The Dark Crystal

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The Dark Crystal
Directed by Jim Henson
Frank Oz
Produced by Jim Henson, David Lazer
Written by Jim Henson
David Odell
Starring Jim Henson,
Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz
Music by Trevor Jones
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) December 17, 1982 (USA)
Running time 93 min.
Language English
Budget $15,000,000 (USD) (estimated)
IMDb profile

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Like most of Henson's other work, its characters are Muppets, but The Muppet Show characters for which he is famous do not appear (though some of the same performers are used). Character and creature designs in the movie are by Brian Froud. The screenplay was written by David Odell, who had worked with Henson as a staff writer on The Muppet Show. Trevor Jones provided the film's atmospheric music. The movie makes an attempt to study the nature of good and evil in terms of conscience, vital drive, and the triune nature of harmony. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment - the British production company responsible for producing The Muppet Show.

Tokyopop in partnership with The Jim Henson Company are planning to publish a manga-style comic based on the movie. It is planned as a prequel to the events of the film.[1]

At the time the film was released, a book titled The World of The Dark Crystal was created by Brian Froud. The book gives much of the story background presented in this article.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Synopsis

The film takes place on Thra, a planet with three suns; the Great Sun, the Rose Sun and the Dying Sun.

One thousand years before the beginning of the movie, the urSkeks cracked the Crystal of Truth, and split into two races during the Great Conjunction of the three suns - the hunchbacked, gentle beings known as Mystics (or urRu in the original drafts and novelization), and the vulture-like, cruel bipedal beings known as Skeksis. In that moment the Crystal became the Dark Crystal. The Skeksis drove the Mystics from the castle where the shattered crystal resided and then instituted a reign of terror over their world. Their wrath was particularly directed toward the elf-like Gelflings due to a prophecy that promised the restoration of the crystal and the end of the Skeksis' power. The prophecy, rediscovered in an ancient Gelfling city, read:

“ 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.		 ”

Jen believes he is the last of the Gelflings. After his parents were killed by the crustacean-like Garthim created by the Skeksis, he is raised in a lush valley in which the Mystics reside. The Mystic who has raised him is dying, and he calls Jen to his side and reveals that he is meant to "heal" the crystal by replacing the shard found at Aughra's observatory. The emperor of the Skeksis dies at the same time that the Mystic does, because they are both part of the same being. In a duel over the succession called Haakskeekah, the Chamberlain SkekSil is driven from the palace in rags.

Jen reaches Aughra, a wise woman character of unknown species, and discovers the actual crystal shard by playing music on his flute, to which it resonates. He must put the shard back in the crystal in time for the Great Conjunction, when his world's three suns will be aligned with one another. Garthim arrive to capture or kill Jen, who flees as Aughra is taken prisoner.

Meanwhile, the Mystics hear the signal of the Crystal, and begin their trek back to the castle.

By a river, Jen is frightened by a ball-shaped, dog-like pet known as Fizzgig and meets another Gelfling, Kira, whose existence he never suspected. They stay for a night among the bulbous Podlings who raised Kira and are then attacked by Garthim there. Kira, Jen, and Fizzgig escape the attack, but many Podlings are captured by the Garthim. In frustration and despair, and feeling responsible for the Garthim raid, Jen throws the crystal shard away. Kira reassures him that he had nothing to do with the attack,' It's not your fault... the Garthim have always come. '

In the morning, as they awaken, they discover one of the houses of the old Gelfling City, where Jen reads the prophecy about the crystal and recovers the shard, although Kira faces apprehension about entering the ruins ("Bad things happened in here once" is her sentiment). Jen and Kira are confronted by the disgraced SkekSil, who offers to help them, but they refuse because of the Skeksis' extermination of the Gelflings. Riding on furry, long-legged Landstriders, the Gelflings quickly reach the castle of the crystal, just in time to see the Garthim that attacked Kira's village. Kira, followed by Jen, ride to attack the Garthim and try to free the captured Podlings while the Landstriders fight the Garthim to distract them from the rescue effort.

The Gelflings fail to rescue the Podlings and find the Garthim, after subduing the Landstriders, closing in on them at the edge of a deep, rocky gully that surrounds the castle. Sweeping Jen and Fizzgig into her arms, Kira jumps off the cliff... revealing that female Gelflings have wings. At the bottom of the gully, Jen and Kira end up at the Teeth of the Skreesh, an undefended sewer entrance to the lower parts of the castle. SkekSil meets them again and attempts to convince them to offer peace to the Skeksis. As Jen and Kira attempt to escape, SkekSil grabs Kira's arm in protest. Worried for Kira's safety, Jen strikes SkekSil, using the crystal shard as a dagger, wounding SkekSil's arm. At that same moment, a Mystic suffers a wound in the same place on his arm. During this time Fizzgig also attacked SkekSil by biting him and tearing chunks out of his ragged robes. Enraged, SkekSil throws Jen into the wall, causing a cave-in. SkekSil then takes Kira prisoner, believing Jen to be dead.

For capturing Kira, SkekSil is restored to his position as Chamberlain. The Skeksis still need a Gelfling to make their "everlasting essence", a potion with which their leader SkekUng the Garthim-Master will regain his youth, by draining Kira's life essence. Only a few drops of it are taken before Kira calls out to the imprisoned animals in the lab, who break free and attack the Skeksis overseer, SkekTek, killing him. Again, due to the link between the Skeksis and the Mystics, his Mystic counterpart dies at the same time. Kira escapes, and the link between her and Jen gives him the strength to escape the cave-in.

