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.
