A while back I wrote a post on the challenges of writing Jareth. As intimidating as it is to put new words into such an iconic character’s mouth, it’s honestly been a lot of fun. After all, Jareth is timeless. He’s larger than life. His lines have a certain rhythm. There’s more Jareth dialogue in volume 4 than the previous 3 volumes combined, and I feel pretty confident that Labyrinth fans old and new will read it and think, “yup, that’s Jareth, all right!”
Writing Sarah is a whole other ballgame. For one thing, Sarah isn’t a timeless fantasy construct — she’s a “real girl.” I think one of the reasons Labyrinth’s popularity has endured is that Sarah isn’t a perfect princess; we relate to her because of her all-too human imperfections. And Sarah wasn’t put into cryogenic sleep since the events of the movie, when she was 14, but rather has lived an awful lot of life. Also, whereas Jareth will always be David Bowie circa 1986, it’s not quite fair to Sarah’s character to assume that her life would stay in step with Jennifer Connelly’s. Connelly is a fabulous star and has been since her teens. She poses for magazine covers and works hard for that body. She’s also hella smart.
We don’t know a lot about Sarah’s early life or what she did following one fateful night in the Goblin Kingdom. We know that she’s the child of a broken marriage, whose mother that she idolizes was a theater actress. We know that she’s not really into boys and that she loses herself in fantasy worlds. We also know that a change happens following the events of the movie, as Sarah symbolically gives Lancelot the stuffed bear to her baby brother, a sign that she’s ready to let go of her childhood fantasies, even though she admits she still needs them.
So what happens in the 15 or so years between Labyrinth the movie and Return to Labyrinth the books? When I first started writing Return to Labyrinth, I tried to steer clear of that as much as possible. This was going to be Toby’s adventure. Originally, I had conceived of a romantic comedy subplot between Jareth the high school guidance councilor who gets roped into helping teach Drama with Sarah. (You can see elements in the totally-non-canon Goblin King’s Revenge story I posted here last year). As much fun as that would be to write, it was largely a story about putting Jareth in uncomfortable situations and didn’t really do justice to Sarah’s growth and imagination.
The one element of Sarah that stayed from the first draft was the character Moppet, who, as you know by now, is an aspect of Sarah’s dreams. The Labyrinth film is ultimately about Sarah’s relationship with her dreams; that relationship is also at the heart of Return to Labyrinth. How and why does our connection to fantasy change as we “grow up”? What does “growing up” even mean? The kernel of that theme is pretty dormant in the first two volumes, but in volume 4, it’s in full blossom.
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[NOTE: In the past, many posts dealing with Sarah have become quite heated. Feel free to disagree with anything said by me or others, but be civil! Any abusive posts will be deleted.]
Those are some very good points, and I agree that there is very little we know. I think a struggle about writing Sarah is not only do we know so little and so much time has past, but whoever she is is not the complete Sarah. Her dreams, and therefore, a vital part of herself is missing. So not only do you have to imagine her 15 years older, but you then have to strip away the part of her personality that would have been influenced by her dreams.
Our connection to fantasy changes because we have more responsibilities. Pretending you’re a princess traveling through a fanastical land is all fine and dandy, but it doesn’t pay the bills, and it doesn’t clean the house. We need to re-prioritize our lives so we can take care of our responsibilities before we have play time.
However, if you shut it out completely then life becomes quite dull. What’s the point if you can’t relax and act silly once in awhile?
It seemed that Sarah had figured out that balance by the end of the movie, but Jareth robbed her of that when he stole her dreams.
I think the real problem with writing Sarah, or rather any character from Labyrinth is that fans have had 15 years to develop the characters themselves, and so when an official sequel comes out that tries to tell them, “No, this is what happens” then everyone starts complaining that they’re out of character, even though the criteria they’re using to define what is in/out of character is mostly fanon. Labyrinth is one of those fandoms that people have come up with a lot of “facts” via fanfiction, and going against these causes a big hub-bub, even though they’re not technically true.
And I think It’s unrealistic to assume that at 30 year old Sarah would act the same as her 15 year old self, yet I think most fans have trouble thinking of Sarah as anything but a 15 year old. I personally get a little weirded out seeing Jennifer Connelly, I can’t help but think of her as being the adult Sarah, yet for some reason I can look at David Bowie and think of David Bowie, not Jareth.
