DVDizzy Forum

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:06 am**

From Muppet Central.com ::

Anniversary editions of Dark Crystal and Labyrinth coming to DVD

Henson's classic fantasy films will each receive a 2-disc DVD anniversary edition along with never-before released bonus features and commentaries

THE DARK CRYSTAL 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Become part of Jim Henson’s world and experience the mystical realm of imaginative creatures, fantastical journeys, and the fight between light and dark with The Dark Crystal 25th Anniversary Edition, available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on August 14th for the SLP of $24.96. Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz (Little Shop of Horrors, Indian in the Cupboard), The Dark Crystal 25th Anniversary Edition sets the highest standard for audio and video available on DVD.

This special 2-disc anniversary edition features a new high definition film transfer, new commentary by Brian Froud, stylized new packaging, previously unreleased footage from the Henson archives and “Reflections on The Dark Crystal” featurettes that include all-new interviews with writers and performers behind the magic such as Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson and co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company), David O’Dell (Co-Writer) and many others.

DVD Bonus Features

Rediscovered footage from Jim Henson’s home in England

“Reflections on The Dark Crystal” exclusive featurettes including all-new interviews with the writers and performers behind the magic including:

David O’Dell (Co-Writer with Henson)
Dave Goelz and Katheryn Mullen (Performers)
Brian Froud (Conceptual Designer/Supervisor)
Brian Henson (Son of Jim Henson)
Jane Gootnick (Senior Puppet Builder)
Mira Velimorivic (Jim Henson’s Creative Assistant)

LABYRINTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Join the journey through this twisted maze of events "where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems," with Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Anniversary Edition, available from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD August 14th for the SLP of $24.96. Starring Grammy-winning rock legend David Bowie (Best Music Video, Short form, David Bowie, 1984) and Academy Award-winner Jennifer Connelly (Best Actress in a Supporting Role, A Beautiful Mind, 2001), this genre-bending fairytale was directed by Jim Henson and produced by Henson with Academy Award-winner George Lucas (Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, 1992), and includes an original soundtrack written and performed by David Bowie.

Labyrinth Anniversary Edition includes 60 minutes of exclusive featurettes, including all-new interviews with executive producer George Lucas as well as the film’s creators, puppeteers, and others behind the magic. Along with an astounding array of recently rediscovered footage, new high definition transfer and new stylized packaging make this DVD a must-own for a generation of film fans.

DVD Bonus Features

Newly Rediscovered footage recovered from Jim Henson’s home in England

60 minutes of featurettes, new interviews of the writers and performers behind the magic including:

George Lucas (Executive Producer)
Brian Henson (Hoggle/Goblin Voice/Puppeteer/CO-CEO, The Jim Henson Company)
Brian Froud (Conceptual Designer/Supervisor)
Karen Prell (The Worm/The Junk Lady/Firey 2)
Dave Goelz (Didymus/The Hat/The Guard/L. Doorknocker/Firey 3)
Mira Velimorivic (Jim Henson’s Creative Assistant)
Gates McFadden (Choreographer)
Toby Froud (Toby)
Jane Gootnick (Senior Puppet Builder)

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:09 am**

Ug...don't remind me. I just bought Labyrinth a week ago. After years of holding out, waiting for a better edition.

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:42 am**

AWESOME!!!!!!

(and about time).

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 11:56 am**

I'll definitely be picking up Labyrinth. Even though I bought my current copy barely a year ago, it was only for 10 bucks, so I don't mind so much. DVDTimes.co.uk gives a clearer breakdown of the specs:

The Dark Crystal
* New commentary by Brian Froud (creature/conceptual design)
* Original Making Of Documentary “The World of Dark Crystal”
* Deleted Scenes
* Work Print Scenes
* Character Drawings
* Perfections of the Dark Crystal “Light on the Path of Creation” & “Shard of Illusion” Two all-new behind-the-scenes documentaries that include rediscovered footage from the Henson archives and newly recorded interviews with the people who created The Dark Crystal

Labyrinth:
* New commentary by Brian Froud (creature/conceptual design)
* Original Making Of Documentary "Inside the Labyrinth"
* Journey Through the Labyrinth “Kingdom of Characters” & The Quest for Golden City” Two all-new behind-the-scenes documentaries that include rediscovered footage from the Henson archives and newly recorded interviews with the people who brought Labyrinth to life

The only thing that worries me is from what I understand, nearly an hour and half's worth of deleted footage was found for Labyrinth about two years ago or so. According to these specs, though, the newly found footage will be embedded into the new featurettes, and those featurettes only total an hour. That means at best, we'll probably only see half an hour of deleted footage, and more than likely that'll be hampered by voice-overs considering they're part of the featurettes. I wish we could've gotten everything that was found, and presented to us separately from the new "making of" material. Ah, well. I'll still gladly buy this.