In the central chamber where the crystal is kept, Jen jumps onto the crystal himself but loses the shard. Kira throws it back to him, but she is killed by the ritual master. As the three suns meet Jen plunges the shard into the crystal, shattering the Garthim (who were originally created by the Skeksis, and so are not truly living beings) and reuniting the Mystics and Skeksis into their urSkek incarnations. One of them, UngIm, restores Kira to life, and they leave this plane of existence since the crystal has been healed and is now the Crystal of Truth, and the world has been healed along with it.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Characters

  • Jen - A male Gelfling
  • Kira - A female Gelfling
  • Aughra - An astrologer of an unknown species
  • Fizzgig - Kira's pet
  • The urRu/Mystics
    • urSu, Jen's Master
  • The Skeksis
  • Ydra, Kira's adoptive mother, a podling
  • Garthim - Large, crab-like soldiers/thugs of the Skeksis
  • Crystal Bats - Winged creatures used by the Skeksis to find the shard of the crystal and which act as spies for the Skeksis
  • Landstriders - Forest animals and friends of Kira
  • Nebri's- Forest animals that Kira is able to talk to, although one is seen on the dining table of the Skeksis

[edit] Voice Cast

[edit] English Language Version

[edit] Japanese version

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[edit] Reception

The Dark Crystal made slightly over $40 million in theaters, with an estimated budget of $15 million, making it a modest financial success.[2] Its limited appeal at the time was partly due to parental concerns about its dark nature, and partly because it was soon overshadowed by E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which was released the same year.[3] It was more of a critical success, winning a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and earning the grand prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival. (The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation and a BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects.)[2] Other critics, however, panned the film as "watered down J.R.R. Tolkien. . . without charm as well as interest"[4] In both France and Japan, The Dark Crystal was the highest-grossing box office release for the year (1983).[2]

[edit] Sequel and prequel

A sequel, entitled Power of the Dark Crystal, is currently in (or about to begin) production for 2008.[5][6] Genndy Tartakovsky is attached to direct.[7][8] A detailed synopsis can be read at http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/050515d.php.

A manga prequel, Legends of the Dark Crystal, is scheduled for publication by TokyoPop on November 13, 2007. The manga is written by Barbara Randall Kesel, with art by Max Kim. The story will be set hundreds of years before the story in The Dark Crystal, and before the Great Extermination.

[edit] Technical notes

All characters in the movie are Muppets, and none is based on humans or any other specific Earth creature. At the time of the movie's release, it was billed as the first live-action film without any human beings on screen.[2]

Originally, Jim Henson wanted members of one of the factions, the Skeksis, to speak in their own constructed language. The Skeksis dialogue was subtitled in English. This was dropped after screen test audiences found the subtitling too distracting, but the original effect can be observed for selected scenes on the recent DVD release.[2]

[edit] Subsequent cultural references

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Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since January 2007.
  • In World of Warcraft a race of birdmen, The Arakkoa, appear. Their captal is called Skettis
  • The Crystal Method references the opening narration of the movie in their song "Trip Like I Do", the opening track of their debut album Vegas.
  • The Skeksis make an appearance in the lyrics of the Scissor Sisters track "Return to Oz".
  • Alien, an album by Canadian industrial-metal band Strapping Young Lad features a song called "Skeksis," though the lyrics don't seem to reference the film at all.
  • The German Industrial band Weena Morloch features samples from the movie in their song "Girl" from the EP "Trauma 7".
  • Stephen Lynch's song "D&D" includes the lyrics "Now The Lord of The Rings, The Dark Crystal and things, we use these as a reference tool."
  • Although the Skeksis and urRu are all named in The World of the Dark Crystal and A.C.H. Smith's novelisation, none of those names is actually mentioned aloud in the film. They are instead referred to by their roles in society, such as "Emperor", "Wisest", "Scientist" or "Alchemist". Only the Gelflings and Pod People address each other by name.
  • A Skeksis makes an appearance as a nanny in Episode 1007 of South Park entitled "Tsst".
  • The Skeksis are referred to in the Farscape episode "Thanks For Sharing", and the alien race known as the Halosians in the episode "Out Of Their Minds" are designed in homage to the Skeksis.
  • John Hodgman's 700 hobo names, found in his book "The Areas of My Expertise", contains a section of names from the film, including the Ornamentalist, the Scroll Keeper, the Garthim-Master, and several others.
  • A Skeksis makes a cameo appearance in the music video for "Land of Confusion" by Genesis.
  • In Episode 309 of South Park entitled "Jewbilee," the boys gather around the camp fire to summon Moses and sing to the same type of frequencies as the Mystics and the Skeksis did to the Crystal.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "THE JIM HENSON COMPANY, TOKYOPOP, AND NEIL GAIMAN SET TO BRING MIRRORMASK AND CLASSIC FANTASY TITLES TO MANGA", Tokyopop, 2005-07-19. Retrieved on August 3, 2006.
  2. ^ a b c d e The Dark Crystal at the Internet Movie Database
  3. ^ A review by Richard Scheib
  4. ^ New York Times review
  5. ^ Power of the Dark Crystal (2008). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
  6. ^ Power of the Dark Crystal (2008). TheMovieInsider.com. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
  7. ^ "Tartakovsky Directing Dark Crystal Sequel", Comingsoon.net, 2006-02-01. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.
  8. ^ "GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY TO DIRECT POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL", The Jim Henson Company, 2006-02-01. Retrieved on August 2, 2006.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/h/e/The_Dark_Crystal_324e.html"