I think part of it too was that people picked up the first volume of the manga, and didn’t give it a chance. I’m sure there’s a few people that only read the first volume, didn’t like how the characters were acting, and stopped reading, so of course they missed out on the later volumes that explained WHY the characters were acting the way they were (I had this moment with Sarah after volume 2, I remember making a post on Gobblin.net that the manga Sarah didn’t feel like the same Sarah that traversed the Labyrinth, and of course because of the revelations of volume 3 we now know why this is).
Not sure what point I’m trying to make, just giving my two bits I guess. I think the thing to remember is you’re not always going to please everyone, all you can do is just stay faithful to the message of the film, the idea of growing up, and what that entails. Atleast that way even if you can’t please all the fans, you can be proud of the job you did.
It’s a shame when people give up fantasy. Maturing means letting go of the more selfish aspects of childhood. During Sarah’s journey she learned that Toby was more important than her own selfishness.
The junk yard scene, I think, is the most powerful for this. The junk lady tries to weigh Sarah down with materialism and she’s only able to break free when she realizes she has to save Toby, Toby is more important than any material possession or selfish self-indulgence.
I think a lot of people, even into adulthood, misunderstand what it means to grow up. A lot of people think growing up means no longer having dreams. No. Growing up is that point in your life where it’s time to try to make the most important of your dreams a reality. If you don’t than you’ll find yourself completely miserable.
Growing up means letting go of the more selfish aspects of our natures and start to care about others and what is right. The world needs it’s dreamers without them nothing can be sustained. Society is like a shark. It’s ever on the move. Dreamers are needed to keep progress flowing. Dreamers create, imagine, innovate and improve. Wthout dreamers that would be no progress and so society would stagnate and crumble. Dreamers bring about change. Dreamers question things. Dreamers strive to improve things. You need dreamers to be the creative ones who bring about progress in art, literature, and all aspects of society. It takes dreamers to make things better.
But there is a difference between dreaming and seeking to make dreams a reality. And this can be done with maturity.
At the end of Labyrinth we see Sarah put away the play, the music box (a gift from her mother’s lover, Jeremy, according to the novelization), and the picture of her mother with Jeremy. Notice, ironically, she doesn’t actually put away her statue of Jareth (on her dresser) or her other Labyrinthine toys. She is still a dreamer. She still has fantasies. She has learned to shed her angst because of her abandonment issues at her mother leaving her. She has accepted, finally, what happened and that Jeremy did not steal her. She left willingly. And Sarah had to accept that.
Not only did she come to terms with her mother leaving but she also learned that the lives of those she loves is more important than material possessions (junk yard lesson).
She also learned to take responsibility for her own actions. Notice how ‘to take back the child that you have stolen’ is not in her end speech. This could be viewed as an editing mistake (and if so a bad one) or it could be she accepts that Toby wasn’t actually stolen. She had asked that he be taken and she’s taken responsibility for that.
You’re right, Kristi, I think I mentioned it before that I came across a few Labyrinth fans complaining about the mother being named Irene. They insisted her name was Karen. I told them that the name isn’t present in the novelization or the early script. They were absolutely sure it was in the early script (it’s not). When I pointed this out to them I got the argument ‘Well, fan fiction writers have been using that name for years so he should have considered them. The Henson company didn’t do anything with Labyrinth for years so it’s ours now.’
1. No, it’s not. Labyrinth belongs to the Henson company. What they do with it is their business. It could be annoying that for all of the 1990s there was nothing new in relation to Labyrinth and for a good chunk of that decade even the VHS tape was scarce but that doesn’t take away their rights to it.
2. How could Jake respect fan fiction writers without ripping them off? If he used content from the fan fictions such as the name Karen there would be screams of copyright infringement and then he’d be in serious trouble. This is why a lot of TV shows and book series authors like Anne Rice and Jim Butcher have a strict policy to NOT get ideas from fans.
It’s unrealistic to want him to ‘pay homage’ to the successful fan fictions in the official sequel. There’s a reason fan fiction is not official.
