In this episode of the show we are venturing even further into the world of 1980’s fantasy by discussing two movies directed by Jim Henson: The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Over the course of our conversation you will hear us talk about Jim Henson as a tech-driven filmmaker, and storyteller keen on applying the “X with Muppets” to other contexts. We talk about The Dark Crystal functioning much like Avatar of its time with its high concept of making a movie without human characters, which posed certain technical challenges. We also discuss how Henson’s movies essentially appropriate storylines from The Lord of the Rings and Wizard of Oz, how the world-building outside of the field of vision of the characters is increasingly barren (and how it might be more acceptable in one of the two movies) and that relying on a gimmick alone suffers from incredible diminishing returns.

Tune in and enjoy!

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