The Dark Crystal

Dir: Jim Henson, Frank Oz

1982

*****

The Dark Crystal was a huge part of my childhood. While I adore the Muppets, I liked its darker side while also feeling safe, knowing that uncle Henson was at the helm. According to co-director and fellow Muppet man Frank Oz, Henson's intention was to "get back to the darkness of the original Grimms' Fairy Tales", as he believed that it was unhealthy for children to never be afraid. I’ll be honest and say that I always preferred Labyrinth but Dark Crystal was something else, something made for us kids that felt like something we shouldn’t be watching while also feeling like something we simply couldn’t miss. The film's conception lay in Jim Henson's short-lived The Land of Gorch, which also took place in an alien world with no human characters while the visuals were influenced by Leonard B. Lubin’s illustrations that featured in a 1975 edition of Lewis Carroll’s poetry showing crocodiles living in a palace and wearing elaborate robes and jewelry. Henson combined his ideas into a 25-page story he entitled The Crystal, which he wrote whilst snowed in at an airport hotel with his then 17-year-old daughter Cheryl on scraps of hotel note paper. Work on the film didn't begin in earnest until 1979, after the completion of The Muppet Movie in 1979 which was shot in Los Angeles. Dark Crystal was shot in England, back to back with The Great Muppet Caper in 1981. Set a thousand years ago on the planet Thra, we learn that two new races appeared when a powerful Crystal cracked: the malevolent Skeksis, who use the power of the Dark Crystal to continually replenish themselves, and the kind wizards called urRu, more commonly known as the Mystics. Jen, a young Gelfling taken in by the urRu after his clan was killed, is told by his urRu Master on his deathbed, that he must heal the Crystal, which can only occur if he finds a Shard being kept by the astronomer Aughra, Keeper of Secrets. If he fails to do so before the planet's three suns align, then the Skeksis will rule forever. Jen's Master then dies. Meanwhile, the Skeksis' Emperor also dies and a duel ensues between the Skeksis' Chamberlain and the Master of their large crab-like Garthim, both of whom desire the throne. The Garthim-Master wins and the Chamberlain is subsequently exiled. Learning of Jen's existence, the Skeksis send the Garthim to track him. Jen reaches Aughra and is taken to her home, which contains an enormous orrery she uses to predict the motions of the heavens. She has a box full of Shards, from which Jen selects the correct one by playing a note on his flute, causing it to resonate. Aughra tells Jen of the upcoming Great Conjunction, the alignment of the three suns, but he learns little of its connection to the Shard. At that point, the Garthim arrive and destroy Aughra's home, taking her prisoner as Jen flees. Hearing the call of the Crystal, the urRu leave their valley to travel to the Skeksis' Castle. On his journey through the swamp, Jen meets Kira, another surviving Gelfling who can communicate with animals. They discover that they have a telepathic connection, which Kira calls "dreamfasting", and share memories of being forced from their homes. They stay for a night with the Podlings, who raised Kira after the death of her parents. However, the Garthim raid the village, capturing most of the Podlings. Jen, Kira, and Kira's pet Fizzgig flee when the Chamberlain stops the Garthim from attacking them, intent on gaining their trust. Jen and Kira discover a ruined Gelfling city with ancient writing describing a prophecy: "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." They are interrupted by the Chamberlain, who claims that the Skeksis want to make peace and wants the Gelflings to return to the Castle with him, but they do not trust him and refuse his offer. Riding on Landstriders, Jen and Kira arrive at the Skeksis' Castle and intercept the Garthim that attacked Kira's village. While trying to free the captured Podlings, Kira, Jen, and Fizzgig descend to the bottom of the Castle's dry moat and use a lower-level entrance to gain access. They are followed by the Chamberlain, who repeats his peace offer; when they refuse again, he buries Jen in a cave-in and takes Kira to the Castle. The Garthim-Master reinstates him to his former position, and the Skeksis' Scientist tries to drain Kira's life essence for the Garthim-Master to drink so that he can regain his youth. Aughra, imprisoned in the Scientist's laboratory, tells Kira to call for help from the animals held captive; they break free in response, releasing Kira and causing the Scientist to fall into the pit to his death. His urRu counterpart simultaneously vanishes. Aughra also escapes, and later rescues Fizzgig. The three suns begin to align as Jen and Kira reach the Crystal Chamber, and the Skeksis gather for the ritual that will grant them immortality. Jen leaps onto the Crystal but drops the Shard; Kira throws it back to him but is fatally impaled by the Skeksis' Ritual-Master. Jen inserts the Shard into the Crystal, fulfilling the prophecy just as the Mystics enter the Crystal Chamber. The Castle's dark walls disintegrate to reveal a structure of a bright Crystal; and the urRu and Skeksis merge into tall glowing beings known as urSkeks. The leader of the urSkeks explains that they had mistakenly shattered the Crystal long ago, splitting them into two races and decimating Thra, and that Jen, in fulfilling the prophecy, has restored them. The urSkeks revive Kira in gratitude for her sacrifice and Jen's courage, and then ascend to a higher level of existence, leaving the Crystal to the Gelflings on the now-rejuvenated Thra. It was one of those films that stayed with you long after viewing and I felt as a child that I’d learn something new in every repeat viewing – and there were many repeat viewings. It was dark, I was scared of the Skeksis and the Garthim. Chamberlain’s whine went right through me and even Aughra frightened me in a septic Miss Piggy sort of way. However, addressing the balance