So back in June I proposed this “Gobblin Gab” concept of creating themed discussion forums for all things Labyrinth and Return to Labyrinth. Most Labyrinth discussions usually end up debating nuances of the Jareth/Sarah relationship, but I’d like to put the spotlight on an aspect of the film that has nothing to do with either of the human leads – the other stars of Labyrinth, the puppets. I’m not talking about Hoggle’s klepto proclivities or the goblin techniques for the breeding of chickens. I mean the actual art of puppetry that went into bringing the non-human characters of Labyrinth to life.
Throughout his career, and in the eighties especially, Jim Henson pushed the boundaries of what puppetry could achieve like no other artist before or since, and Labyrinth was no exception. From cutting edge technology, like the radio controlled animatronic face of Hoggle or the record-breaking size of “Humongous,” to the decidedly analogy whimsy of the Helping Hands and the Fire Gang, Labyrinth pushed the envelope.
Please use the comments here to discuss your favorite puppet-centric moments of Labyrinth, or to reflect on the art of puppetry in general.
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I may change my answer later, but one of my favorite puppets from the film were the weird, coral-plants with eyeballs that show up in the beginning of the film.
I like the little touches of puppetry like that, the ones that don’t require a lot of grandeur to be ‘magical’, and seeing the coral creature snake around and watch Sarah’s conversation with the Worm was both creepy and fascinating.
My favorite puppet was Ludo hands down!!! I just think it’s awsome they could make and work a puppet of that size!
The helping hands are visually the most clever. They stuck with me for a long time.
The thing one seldom talked about effect is when you see the blind beggar goblin in the underground part of the Labyrinth. And it turns out to be a costume over Jareth. I thought that for a simple effect it was very well done.
the beggar always made my heart skip a beat when Jareth revealed himself. Especially when I hadn’t watched it in awhile. ^_^
It’s a very clever effect. It goes from blind beggar bird goblin muppet to Jareth in less than ten seconds. The only flaw in the scene is when Jareth discards the cloak when the camera goes back to him the cloak is over his shoulder again and he discards it a second time. Magical cloak doesn’t want to let go of Bowie? It’s a great transitission from bigger to Jareth but the cloak crawling back onto his shoulder spoilers it a little.
I have really never noticed that…
I’ll have to watch it again, ya know, to see it (like I need an excuse to watch the movie again ^_^)
Yeah, I’ve noticed that. Must be a girl cloak…
Really? I never noticed that either! I’ll have to go and check that out…
Another one you might not have noticed is when Sarah and Hoggle go down the shaft to the bog of eternal Stench watch the shaft carefully. One of them falls through the shaft twice (or seems to) because of editing.
Something thought to be a mistake but I’m not so sure of is in Sarah’s final speech she leaves out ‘To take back the child that you have stolen.’ I think this was cut to imply that Sarah is taking responsibility for what she had done in wishing that Toby be taken.
I think you’re right about the ‘to take back the child you have stolen’ line, Mandy. It goes along with what Brian Froud and Jim Henson’s son were both saying about it in the documentary (on the anniversary edition DVD).
does it matter that.
Henson, Oz, and his team targeted an adult audience with a series of sketches on the first season of the comedy series (SNL).
Eleven sketches, set mostly in the Land of Gorch, aired between October 1975 and January 1976, with four additional appearances in March, April, May, and September.
I think Jake is specifically asking about our favourite puppets used for Labyrinth, not Henson’s other work.
If we talk about Henson’s other work one trick Henson had never revealed is how he did the bicycle scene in The Great Muppet Caper. He explained how he did Mrs. Piggy and Kermit being pulled along by one of his kids on a front bike and their two bikes held to each other by a pole but he never explained how he did the more intricate parts of the scenes, the bikes crossing each other and then the other bicycles joining in. It’s a very well done sequence.
Actually, he did. In the original Sony release of the Great Muppet Caper that I have (not the Disney one), it was from helicopters.
If not that, it was probably in the Works of Jim Henson book. I can be wrong.
From over head! So that’s how it was done! I’ve spent nearly two decades trying to figure out that bicycle scene. I found one documentary where Jim Henson explained how Kermit and Mrs. Piggy were done by a pole connecting the bikes and wire attached to his kid’s bike way up front but he didn’t explain how the riding in over lapping circles was done or the other riders. I kept trying to think of ground level ways it was achieved. I didn’t consider above.
My favorite puppets in Labyrinth are the fireys, though they’re more like marionettes.
When I was a kid I always wondered how they did them, and when I saw how in the dvd I was amazed.
See, while I love the Firey’s as characters, I absolutely loathe their scene. I think it’s the one moment in the film that really dates it, as it all boils down to a bad greenscreen effect. Watch Sarah’s silhouette during the scene, her hair wobbles about since it’s too similar to the colour of the velvet backdrop, and the digitally added background doesn’t match the depth or clarity of the rest of the scene.
Though I’m basing this on how I now feel when I view Labyrinth, I don’t recall what my younger self thought of the scene when I first saw it, so maybe I thought it was acceptable back then. I’m pretty picky when it comes to special effects now, so I might be overly critical.
Regardless, just because it wasn’t pulled off well doesn’t make the puppetry involved bad. The Black Velvet Technique is really cool for live shows, but the effect just doesn’t translate that well to the big screen.
I never really liked the scene with the fieries either. I mean, the puppetry itself is awesome, but I guess I was always creeped out by them. I think the fact that the background didn’t match the scene added to their eerieness for me when I was a kid. ^^; I just never feel really comfortable when that scene comes around. I don’t know why.
For years I’ve been trying to track down the demo recording of Chilly down. Bowie wrote the song. There has to be a demo with Bowie singing it. I was able to find Sir Elton John’s demos for the Lestat musical and the demos from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical and Danny Elfman’s Nightmare before Christmas Demos (which are really good, by the way). I feel it must exist somewhere.
Probably the most impressive puppetry was without a doubt the tunnel of hands. Especially seeing it was more of a last minute idea.
My second favorite would be the Goblin battle. Though it is very short, all the action that was going on was stabilized without looking like a jumbled up mess. That’s pretty impressive, if you ask me.
My favourite puppet has to be the Helping Hands, or the Wise Man’s Hat. I always liked those two the most! Something difficult and intriciate about controlling two puppets, one on top of the other.
I love the helping hands too, and the Wise Man’s Hat always makes me laugh.
If I have to choose a favorite, though, it’d definitely be the helping hands. It’s just so clever and yet so simple that I can’t help but admire it. It truly shows off Jim Henson’s genius, that much is for certain.
I thought humongous was the most ASTOUNDING puppet there was. But as for my favorite, I’d say Hoggle or the talking stone heads. Hoggle was so complicated with the facial features, that’s some true movie magic right there.
i personally liked how they managed to have all those eyes on the eye fungus creature move in different directions all at once…lol…i don’t know the name of the creature…sry
the firey guys were brilliant…& the complexity of hoggle blew my mind when i saw how it was all done…i felt bad for the guy in ludo’s suit…& the huge gardian at the goblin city was just too cool
it was all brilliantly done >^_^< too bad movies today focus so much on CGI…i'd like to see that kind of realism again…or at least a good combo of the two
I liked the puppet version of Ambrosius, and I liked how they went back and forth between puppet Ambrosius/real dog Ambrosius. The fact that they were able to get a real dog to behave on cue with a puppet fox strapped to his back was amazing.