The Dark Crystal vs. Labrynth

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Like most people born in the 1980's, I am saddened by today's lack of puppets in films. Computer animation has, allegedly, rendered puppeteering obsolete, but when you look back at the work done in films as recent as Jurassic Park, you can see the potential of puppets. But sometime in 90's puppets were forgotten and CGI replaced it as a cheaper, less labor intensive method of creating imaginary creatures. There's a tactile realness (and I don't mean felt) to puppets that cannot be reproduced in CGI, and in today's films we only get to see that in rare experiences like Where the Wild Things Are. Growing up in Los Angeles, my father was a puppeteer for many years working on everything from the McDonald's Chicken McNuggetts (I remember as a child being on set for a commercial and being confused as to how Grimace was actually a little person) to Johnny 5 in Short Circuit (apparently I was on set for this too, and Ally Sheedy held me as a baby!) to HBO's the Crypt Keeper. So puppets always held a special place for me, and it's sad that it's not utilized anymore. Imagine how fantastic today's puppets would be had the technology continued to progress?!

I was raised on fantasy films, I saw The Princess Bride more times than I can count, and the TV animated film The Flight of Dragons was always my favorite to watch as my mom cut my hair. And The Dark Crystal was always one of my favorites. It was scary, fantastic, mystical, sad, funny and sweet, all with a completely fabricated world (get it, FABRIC-ated?!?) But I never knew about Labrynth until I was in my teens and friends spoke to me of a musical adventure that integrated the fantastic puppet work of The Dark Crystal with live performers David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly (who I'd loved since she sang a super sultry cover of "Sway" in Dark City).  It seems like most people my age swear by Labrynth as though Bowie is a siren of puppetland, and The Dark Crystal often gets swept under the rug. When I see Labrynth I see a half-cocked Dark Crystal, that doesn't sucessfully deliver anything that The Dark Crystal feeds the audience in stride.

The biggest difference is that Labrynth has live actors and musical numbers, both of which come across as somewhat flat. I love both Connelly and Bowie, but Connelly is best when she's playing mororse, and doesn't quite have the snotty yet curious "Alice in Wonderland" attitude down. And while Bowie is clearly one of the undisputed musical masters of the 20th Century, the songs fall flat throwing around general references to magic to emphasize that he's the Goblin King. And of course, lots of "Baby"'s because what's a pop song without "Baby", BUT here we get the added useless double meaning because he's singing to a baby. The songs barely enhance the plot and come across almost as just time fillers. All in all  they almost sound like they would work better in a middle school musical version of "The Crucible-Light". To me the whole musical element is a valiant effort to create a new spectacle, but just doesn't match the masterful work that goes into the constructed sets and creatures. And as for Bowie's acting, he passes as being the cool Goblin King Jareth, and looks great in those male-modern dancer pants minus the codpiece. But he's more suited as the aloof alien in The Man Who Fell to Earth than a mystical villain. The puppets are, of course, very well made, Ludo is a loveable Cowardly Lion (always my favorite friend of Dorothy's) for the 80's and who could forget the Helping Hands. The story is a fairly standard fantasy nothing incredibly challenging or innovative for the viewer, but combined with the elaborate sets and well made puppets, it is worth seeing if you haven't already. However on a whole the film comes across as unfocused, and ends on a general note of "Be careful what you wish for."

The Dark Crystal on the other hand shines as a unique piece of filmmaking and puppetwork, creating a film that hasn't ever been matched on its own terms. This film takes you through a full range of emotions. The Skeksis, who look like  undead prehistoric terror-birds are truly the stuff of nightmares for kids. And even as an adult, I still want to cry as the Mystics peacefully simply fade away when one of their counterparts dies. It goes to much darker places than Labrynth, turning cute felt creatures into soul-less zombies, and linking the yogi-like Mystics to the evil Skeksis. This connection between the Mystics and Skeksis is a metaphor that, while complex, is fundamentally simple and resonates from childhood into adulthood. This is a uniqely crafted fantasy story that creates an allegory of good and evil being intrinsically intertwined through the power of the crystal, and the ultimate goal is the unification and therefore destruction of not only supreme evil (Skeksis) but also the representation of good (Mystics). Very complex ideology for a kids movie. All of this is surrounded by the beautifully crafted and tactile world and creatures that inhabit Labynth but with a heartbreaking and unique story molded around it. The only part of the film that drags is the main character Jen's repeated repeated musings about his inadquacy and hesitations in completing his destined mission. Which are pretty wellfounded, but lucky for him he meet's Kira, who can fly (apparenly female Gelflings are naturally more awesome than males) and talk to animals. Kira the fiercest girl power puppet this side of Miss Piggy. As a child, and today, I find the real power of the film lies in the allegory of the Skeksis and the Mystics. The Skeksis embody fear, their own fear of each other's lust for power, and the audiences fear of them. The Mystics embody peace, each one an accomplished scholar and Buddha-like zen-master. While they are different in nature, their destinies are the same, when a Skeksi dies due to his own corruption, a Mystic fades away into the ether. It is this duality and recognition of good and evil as springing from the same source makes  The Dark Crystal a unique and abstract study of the balance we can all hope to achieve.