it as far as I'm concerned. For those who weren't around or paying attention, the announced premise was that a shard of the crystal is stolen by a being from the planet's core to ignite their dying "sun" ... so far, so good! But they were going to use that as an excuse for Mystics, Skekses, and Garthim to all magically reappear ... a complete betrayal of the intricate mythology that Henson and Froud constructed for the original film, and on that smacks of Disney-DTV-style recycling.
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April 5, 2011, 10:01 p.m. CST
Oprah? Aughra. Aughra? Oprah. Uma? Aughra. Aughra? Uma.
by Margot Tenenbaum
Uma? Oprah. Oprah? Uma.
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in our library, with a ticket to the premiere showing for a kid called Seth, signed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It's a treasure of a work, with parchment inserts and the works.
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who's she? (granted she's my age now in that pic from 20+ years ago) art chicks rule.
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April 5, 2011, 10:50 p.m. CST
Yeah, the scene where the Podling gets "drained" still freaks me out
by Nasty In The Pasty
It's mainly the way it starts "breathing" heavilly after the crystal beam is shut off. The damn thing seems totally ALIVE in that moment...alive and in utter agony. That's why the later scene where Kira is about to suffer the same fate works so damn well.
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love it.
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In your library eh? Well I have a full-scale model of the Millennium Falcon in my laboratory, which is next to my observatory, just down the hall from my indoor pool which is next to my helipad ;). I must see The Dark Crystal one day. Not sure why I didn't see it at the time.
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to hold up that puppet. "I'm helping!"
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Sorry, folks. Don't bother cueing the Transformers insults. Just watched Taxi Driver and loved every minute of it. The designs just didn't draw me in for this one, but kudos to anyone who can sit through it.
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My dad didnt speak to me for a week. It was TOTALLY AWESOME!!
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April 5, 2011, 11:36 p.m. CST
Why some large underarm deodorant company didn't think to use Henson and crew in a commercial, i'll never know....m
by spidar40
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When single shines the triple sun/ What was sundered and undone/ Shall be whole, the two made one/ By gelfling hand or else by none.
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Just wanna know....
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With certain reservations, I do love this movie to death. As many people as they need to operate a Skeksis, I still have no idea how they got the performers into the Landstrider outfits with the stilts. Also happy La-La Land released the OST on CD, and NECA produced a figure of the Chamberlain, etc, keeping TDC alive for new fans.
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I love this film so much. It's an amazing piece of work that never fails to inspire. I've got two versions of this on dvd, one I bought because you got an original framed film cell with it and also a reproduction of Jim Henson's original notes. Got the score too, Trevor Jones, incredible music (love his score for Dark City as well and Excalibur) and I have the 'Art Of' book too. Brian Froud is a treasure. I also often find myself thinking about what other amazing films Jim Henson would have made had he lived longer. It's so sad what happened to him. Since his passing, there's been no one else who's picked up the torch for fantasy cinema. I'm really dreading what the sequel to the Dark Crystal will look like. I'm not sure that a direct sequel is the right approach. I'll always prefer rubber and puppets over CGI. Always. Seeing a puppet come to life is so magical.
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April 6, 2011, 1:24 a.m. CST
Met Toby Froud and Karen Prell at the SIFF Labyrinth quote along.
by Dennis_Moore
Sweet guy. He works in effects, currently on some hush hush project. He brught his stripey pj's from Labyrinth and some amazing Goblin puppet he made he called "Ignatz." Karen Prell was cool, as well.
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true story.
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Emphatic YES on both counts. Dang they don't make'em like they used to...Loved. Absolutely LOVED this movie as a kid. Someone give Brian Henson some money so they can get Farscape fire back up already.
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and by "creeps me out" i mean "gives me a huge boner"
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He sounded VERY bummed about it while "regrettably informing" (his words) that it wasn't going to happen.
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Are the best. Hands down the greatest decade for sci-fi and fantasy. Those IPs are still getting milked today. The Dark Crystal would never get made in this day and age. Children today aren't intelligent or mature enough to handle the subject matter. I saw this when I was six or seven years old and loved it. My friend's 10 year old nephew watched this and freaked out and switched on Pokemon instead. He reacted like a baby. A testament to a society in decline I guess.
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Nice body to from the looks of it.
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I just read 'farewell my lovely' the other day, your handle now makes sense to me.
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my joints ache looking at this pic. i'm in good shape but i am winded and in pain if i put up a shower curatin in one go, like i just competed in the final stage of NINJA WARRIOR. rebel scum: she's definitely a modern-day 'Mucha'.
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lisa maxwell. loose women panellist, actress and former singer. she is due to star in coronation street.
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former henson puppeteer and now cabaret singer.
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I love animatronics and puppets. Always loooks better than any Boss Nass or Jar Jar. Reading that Brian Froud says it's not happening is kind of sad... I guess Genndy leaving was the death of it all... I was psyched to see what they said was going to be a mix of cgi and cutting edge animatronics.
