In recent years, Jennifer has said that her fondest memory of making Labyrinth is the ballroom scene....because with the makeup & gown she really did feel "grown up" & dancing with Bowie, they had so much fun. Btw, in that interview she also made a point to mention how much of a gentleman he was.

David Bowie is the internationally accepted metaphor for the loss of innocence.

My favorite character was always the worm. “Come inside and meet the missus.”

One popular fan theory is that Jareth's true form is the owl, and everything he created, including his David Bowie appearance, was created out of Sarah's fantasies. When she starts growing beyond the fantasy, Jareth starts to revert back to his owl form.

"It's a piece of cake" Every D&D player: Nnooooooooooo!

Jennifer was 14!!! Absolutely freaking crazy how good of an actress she was at such a young age.

Labrynth, Dark Crystal, and The Neverending Story make up the trifecta of my childhood fantasy films. It is no coincidence that in all three, the puppet work was done by Jim Henson. Throw in Fraggle Rock, and it seemed that in the 80s, the man could do no wrong.

Merlin is the name of Sarah's dog. Ambrosius was the name of Sir Didymus' dog. In some Arthurian tales Merlin is called Merlinus Ambrosius.

The ballroom choreography was done by Gates McFadden, Dr. Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation

That owl was the first fully-rendered CGI animal used in a film. And I STILL get goosebumps when it changes to a real owl, the effect is so unique!

The Dark Crystal also has the incredible Henson puppetry and creature effects but with a more serious tone. Put it on your list for sure!

You need to watch Willow (1988) another movie that doesn't get enough love. Warwick Davis, Val Kilmer directed by Ron Howard.

"no one in adventure films mention their hungry," meanwhile the hobbits don't stop complaining about being forced on field rations

As you read in the trivia, the baby is played by Toby Froud, son of Brian Froud, who designed this movie and The Dark Crystal. What’s cool is that Toby recently worked with his dad on the Netflix series Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. You see a lot of grown-up Toby in the making-of documentary on that series.

Shanelle: "I feel like his pants should be tighter." Me: "No! Then the 'Bowie bulge' would become too powerful!"

As someone interested in filmmaking, you really should find and enjoy the "Into the Labyrinth" documentary This might be the best story about growing up ever. You nailed the metaphor. In fact, stages of maturing are represented differently at every beat of the story. I look at Jareth more as a guide/coach than a proper enemy, because he's there to push and challenge her to grow, including with the temptation offered by *refusing* to grow.

9:50 - *“I think she could have spent a minute longer on that riddle.”* Nah, she got it right (as evidenced by the fact that she didn't die). The solution to the classic "one always lies and one always tells the truth" logic puzzle is to ask either one of the guards what the _other_ would answer to a question. That way you know for certain that the answer will always be false: If you asked the honest guard, they will truthfully report the lie that the liar would tell, and if you asked the lying guard, they will lie about what the honest one would have said. Obviously the question has to be one where knowing the _false_ answer automatically tells you the truth by elimination, such as a yes-or-no question, or a binary choice between safety and certain death. 😄 _Labyrinth_ has many excellent messages in it, both metaphorical and explicit. Sarah learns in the labyrinth that being asked to baby-sit her brother is _not_ the absolute height of unfairness that has ever been suffered by anyone in the history of mankind, and that it doesn't make her stepmother a wicked witch. Jareth in the final confrontation stands in for every terrible, controlling boyfriend a teen girl is likely to encounter, trying to gaslight her that everything he's done to her was because she secretly _wanted_ it, and if she'll just _love and fear him_ he'll be "her slave" - meaning, of course, that he'll continue treating her the way he has, because he "knows better" what she wants and needs than she does. At the end of the movie she accepts growing up, symbolised by passing on her beloved childhood toy, which she still clung to at the start, but she also realises that this does not mean she has to "put away childish things" and forgo all imagination and fantasy; that she can keep them alive, even as she grows up. It's a beautiful and touching message, and you're not the only one getting the feels from it. 😭

The soundtrack for this movie is something special in its own right. The song 🎶 As the World Falls Down 🎵, played in the enchanted ball scene, has a special place in my heart and soul.