That is quite a challenge. Then again, most teenage girls are. lol no offense to anyone here… ^_^
But I can relate to those who didn’t care for the direction of the manga. When I first noticed volume 1, I thought it was one of those cheap knockoffs used to reinvigorate the occult classic, (like a certain Star Trek manga I came across prior…). But I finally let curiosity get the best of me. Then I was hooked when I realized that this was closure ready to unfold!
I would be a little upset if Sarah had retained her 15 year old mindset. I mean, sure some adults are still in touch with their youth, but someone like Sarah I would assume has no trouble maturing after such a serious ordeal.
It makes me wonder how you wrote Toby? Was it difficult taking a baby, and turning him into a teenager with a temperment all his own?
@Maggie — re: Writing Toby, there’s a post for another day! I want to save that one till closer till release, as in a lot of ways, that one is hardest of all.
A lot of my friends were turned off to Labyrinth because of Sarah. Though I didn’t find her all that annoying, I do agree with them when they say that she’s a winy, bratty teenager in the movie. However, this is one of the reasons I liked her so much–like you said, Jake, she isn’t perfect. She’s very much the opposite; she is human and thus can be a frusterating character to follow. But this allowed her to change, to grow up. I felt satisfied at the end of the movie because of her growth.
I did manage to coax one of my non-Sarah friends into actually finishing Labyrinth, and she felt the exact same way at the end. We agree that Sarah is selfish and has her head in the clouds at the beginning, but we also agree that that is what makes her realistic.
On the Sarah of today, I will admit that I was sceptical at first. I didn’t like the glasses (though I have grown to appreciate them), or her over all look. But as the series progressed, I saw why she turned out to be the way she is, and my doubts were wiped away. While she isn’t an entirely new character, she is also very different from the one in the movie.
So all in all, I like Sarah. I guess I just rambled on about how I agree with Jake. :/ Oops. Sorry.
It’s kind of funny looking back. The reason I became interested in Labyrinth was because of Sarah. After hearing repeatedly that I bore a resemblance to her, I decided to watch the movie and check for myself. I found that not only did we look alike, but it was VERY easy to relate to her.
If she were real, Sarah would have been my new best friend. While I wasn’t interested in theater, I did have ambitions of becoming a prima ballerina. It was nice to see another girl who wasn’t boy-crazy, and I’ll admit to sometimes wishing my two younger brothers would go away (it never worked, though.) And while my mother didn’t run away, she did become another person after a brain tumor. Sarah inspired me; I thought if she could deal with the crap in her life (however fictional it may be), then I could certainly handle mine.
Ironically enough, even with the ‘new’ Sarah in Return to Labyrinth, I still relate to her. After busting my knee one too many times–I don’t recommend falling down stairs–ballet is now a dream out of reach. Boys still aren’t the answer to life’s problems, and I still have those annoying, slacker brothers. I also had to get glasses! (Though to be honest, I prefer a lighter pair of frames…)
Sarah, whether she liked it or not, did what she had to do. She may not be deliriously happy, but she’s not in a bad spot, either. Eventually, she’ll find what she needs. I hope to do the same. In fact, if her life had turned out to be perfect, I would have been disappointed. She’d no longer be that realistically flawed person from the movie, and who can relate to perfection? Overall, I am quite pleased with how she’s turned out.
You know, that was one of the things I liked about the original Sarah. Despite what she thinks about her Stepmother and her life in general she’s far from being Cinderella. She acts like a lot of kids do, they dream of being able to run away, because they’re sure that the world will treat them so much better than their family.
When I was younger I specifically remember taking a plastic purple briefcase, dumping out all the crayons and markers that had come in it, and packing up my baby blanket in it because I wanted to be ready when I decided to run away. Of course, my suitcase was unpacked later that night (I couldn’t go to bed without my blankie) and I never even took one foot outside the house.
Sarah sort of glorifies this. She thinks she has it so rough with her new Stepmom and baby brother that she dreams of just being able to wish it all away.
