Labyrinth (film)
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- For more uses of the word labyrinth, see Labyrinth (disambiguation)
Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Jim Henson. Puppets play most of the roles. Two notable exceptions are Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) and the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie, who wrote and performed several songs for the film).
Sarah wishes for goblins to take away her screaming baby brother, but when they do she must find her way to the center of a fantastic labyrinth and bring him back. Jareth tries to confuse, frighten and seduce her, but she learns to rely on her own strength and overcomes his power.
Many of the settings and creatures in the film were based on designs by Brian Froud, who had previously collaborated with Jim Henson on The Dark Crystal. Froud and screenwriter Terry Jones later collaborated on a book depicting some of the incidental creatures from the film. Froud's infant son played Sarah's brother in the movie.
The filmmakers acknowledged several influences, including Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and the works of Maurice Sendak and M. C. Escher.
Some of the puppeteers went on to work for computer animation studios.
For the film, a soundtrack album was created including much of Trevor Jones' strictly instrumental music including "Into the Labyrinth, Sarah, Hallucination, Goblin Battle, Thirteen O'Clock and Home at Last" and David Bowie's five songs, Magic Dance (also credited as Dance Magic), Chilly Down, As the World Falls Down, Within You, and the single released for the film, Underground.
There is also a running joke that this film stars "David Bowie's Bulge" because of the frequent crotch shots of Bowie in spandex (due to the height of the puppets). This is extra funny considering that this is a children's film.
Credits
- Director: Jim Henson
- Screenplay: Terry Jones, from a story by Jim Henson and Dennis Lee
- Original Music: Trevor Jones
- Original Music (songs): David Bowie
- Choreography: Cheryl McFadden
Cast
- David Bowie - Jareth, the Goblin king
- Jennifer Connelly - Sarah
- Toby Froud - Toby
- Shelley Thompson - Stepmother
- Christopher Malcolm - Father
- Brian Henson - Hoggle (voice)
- Ron Mueck - Ludo (voice)
- David Shaughnessy - Sir. Didymus (voice)
- Percy Edwards - Ambrosius (voice)
- Timothy Bateson - The Worm (voice)
- Frank Oz - Wiseman (voice)
- Dave Goelz - Wiseman's Bird Hat (voice)
- Karen Prell - Junk Lady (voice)
- Steve Whitmire, Kevin Clash, Anthony Asbury, & Dave Goelz - The Four Guards (voices)
- Robert Beatty - Right Door Knocker (voice)
- Dave Goelz - Left Door Knocker (voice)
- Kevin Clash, Karen Prell, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire & Anthony Asbury - Fireys (voices)
- Michael Moschen - (David Bowie's arms when Handling Crystal balls)
The film received a PG rating in the US and a U in the UK (equivalent to a US G). It runs for 101 minutes.