This, Dark Crystal, Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock...The imagination of the Henson Company was just top notch. They didn't simply rely on old folklore, they invented whole new worlds and made em feel so lived in and fleshed out.

Watching the Sir Didymus puppet strapped to the back of that sheepdog still makes me giggle to this day!

Bowie's pants decided sexuality for an entire generation of pre-teens and teens.

It's so interesting to me that you took it at face value that Sarah was being mistreated by her stepmother. I tend to think that Sarah's a little spoiled/bratty at the beginning of the movie (like most people her age). She clearly has plenty of free time, hobbies, a dog, a big room, lots of toys, etc. The stepmom even says something like "we wouldn't ask you to watch Toby if you had a date. I WANT you to have a date!" which of course sets Sarah off again. She's struggling with becoming an adult, navigating her sexuality, and her parents' divorce and new partners and now this stupid baby for her to take care of. As she loves fantasy, the "evil stepmother" trope is a way for Sarah to cast someone as the villain and make sense of her life. While it's definitely a straightforward plot I think it's absolutely also a metaphor for exploring burgeoning sexuality, particularly the sexuality of a young straight woman. So much of the movie is about whether she has any power in a relationship with a Hot Guy (TM). But I might have just watched and thought about this movie way too much!!!

I love Sarah's solution to the truth and lies riddle because her logic totally holds up with the premise of the riddle. The problem was she never questioned that premise. In this case, they were both lying.

I've seen this movie a million times, and it only now just occurred to me that Sarah's dog's name in the beginning was Merlin, and Sir Didymus's dog's name is Ambrosius. Ambrosius Aurelianus appeared in early Arthurian legend, but was later transformed into Merlin.

There's so much depth in this kids movie, like the trash lady carrying around jet whole life on her back, her past weighing her down, also reminding us that farts are really funny. The choreographer for the movie played Dr Beverly Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation, going under her first name instead of her middle name in the credits

I'm always impressed by the multiple different personalities among the "helping hands". The voices match up really well with the different "faces". It's quite impressive. Which it all is really. It's just all these extra brilliant touches that make this movie infinitely re-watchable.

Sadly, this film was a bomb at first. It didn't find an audience until after home video release.

I got emotional over the end scene too! There's something relatable and universal about it, being in your room and saying farewell to the imaginary friends that got you through the adventure, e.g: childhood.

COOL FACT: Hoggle always made that "Growling/groaning" sound so that the actress inside the suit could see where she was going

Since film production is your thang, this is one of those movies that’s worth tracking down the extensive behind the scenes featurette. Everything about this movie was just so.. lush and well thought out production-wise, that it’s really fascinating to see how they made it all work.

David Bowie did nothing for 10yo me when I saw this, but Jennifer Connolly's giant hair and giant dress from the masquerade scene was amazing to me and had a huge impact on my adolescent daydreams. I also still quote this movie to this day (mostly Ludo).

one of the most common interpretations of the ending is that Sarah realized that she was growing up too fast and that she needed to embrace her inner child, so your guess is pretty close.

Dark Crystal is a highly underrated Jim Henson film.

"As The World Falls Down" from this movie is my favorite David Bowie song and one of my favorite songs of all time! 😊

Welp... Time to sing Magic Dance for the next week.

David Bowie’s iconic role as the Goblin King and his iconic bulge. Watch The Dark Crystal next for Henson Creature shop double feature. Then watch the series Farscape on Amazon Prime. Many of the alien characters on that show are created from the Henson Creature shop and James Gunn used the main characters the inspiration for Guardians of the Galaxy.

i was obsessed with this film as a kid. Books, the video game, the whole nine. I even recently bought the Ultimate Visual History book. lol And the songs are bangers! Also, since Jareth represents the actor her mother left the family for, Jennifer Connelly realizing and stating that he has no power over her is a huge realization for her character's growth. It's a pretty cool resolution.