Of course when her wish comes true she immediately realises her mistake and tries to correct it. That’s one of my favorite parts of the movie, her first conversation with Jareth in her parent’s bedroom after Toby was taken. Even though just moments before she wished him away, She pleads with Jareth to bring him back. Sarah never really wanted Toby to be taken away, she was just too caught up in her own fantasy. Right away it lets us know that Sarah isn’t really a bad person, she’s just a little too brash and has trouble telling fantasy apart from reality, and it just happened to finally come around and bite her in the butt.
Remember what Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz (One Labyrinth’s many influences)? “If I ever go looking for my heart’s desire again, I won’t look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn’t there, I never really lost it to begin with”
Sarah dreams of having a glamourous life like her Actress Mom, being the pure and beautiful Princess who had to suffer under the wrath of a terrible Stepmom, all the while having caught the attentions of a Mysterious King who would turn the world upside down just for her.
Yet once she’s finally offered to live her fantasy she realises that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, and all she wants is her normal life back.
Like Dorothy, Sarah can’t just wish her way back. She has to make a long journey of self-discovery to realise what’s most important to her. At the end of the movie we know that Sarah has finally realised that she doesn’t need the fairy tale life she’s been dreaming off, she already has a fairly decent one waiting for her at home.
There’s no harm in wishing for more out of life. This was something I strongly disagreed with in the original Wizard of Oz film. I love the story but loathed the moral. The moral felt as if it was saying Dorothy shouldn’t desire more than what she had, that she should be content with nothing more thana her dreary, gray life on a dirt farm in the middle of no where. Sure she had loved ones there but that doesn’t mean she should never strive for more out of life. That’s not at all what L. Frank Baum’s original story was about. In fact in his book Oz was a real place and Dorothy and her family eventually move there in the later books.
I think that was the one good thing about the Muppet Wizard of Oz (though it was one of the most mediocre of the muppet movies). At least in that version Dorothy realized her loved ones she left behind were important but her Aunt Em also realized it was important that Dorothy should follow her dreams and should not let anything hold her back from living to her full potential. This is something the original film sorely lacked.
It’s okay to want more out of life and to dream and to strive to make those dreams a reality but at the same time we must not let materialism and selfishness weigh us down (as Sarah learns). It’s those we love, and the friends we meet on life’s journey that are important. But at the same time it’s very important not to surrender our dreams. That’s not growing up. Maturity does not mean sacrificing ambition.
I always took the moral of the Wizard of Oz to be more about never forgetting that your family is where your heart is. I didn’t really think of it as saying Dorothy should never leave the farm, it was more like if she desires love and acceptance then she shouldn’t forget that she already has it at home.
I assume that after all the trouble with Toto Dorothy feels like her family has betrayed her, and she feels like she needs to run away because they don’t care about her anymore. That’s Dorothy’s hearts desire, not big dreams about being a movie star or anything, but just to know she’s loved. And of course by the end of the movie Dorothy realises that she never lost anything, because the love was still waiting for her at home.
Still, I’ve only ever seen the movie, so I might be missing something that was mentioned in the books. As for Toto, well I always assumed that since Dorothy defeated the Wicked Witch, then there must be some parallel in the real world that meant Mrs. Gulch was ‘defeated’ too, even if you don’t see it. Besides, I think after a Tornado blows through the county people might be a little more preoccupied with that rather than putting down a wee doggy.
Another thing that bugged me about the original Wizard of Oz. Poor Toto was still condemned to die. She wakes up and that court order for Toto to be put down is still there waiting. What happens to poor Toto? In the play version Mrs. Gulch either dies or is severely wounded in the tornado so that no one cares about taking away Toto from Dorothy anymore but the film never rectifies this situation. Poor Dorothy has woken up to a horrible situation that remained unresolved.
I would like to see more of the movie characters.
I only read the first volume and it didnt feel like what Froud and Henson did.
Laszlo,
It’s a fair critique. Didymus appears in volumes 2 and 3, and Jareth has a major scene with Sarah in volume 3. And if you do stick it out, I think you’ll be pleased with volume 4. Thanks for your honest feedback!
-Jake
Thank you Jake for your answer! I guess I have to read the other volumes. I also hope there is more of Hoggle.
Hoggle is my favourite Labyrinth character. BTW, I also own his original movie waistcoat prop.