was the wonderfully cuddly urRu, the Dozer-like Podlings and of course Fizzgig. Henson's original concept was set in a world called Mithra, a wooded land with talking mountains, walking boulders and animal-plant hybrids. The original plot involved a malevolent race called the Reptus group, which took power in a coup against the peaceful Eunaze, led by Malcolm the Wise. The last survivor of the Eunaze was Malcolm's son Brian, who was adopted by the Bada, Mithra's mystical wizards. This draft contained elements in the final product, including the three races, the two funerals, the quest, a female secondary character, the Crystal, and the reunification of the two races during the Great Conjunction. "Mithra" was later abbreviated to "Thra", due to similarities the original name had with an ancient Persian deity. Most of the philosophical undertones of the film were inspired from Jane Roberts' "Seth Material". Henson kept multiple copies of the book Seth Speaks, and insisted that Froud and screenwriter David Odell read it prior to collaborating for the film. Odell later wrote that Aughra's line "He could be anywhere then," upon being told by Jen that his Master was dead, could not have been written without having first read Roberts' material. The Bada were renamed "Ooo-urrrs," which Henson would pronounce "very slowly and with a deep resonant voice." Odell simplified the spelling to urRu, though they were ultimately named Mystics in the theatrical cut. The word "Skeksis" was initially meant to be the plural, with "Skesis" being singular, though this was dropped early in the filming process. Originally, Henson wanted the Skeksis to speak their own constructed language, with the dialogue subtitled in English. Brian Froud was chosen as concept artist after Henson saw one of his paintings in the book Once upon a time. The characters in the film are elaborate puppets, and none are based on humans or any other specific Earth creature. Before its release, The Dark Crystal was billed as the first live-action film without any human beings on screen, and "a showcase for cutting-edge animatronics". The hands and facial features of the groundbreaking animatronic puppets in the film were controlled with relatively primitive rods and cables, although radio control later took over many of the subtler movements. Human performers inside the puppets supplied basic movement for the larger creatures, which in some cases was dangerous or exhausting; for example, the Garthim costumes were so heavy that the performers had to be hung up on a rack every few minutes to rest while still inside the costumes. A mime from Switzerland was hired to help choreograph the movements of the puppeteers. When conceptualizing the Skeksis, Henson had in mind the Seven deadly sins, though because there were 10 Skeksis, some sins had to be invented or used twice. Froud originally designed them to resemble deep sea fish, but later designed them as "part reptile, part predatory bird, part dragon", with an emphasis on giving them a "penetrating stare."  Each Skeksis was conceived as having a different "job" or function, thus each puppet was draped in multicolored robes meant to reflect their personalities and thought processes. Each Skeksis suit required a main performer, whose arm would be extended over his or her head in order to operate the creature's facial movements, while the other arm operated its left hand. Another performer would operate the Skeksis' right arm. The Skeksis performers compensated for their lack of vision by having a monitor tied to their chests. In designing the Mystics, Froud portrayed them as being more connected to the natural world than their Skeksis counterparts. Henson intended to convey the idea that they were purged of all materialistic urges, yet were incapable of acting in the real world. Froud also incorporated geometric symbolism throughout the film in order to hint at the implied unity of the two races. The Mystics were the hardest creatures to perform, as the actors had to walk on their haunches with their right arm extended forward, with the full weight of the head on it. Henson himself could hold a position in a Mystic costume for only 5–10 seconds. The Gelflings were designed and sculpted by Wendy Midener. They were difficult to perform, as they were meant to be the most human creatures in the film, and thus their movements, particularly their gait, had to be as realistic as possible. During scenes when the Gelflings' legs were off-camera, the performers walked on their knees in order to make the character's movements more lifelike. According to Odell, the character Jen was Henson's way of projecting himself into the film. The character Fizzgig was invented by Frank Oz, who wanted a character who served the same function as the Muppet poodle Foo-Foo, feeling that, like Miss Piggy, the character Kira needed an outlet for her caring, nurturing side. The character's design was meant to convey the idea of a "boyfriend-repellent", to contrast the popular idea that it is easier to form a bond with a member of the opposite sex with the assistance of a cute dog. The Dark Crystal was the last film in which the great cinematographer Oswald Morris involved himself in before retiring. He shot all the footage with a "light flex", a unit placed in front of the camera which gave a faint color tint to each scene in order to give the film a more fairy tale atmosphere similar to Froud's original paintings. Once filming was completed, the film's release was delayed after Lew Grade (who famously brought the Muppets to the UK) sold ITC Entertainment to Robert Holmes à Court, who was skeptical of the film's potential, due to the bad reactions at the. The film was afforded minimal advertisement and release until Henson bought it from Holmes à Court and funded its release with his own money. I think it is safe to say the world wasn’t ready for it in 1982 (they were expecting more Muppet-like things from Henson), at least, the adults weren’t. Us kids loved it and it has since become a beloved classic.