The thing I'm surprised you didn't mention was the set of rocks in one scene that when viewed from the proper angle, line up to form an image of Bowie. It's a very cool effect, but it's quick and easy to miss. Its at the start of the scene where Bowie gives Hoggle the poisoned fruit.

This movie was my childhood and in my opinion the best Henson ever did. Funny that as a kid I loved this movie, then as a teen I loved Ziggy Stardust... most of my childhood involved Bowie in some way (But as a very young boy, I have to admit that Connolly was my first crush)

“Ya’ wanna know what I don’t see getting settled? Her step-mother continuously asking her to babysit. It’s not fair. Like, she’ll have a new appreciation for her brother- sure- but, like, that doesn’t solver her issue.” I believe it was settled near the beginning of the labyrinth. She strong-armed Hoggle’s help by taking his trinkets and promising only to give them back for his assistance. When he exasperatedly said that it was unfair, recognition passed over Sara’s face as she said, yes, it is unfair.

Please consider reacting to LEGEND (1985). It's directed by Ridley Scott and stars Tom Cruise and Tim Curry.

I remember when they had the anniversery of the movie, they brought it back to the theaters. It was packed beyond packed. Everyone sang everything. It was so awesome in so many ways . The soundtrack is so amazing in so many ways and will make you laugh, cry and want to dance. David Bowie does have more then a few different movies that he did a great job in. Take a look see :)

Her stepmother wasn't mean. Just like the over blown reactions Sara has over everything else, she is having a teenage melodramatic encounter with her stepmother.

I'm only 7 minutes in but I really hope she sees the trivia about how complicated Hoggle's face, or how they had someone else behind Bowie to do the glass ball scenes. The Making Of this movie is amazing Edit: the trivia pulled throughhhh

Bowie's crotch should've won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor that year. Don't feel bad about being distracted by it...that's kinda what the movie is known for.

I was 7 years old when this came out. This movie pretty much defined my childhood and formative years. Surprisingly it didn’t do well at all in the box office, but it has gone on to be a major cult classic because the performances by Bowie and Connelly and the puppeteering are the things of legend. Amazing movie. Thanks for posting this.

I work at a movie theater that used to do classic family movies once a month. We had already scheduled Labyrinth for our family movie in 2016 when David Bowie died in January. Our sales instantly shot up after that.

Yes it was a big metaphore! Jim Hensons daughter was a similar age to Sarah and he wanted to make a movie she could relate to, about a young girl moving into adulthood. Jareth represents the kind of older rockstar type guys young girls crush on. The Ballroom scene, is a representation of her trying to step into an adult world and situations she realizes shes not ready for yet.

Legend starring A young Tom Cruise, Mia Sara (You saw her in Ferris Bueller) and the amazing Tim Curry. For your next 80's fantasy film. Please!

You gotta watch Legend!! Tom Cruise, Mia Sara from Ferris Bueller, and Tim Curry plays the devil. The greatest portrayal of the dark one ever. More goblins, fairies and unicorns. You’ll love it!!!

I saw a "making of" documentary of Labyrinth years ago, and there's a scene where Bowie plays with the crystal, and after you hear "cut!" the chap actually doing the crystal work pops up into frame and the pair of them both grinned.

I always felt that this movie was not about a loss of innocence, but about accepting your imagination and creativity as you grow into an adult. When Sarah says she needs her friends at the end, that to me was her accepting that she could do both grow up and remain the imaginative girl she is.

Ludo is one of my favorite characters in Labyrinth! And Sir Didymus!

