Jim Henson's 'The Labyrinth'

My favourite film of all time is without a doubt 'The Labyrinth' (1986) written and directed by the legendary Jim Henson who collaborated with Brian Froud who did the screenplay and developed/inspired the characters for the film.  I first watched the film aged 6 and instantly was fascinated by it, over the years I have watched it over and over again and I never tire of it,  the film fuelled my imagination as a child and I would dream that I was in the Labyrinth itself!. 

The Labyrinth is a surreal, strange but magical place where anything is possible and nothing is what it seems, the possibilities are limitless, and the characters are all so diverse and different.  There are so many reasons that I love 'The Labyrith', firstly I am a big David Bowie fan, I love his music and how he reinvents himself, he plays the Goblin King perfectly.

I love Jim Henson's films and the way that he collaborated with Brian Froud to come up with a concept and bring the characters of 'The Labyrinth' to life.  I recently watched a documentary on the making of 'The Labyrinth' and Brian Froud was interviewed about how the ideas begins, Brian Froud explained that he likes to begin in a sketchbook, drawing and doodling very rough ideas and little characters, he also mentioned that sometimes it's better to work with a character that's not completely finished as that way it let's the character just be and that there's more possibilities for the finished character,  I really like the way he works,  I have recently been  making characters for my I-Stop motion piece and began worrying about creating a narrative and the finished product, but I just played and the characters began to tell the narrative themselves!


Below are some illustrations from Brian Froud's book I got called 'Goblins of the Labyrinth'.. I strongly recommend it! it's a brilliant book

M.C Escher also was a big influence for the set design in 'The Labyrinth', the most memorable and favourite of mine is the staircase scene at the end of the film, it's just amazing!

Here are some more images of the characters from 'The Labyrinth'...