Ah! Laszlo, I just realised who you are. I’ve seen you before on the Muppet Central Forums, I love your sculptures, you have an amazing eye for detail and it translates well into your 3D and 2D work.
Thank you very much Kristi !
Laszio, I think you dismissed it too quickly. The first volume is pretty much just to introduce you to the new characters. Also the character of Candlewic began as a Brian Froud creation for his book Goblins of Labyrinth.
@Mandy re: Candlewic, to be clear, aside from the name, he’s not based on the design or story in the art book.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Retrn2Labyrinth: On Writing Sarah,http://www.gobblin.net/?p=1108…
It just occured to me, it’s been 15 years since Sarah was in Labyrinth, we’ve seen definite changes in Toby, Sarah, and Jareth. But what about Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus? They don’t seem to have change in appearance (other than the fact that Hoggle seems a slight bit taller). Hoggle has changed some seeing he no longer despises Jareth with every fiber of his being(at least that’s my assumption). I don’t really need an anser to this question. It just kinda hit me dead center earlier today, and I couldn’t quite explain it before…
And about the Wizard of Oz, I agree with the fact that the moral of the movie was pretty limited. I prefer Wicked, to tell the truth, because it has a much better moral (though not related much to Labyrinth), I assumed that the symbolism of The Wizard of Oz was having the courage to step out into the world instead of escaping from your problems there. Though it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the movie. That was a great connection between Dorothy and Sarah, by the way. I wouldn’t have thought of that.
I haven’t given much thought about what Ludo or Didymus has been up too, but I have been wondering how Hoggle’s been doing.
Hoggle definantly seemed like he was the closest to Sarah. Not only was he the first person she met in the Labyrinth, but it seemed like she was his very first friend. Although he tried to resist her kindness she really did a number on him, while Ludo and Didymus surely had a connection with Sarah it’s definantly Hoggle who was affected most by her presense.
Maybe that’s why he’s sorta listless? He’s always been a grump, but maybe having to lose his one true friend put him in a bit of a rut. Ludo and Didymus’ personalities didn’t really change that much over the course of the film, and since they became “brothers” loosing Sarah was made easier because they had each other for friendship. Hoggle didn’t seem to have any other friends besides Sarah (I’ve always wondered, was Hoggle an errand boy for Jareth? Maybe that’s why he didn’t have any friends, the other Goblin’s were too afraid to get to know him because of the close proximity to Jareth).
Of course, being made Prince of the Land of Stench wouldn’t help. Which makes me wonder, does Hoggle have any Princely duties? Or is he just a figurehead? Maybe the Bog has a constitutional Monarchy or something.
Maybe Hoggle has become a constituent of the supremacy? haha
I never really associated goblins with friendliness. Looking at Jareth’s army, there aren’t very many tender moments amongst the cavalry. The only friendly creatures I remember were the fireys and the wiseman.
The Fireys friendly? Well, maybe if you don’t mind your head being used in a friendly game of basketball.
Still, I imagine there must be some level of comradery in the Goblin Kingdom, though it’s probably less like friendship and more like lighting each other on fire.
I love the Friendly Fierys! I’m seeing them in concert next month. Oh wait… that’s the Friendly Fires. Not quite the same thing. If you don’t know the band, check ‘em out!
;Mandy re: Candlewic, to be clear, aside from the name, he’s not based on the design or story in the art book.’
I realized that right away. Your version looks much buffer.
I always thought that they used the name and strength of the Candlewic in the art book, not neccesarily his role.
I was hesitant to read the series but as soon as I read the first volume, I felt like RtL enchanced the magic that was the Labyrinth and I can’t wait till the last volume!
I love Sarah. Now that I know her past and why she has become this sort of “ghost in the shell” version of herself, I love her and can’t wait to see what’s in store. As a Jareth/Sarah fan, I’m thrilled to see how Jareth is always in character and how Sarah has vastly matured with time. Even if the story is centered around Toby, it does give the fans a fantastic view of Sarah’s life after the Labyrinth and how it will change even more now that Toby is the new GK. The lines that Jareth has in Vol. 3 implies so much to me that I can only wonder what you’re writing, Mr. Forbes.
Thanks for your great work!
I think I’ll explode like a chicken if the next volume doesn’t get here soon!