There are 3 main types of puppets in the world of Henson. Full Bodied puppets like Ludo, Snuffy, and Big Bird. Live Hand Puppets like Fozzie and Ernie. Then there are rod puppets like Grover and Kermit. For most Henson productions the puppeteer working the character will typically do the voice. All dialogue is typically recorded live while filming, just like any other film or tv project. They work with monitors on the floor to see what the camera sees. For both Dark Crystal and Labyrinth Voice Actors were brought in to perform the characters.

So happy to see more KZfaqrs watch this. I know I am going to love you watching it because I always love your reviews.

This is one of my all time favorites. I was eight in the theatres when I saw this for the first time and I've wanted to be Bowie ever since. I was so in love with Jennifer. Still kind of am. You're absolutely right when it comes to this movie being about growing up, and the ballroom scene is the perfect example. I can see a young girl thinking that is what a real grown up ball from the stories is like. At first she's into it. She's tired of being treated like a child and wants this. Then she see's what's going on around her and gets scared. She discovers that she isn't really ready for this, and the illusion shatters. To me this is a movie about what happens when a child gets everything they want. She made a wish and the Goblin King made it come true. Then she had to decide what was really important to her. Jareth was powerful enough in his realm to give her whatever she wanted. She decided that all she wanted was to be a kid for a few more years. I always hated Ebert's review of this. Of course a grown man is going to be able to predict the plot. When you're a kid there is certainly enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I am truly glad you appreciate how hard filmmaking is. I’ve never worked on anything of this scale. But even on smaller productions, filmmaking isn’t easy!

If you think of all the goblins as former children then the junk ladies are sisters/brothers who never saved their siblings.

I love this movie! My favorite fantasy. Actually it ties with Hook, starring Robin Williams. Love both of those. Another fantasy that’s fun to watch is Legend (1985), Willow (1988). Labyrinth didn’t do well with the critics and the box office when it first came out. But it didn’t matter, people still loved it and still do to this day and has become a cult classic. There’s even a yearly Labyrinth Masquerade Ball event that occurs around August in L.A. Been going on since 1997. I hope you managed to watch the making of Labyrinth. It’s marvelous watching the work and effort they did in making all those puppets,costumes, sets…all of it. Especially seeing the functions of Hoggles head. My favorite part. Awesome that you picked up on his facial cues. Loved this commentary! You are amazing. And will be watching more! :) ::addition:: Forgot to add this; but for the longest time, since I saw this as a kid, I had never caught on to David Bowie’s picture in the beginning. When I found out later, I couldn’t help but find a similarity in Peter Pan, in the significance where Mr. Darling is also Hook. In a way Sarah reminds me of Wendy as well, someone clinging to their childish innocence, goes on a distant adventure, learn to grow up.

Absolutely one of my favorite childhood movies. I've also used it several times at school when teaching English as a second language. The movie has amazing depth and a myriad of small funny details you can find on each new viewing. Not to mention the amazing performance of Jennifer and the icon of David Bowie and his music.

Watching you really enjoying this movie, has put the biggest smile on my face I swear ^_^ my cheeks hurt lol

Low-key just stopped the video I was already watching in the middle to come here. Love this movie!!

Labyrinth II -- Adult Sarah is at her wits end and says, "I wish the Goblins would take ME away. Right NOW." --- The door creeks open and the Goblin King says, "You always could have asked.. Any time you were ready.."

I must've seen Labyrinth dozens of times as a kid. It was one of those films that my grandparents had. They only had like 8-10 videos and I'd go straight in and put one on as soon as we arrived. There was this. The Dark Crystal. The Wizard of Oz and Return to Oz. A movie called Tom Thumb which I haven't seen since I was a kid. Then an assortment of Muppet Babies episodes. I think that was everything. As you can imagine this movie was a big part of my childhood. I still remember all the words to every song. Dance Magic is still one of my favourites. It's such an amazing, endlessly inventive film and it blows my mind to this day.