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LOVED it as a kid and still do to this day. And I still get terrified for the Podlings when the Garthim attack the village and drag them away. I also still get disturbed at the sight of the Garthim encircling the Land Strider and killing it.
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April 6, 2011, 7:34 a.m. CST
My kids were still scared of The Dark Crystal at ages
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
7 and 9. Maybe now they can watch and enjoy this classic.
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April 6, 2011, 7:36 a.m. CST
Sword and the Sorcerer - Use the force heart rip out scene
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
is classic. Go look for it on You Tube. Lee Horsley owned with his badass sword. Your Highness looks like crap.
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And that's not a knock on this movie, by the way; it was a favorite of mine as a kid, and still holds a dear place in my heart. I just can't help seeing parallels to LOTR; Jen/Frodo; the Shard/One Ring; the quest to make it all right means going into the heart of evil...am I the only one who sees this?!? The score kicks major ass, and the fact that this was all before CGI, and still came out this good? Love it. I cringe at the thought of a remake, however. Sequel? Hmmm...jury's still out.
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There's a full Skeksis puppet on permanent display at a puppetry museum in Atlanta, GA. Ooh, he is gross looking when you see him up-close with your own eyes. What I liked about The Dark Crystal was it didn't back away from being genuinely scary, disturbing and unsettling. There didn't seem to be any signs of studio intervention - "No no, you can't show that" etc. Unless I'm mistaken on those counts, it really was the film Henson wanted to make.
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How about Gorcs? Take "elf" add the last syllabus of hafling and throw on a "g" for good measure. Loved the movie, just thought that adding the "g" to elf was a little _hey.
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I couldn't get Chamberlain's little noise he made out of my head.
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Got my right arm all lubed up for ya
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http://img.listal.com/image/501533/600full-louise-gold.jpg
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April 6, 2011, 9:25 a.m. CST
I recall the Skeksis being on a UK chat show. Wogan, I think.
by Mr Nicholas
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Went to a museum while I was in London in 1991 (I think). They had a retrospective on Hensons work with full sized presentation of Dark Crystal, Labyrinth puppets. Creeped me the fuck out! and I was 20!!
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Scares the shit out of me. Would have nightmares as a kid, being surrounded by Skeksis in that dark chamber. "Mmmmmmmmmmmmm" I do favor Labyrinth over this. Still, a classic.
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April 6, 2011, 11:26 a.m. CST
Dark Crystal is proof positive you don't need CGI
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
to make a great fantasy movie. Lynch's Dune also. I'm not anti-CGI mind you, and I know LOTR couldn't have been made the way it was without it. I'm just anti-overuse CGI.
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April 6, 2011, 11:33 a.m. CST
instead of a sequel, how bout a COMPLETELY NEW STORY from Froud and Co. made by the same means...
by Squinty CGI Flynn
agreed that this kind of story doesn't need CGI. It's just as magical (perhaps more so) using puppeteers and performers
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Showing how the Crystal got cracked in the first place, and about the origin of the Prophecy? To me, that would have potential HOWEVER...it MUST be done the same as the original. CGI DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS DOJO!!!
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He used it to the extent that it was available, and was always pushing the technology envelope. Of course, Henson would probably *not* have made a DARK CRYSTAL sequel. He'd have done an original fantasy. I honestly think MIRRORMASK is exactly the kind of film he'd have made.
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Its tone, music, quotes, and beauty still resonate in me today. As to the sequel, I check in with the websites from time to time on updates and they're still in pre-production... a very, very slow pre-production. It sounds as far along as the World of WarCraft movie which is also dead quiet and in a slow pre-production (I am more anxious for Power of the Dark Crystal than the WarCrack film).
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Other than that he was a great artist. Love The Dark Crystal.
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Loved this movie as a kid and am proud of the fact that I got to see it in the theater first run. A mostly packed house too, as I recall. I agree about the "podling life-force draining" scene. That wee beastie was alive as far as I was concerned. Freaked me out but good. The 80's were great for genre type flicks but remember that there were a lot of dogs too. But Dark Crystal was completely magical. I still do a damn passable Skeksis imitation that absolutely nobody gets. I am certain that Henson, if he were alive today, would be using a mix of CG and practical in camera type effects much like what was used in LOTR. Jurassic Park was made the same way, with animatronics and CG and it changed the game as far as movie FX were concerned. Relying on just CG is not such a good thing; I still feel that the human eye can detect something real from something generated by a computer. I hope that more film makers choose to use models when filming ships in space for that matter. But that's probably just me.
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Mostly to enhance the organic effects, rather than replace them. CGI would not dominate his stuff.
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When the crystal got splintered, so did the life on the planet. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I thought that was basically it... what would the betrayal be?
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