Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection DVD Credits:

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Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection DVD Release Date: 4th September 2006

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Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection DVD Review:

When one thinks of puppetry magic, Jim Henson is usually the first name to come up. Henson often collaborated with George Lucas, Frank Oz and an assortment of other incredibly talented artists who were able to realize their vision with his help, but he had a few projects of his own. Henson’s fantasy films all seem to have a great deal in common, in that they all involve a journey into the unknown, always made by a unique creature. In many cases the unique creature is simply a human girl, but in the world of Jim Henson, it is unique to be ordinary.

This fantastic collection contains the two fantasy live-action films that Jim Henson directed himself (Dark Crystal was also co-directed by Frank Oz), as well as a more recent project to come out of Henson’s production company. The three films are packed into a box with a brilliant collage of the visual spectacle seen in these films. Also included in the package is an insert which contains Manga previews of two comics; Return to Labyrinth and Legends of the Dark Crystal.

Dark Crystal (1982)
The Dark Crystal is an impressive, puppet-filled, fantasy epic about a near extinct race and a journey to set the world right. Mostly it has the same theme that all of the films have; good versus evil. Jen is the last of the Gelfling, and he sets out on a mission to return a missing shard to a crystal in the possession of the wicked Skeksis. The opposite of the Skeksis are the Mystics, who raised Jen. If Jen can replace the shard in the crystal, he can forever balance the struggle between good and evil and return life to what it once was. Along the way Jen must face all sorts of creatures, including a female Gelfling.

As far as puppetry goes, this is the least impressive of the films, mostly because it was made over twenty years ago and audiences are far more difficult to convince these days, but conceptual designer and illustrator Brian Froud still makes certain to brag about how much of the visuals were thanks to him in the insert. Egos aside, the DVD has some fantastic coverage in a making-of documentary as well as many drawings and work prints. There is even a deleted sequence and the option of watching the film with Trevor Jones’s isolated music score.

Labyrinth (1986)
No doubt the most well known of the three puppet fantasy films, Labyrinth is also the one that happens to have two huge stars in it. At the time Jennifer Connelly was a child model being turned into an actress, and had never carried a film the way that Labyrinth required, especially considering most of the supporting cast was puppets. The other driving celebrity in this film is the glam-fabulous David Bowie, who wrote and performed the five original songs in the film. What really makes this film work better than he Dark Crystal is the inclusion of human actors, which allows the audience to participate in the Wizard-of-Oz-like fantasy more directly.

Connelly plays Sarah, a distraught young teenager who wishes her baby stepbrother to be taken by Goblins. When this actually happens, she must make a bet with the Goblin King (Bowie), that if she can make it to the center of his elaborate Labyrinth, she can have her brother back. In order to make it through the deadly maze, Sarah must make friends along the way, each with their own unique abilities to help her, which are all needed by the end. Ironically, although this is the first mentioned film when Jim Jenson live-action is brought up, there is only one special feature. It is a making-of documentary, which is a good choice of the solitary special feature. There is a collector’s edition available, but this isn’t the version which was put in the collection.

Mirrormask (2005)
Although Jim Henson was obviously not directly connected to this film, his production company was, and fortunately that allows it to be included in this collection. The most visually breathtaking of the collection, Mirrormask blends fantastic photography with a splendor of computer generated graphics. The CGI makes possible a fantasy world even Jim Henson would have been impressed with. Although the story doesn’t vary greatly from the other two in the collection, the visual scope is alarmingly wide, at times engulfing the audience into a completely unique experience. I can only imagine what it would have been like to see this film in a theater.

Mirrormask has another young and creative teenager rebelling against her parents, who are untraditional circus owners. When her mother becomes gravely ill, her drawings open her up into another world, one in which The White Queen sleeps and she must save her. In a world where everyone wears a mask and magic is a common thing, Helena must go on a journey with the help of a very symbolic friend. Everything in Mirrormask is symbolic, each visual element appropriately placed, but I wouldn’t dare examine it all too closely for fear of losing the magic this film holds. The DVD has a wonderful commentary with the director (Dave McKean) and writer (Neil Gaiman), as well as an interview with Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean separately. There are also cast and crew interviews, a time lapse video on one day of production, storyboards, featurettes, and fantastic poster artwork. There are so many special features on this DVD, it sort of puts the others to shame.

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Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection DVD review written by: Ryan Izay