Not done with CGI. Well,the owl in the title sequence was, but I’m pretty sure rest of this film was just done with bluescreen and combining film on an optical printer. And that’s partially why that scene and why a lot of things look a little off in the 80s and 70s, bluescreen did not as well as greenscreen. The problem is that blue was too close to other blues that were used in film. Chromakey green is such a strange unused shade of green, that’s why it blends so well in modern films. Anyway I’ll stop rambling. But I’m delighted that you enjoyed this film so much, Shanelle! Now you have to check out Dark Crystal. But be warned it’s not as light hearted as Labyrinth!

Many of the puppets from Labyrinth are a part of the rotating collection of Henson puppets at the Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta.

23:35 --- Your expression sums it up perfectly Shan.... From time to time, we all need the impossible.. The fantastic.. The miracles..

You are not gonna believe this but Hoggle was actually a remote controlled robot, his movements and facial expressions, walking and everything, he was a complete remote controlled robot. For 80’s filmmaking that was incredible, I saw them operating it in the behind the scenes features

My favorite music piece is the closing version of "Underground" with the gospel background singers.

Awesome! So excited to see your reaction to both the Bowie original music and your first Henson Studios movie! If you like it, you have to watch the Dark Crystal.

The depth and symbolism and lost youth and sexuality and responsibilities, and what's real, what's ur dream, should u follow, even things like family relatives aging, life changing as u get older, trying to hold on to youth, loss of importance, separation babies even abortion...the amount of social commentary in this movie is stunning!!

_Labyrinth_ is iconic! And the part in the hair is EVERYTHING!

Dark Crystal! Dark Crystal! Dark Crystal! Dark Crystal! Seriously, the Dark Crytal has a unique point about it, trying not to spoil.

"You remind me of the babe." "What babe"? "The babe with the power." "What power?" "The power or voodoo." "Who do?" "You do." "Do what?" "Remind me of the babe."

Saw this in the theater with friends, and it was a staple in our house for years on vhs. I always loved how the things on her adventure coordinated with things in her room, especially the Escher picture.

Don't apologize for getting technical, I love that you get into the technical stuff. Since you are such a tech geek: *Com-POS-it-ing* is blending separate footage into one shot. ComPOSTing is turning things into fertilizer. Which can happen with a bad composite shot...

That owl was the first appearance of CG photorealistic creature in a movie I believe.

I used to work for a museum that had Bowie's Goblin King costume on exhibition. Some lady complained about the size of the codpiece so we had to shave the bulge down for display. True story.

Actually she solved the 2 door's riddle correctly! She doesn't fall through that trap because she picked the wrong door, she falls through the trap because she broke a law of labyrinth. Anytime someone says "piece of cake" in labyrinth, something bad happens... 3x in the movie (1-falls through trap, 2-speeds up timer, 3-get attacked by troop of goblins) and even more in the novelization.

The first time I saw it was in 1987/88 while living in Puerto Rico as a nanny. I actually purchased the soundtrack in Puerto Rico and it was the start of collecting them as a hobby. It is just one of the movies I was able to watch there.

One of my top 3 fantasy movies: this, Legend and Dark Crystal

Ahhh, I always appreciate a fellow fan of Jennifer "perfect eyebrows" Connelly :D

It mentioned in the Trivia that the baby was Toby Froud but not that he was the son of artist Brian Froud who designed many of the creatures and visual effects. There is a 'making of' documentary called 'Into the Labyrinth', which is worth seeing.

So the giant monster's name is Ludo. Interestingly enough, years later there would be a band called Ludo, named after the monster. They're also from St. Louis (my hometown) which always made me happy. If you like alt rock, you should check them out!

I saw what movie this was and I gasped out loud! LOVE this movie so much! I can't wait to watch and see if you love it as much as I do :) Edit: Loved the reaction! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I was at the actual NY premiere, because my high school friend’s mom worked with Henson

This is my favorite movie ever , i was first introduced as a child and I'm still in love with the movie. I'm so glad that people still watch it. R.I.p david bowie

Basically, the key to the Labyrinth is the friends we made along the way. And I'll go hug my stuffed Ludo now.