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 12:45 pm**

Disneykid wrote:Labyrinth:
* New commentary by Brian Froud (creature/conceptual design)
* Original Making Of Documentary "Inside the Labyrinth"
* Journey Through the Labyrinth “Kingdom of Characters” & The Quest for Golden City” Two all-new behind-the-scenes documentaries that include rediscovered footage from the Henson archives and newly recorded interviews with the people who brought Labyrinth to life

Yeah - I heard about that. Nothing too exciting there. It's also worth noting that the crew / cast being interviewed for the new DVD do not include David Bowie or Jennifer Connelly. And that's what makes me think - no big loss for me not buying the DVD. Big loss for the DVD features, those 2 are a couple of very interesting people. The "Inside the Labyrinth" documentary has maybe 4 minutes of interviews with them both total and you don't really learn anything interesting about their working on the film. Because Connelly was so young during production (14) and doesn't have many artistic insights to the character or the work, so she talks like most kids talk about making movies today. A lot of "y'know"s and "I think"s. Very trivial stuff. I don't even remember learning anything about the music of the movie from Bowie's very brief comments.

That 56-minute documentary mostly just focuses on showing people the special effects with behind the scenes footage. And it's seriously unfortunate that Jim Henson is dead. Because this is such a personal film - for someone. A lot of emotional and deep, introverted things coming through in the movie. It would be really nice to hear about them from either him or the writer. I think the writer that was credited in the documentary was Terry something. Who was mostly laughing and silly through the documentary. And of course I think the greatest strength of the film is the emotional account of the struggle between staying a child and growing up. So without at least the writer, I don't know what the new special features are going to do for the movie. Probably just a lot more stuff about the special effects.

But I am really interested in hearing about the popularity of the film / a real in-depth diagnosis of how successful it was (or wasn't) in theaters, TV, and home video.

Disneykid wrote:The only thing that worries me is from what I understand, nearly an hour and half's worth of deleted footage was found for Labyrinth about two years ago or so. According to these specs, though, the newly found footage will be embedded into the new featurettes, and those featurettes only total an hour. That means at best, we'll probably only see half an hour of deleted footage, and more than likely that'll be hampered by voice-overs considering they're part of the featurettes.

Yeah... Well, the footage might be in really bad shape or something. Or less than stellar. Maybe the studio felt all they could do with it was to only show it in pieces. Or maybe the studio are just being a bunch of jerks. I too, if I really cared that much about the idea of this footage, would rather just see it separated from featurettes / interviews. Of course for me, though, I can't imagine what that footage would be. Deleted scenes? More behind the scenes stuff? Or is it a bunch of short / small shots / extended shots from existing scenes? We'll see...

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 4:34 pm**

Yay! 2-disc editions at last!

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:53 pm**

At least I never bought the ultra deluxe really really big version of "Labyrinth" like I wanted. Maybe I'll be getting this, given my VHS copy is geting worn out.

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:09 pm**

I've never actually even heard of The Labyrinth but I love the Dark Crystal. I'll have to get that one for sure. Is The Labyrinth any good?

Posted: **Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:26 pm**

Well... Gurgi... I haven't seen The Dark Crystal. I've owned the VHS for maybe 1 entire decade. No, more than that. I think. Never watched it. I still have it. Didn't even know it was directed by Jim Henson or related to Labyrinth in any way.

So on the Labyrinth documentary I watched, I guess they said that Labyrinth is supposed to be like a remake of the story of Dark Crystal, only with human characters as the leads. Of course you watch the movie and it's mostly puppets except for Sarah, Jareth, and Toby. So I think it's a puppet world with 3 Human Points. Like a Start (Toby, or Jareth depending), a traveling Middle (Sarah, obviously), and an End (Jareth, I think, but you could say Toby).

So I don't know how prominently music plays in Crystal, but Labyrinth is all about 2 things: the fantasy world with outrageous characters, and music that explores a sort of coming-of-age reality / facing reality for the main character. The story is about Sarah. There are a lot of puppets. There is a lot of minor chaos. And a lot of mystery. But the mystery is in the experience. Sarah can't exactly tell what's real and what's not real as she travels through the Labyrinth. Except, when she looks inside herself, she uses what she learns about people and herself to try and solve the Labyrinth's challenges as they come.

Sarah is not a well-written character. But the movie seems to use that for the audience to project into her what they decide to. Themselves, perhaps. So I spent some time thinking about that. She acts very crudely - talks quickly, moves sharply, thinks hastily. Except when she's with Jareth. I personally found him to be the most interesting part of the movie. Because he has a certain poetry about him. And a sincerity.

The movie is character heavy, effects & puppet-stuff heavy, and then there is music. There are parts of it to like but sometimes the whole thing comes off a little... Well, the problem is probably in the balance between playful stuff and serious stuff. But maybe that's the point.

DVDizzy Forum

DARK CRYSTAL & LABYRINTH Anniversary DVD Editions !!!

DARK CRYSTAL & LABYRINTH Anniversary DVD Editions !!!