I feel like hunger is a pretty common thing in fantasy/adventure films where the protagonist has to go on a long journey and meets friends along the way.

This came out when I was 5 years old, and for some reason my parents thought it was acceptable for me. I was terrified for years by it!!

I love love LOVE this movie. You nailed it with the innocence motif. My favorite fun fact about this movie is how technical Hoggle’s face is. The actor in the helmet and suit deserve WAY more credit for how hard it must have been to show emotion when your whole head is covered. I also went to see an exhibit for this movie at the puppetry museum in Atlanta and the costumes from the ballroom scene were there... they’re stunning in person 😩. Great reaction! Definitely excited to check out more content

As a young boy back in the 80's I must've watched Henson's "The Dark Crystal" a hundred times, and then I watched this one because they told me it was similar and, despite it obviously being oriented to anyone but a male audience, I just loved the visuals (including Jennifer Connelly, tbh, who was already beautiful and a great actress back then and has only gotten better with time on both counts). When I got older I got into Bowie's music, so I still enjoy the movie whenever I watch it every few years on TV or something. It's a stunning piece of art. Maybe not a perfect one, but art just the same. The level of detail is just mind-boggling. I mean, pretty much all the creatures Sarah meets are there from the start in her bedroom as plush toys or ornaments or something. And being a Jim Henson/Lucasfilm release, you can't beat the sets and creature design, and the puppetry and voice-acting. I still like "The Dark Crystal" better, but this one still holds up very well too.

I think this movie is one of the best movies ever that was a part of my childhood 👏

Labyrinth: Starring David Bowie.....and his package. If you like this you have to see Legend. It's not a musical but it's that same kind of campy 80s fantasy.

I’ve been watching unsubscribed for a while now, so shame on me and all that, but I make amends by doing so now. As well as sending my much belated appreciation for your videos. I’m enjoying muchly your filmmaker eye on things, reminds me of my own attempts back in the day when I was heavily into such things as a younger version of myself and it’s great to see someone else who is in love with the background work of making of films as much as the films themselves. Keep being awesome! And now to watch this classic, great stuff, haven’t seen it in such a long time!

I always liked how Labyrinth is both a coming of age story and also a "never stop being a kid" story. Jennifer Connelly is perfect because as a kid (I was 9 when I saw this) she was soooo beautiful to me, but also still kinda a relatable kid for the oldest boy who had to take care of his siblings. I knew that she was supposed to be between the adult and kid world even back then. It's a great movie for young teens. I don't think it goes quite as far as "losing innocence" even though there is a hint of romance, but more like an awakening of adulthood in a selfish child.

This is definitely a story of growth and becoming adult.

This is when every boy fell in love with Jennifer Connelly!

the design of the puppets was actually by Brian Froud, brought to life by Jim Henson magic. The baby is actually played by the artist's son, Toby Froud, which probably explains why the baby was not scared by the puppets. He would be very used to seeing similar looking designs. Brian Froud's work is really really amazing and if you have any interest, I highly recommend looking some of his art work up.

Great movie! Great, great movie! Happy 35th Anniversary, Labyrinth! I was 6 years old when this was released. I think the film was a bit hyped, but nonetheless held its own, much like "The Dark Crystal" did. This movie certainly has a cult following even today. Jennifer Connelly was about 15 when she was cast as Sarah. The baby (Toby; real name) is the son of Brian Froud, who was the conceptual artist for all the creature designs in the movie. Brian made drawings of each goblin character and sent them to Jim Henson for approval. Those same drawings were also sent to writer Terry Jones. Terry also was a member of Monty Python, btw. After watching this, go check out the behind the scenes documentary for this movie. It's really neat to watch how they made it.