The ninth big-screen film starring Jim Henson′s wacky, warm, and wonderful Muppets is coming direct to your home next month, and bonus–at last we have a Muppets Halloween movie. Disney+ released the trailer for Muppets Haunted Mansion, and it looks like a combination of the great, pre-Disney classic movies like The Muppet Christmas Carol–complete with ghost Muppets (or are they Muppet ghosts?), and best of all Disney tapped some original performers, including the legendary Dave Goelz (back as Gonzo, Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, and more), and the brilliant Bill Barretta (back as Pepe, Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, and more) and David Rudman (Scooter, Janice, Beaker, and more), plus hundreds of creative production staff. Muppets Haunted Mansion is directed by Kirk R. Thatcher, who was behind the scenes on major genre hits like Gremlins, Poltergeist, Return of the Jedi, Star Trek III, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Robocop 2, and you probably saw him in front of the camera at least once, like when he played the guy on the San Francisco bus blaring his stereo–the one who Spock puts out of commission–in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. And the human leading the show, as the Muppets’ host in a haunted house they must stay in overnight, is the smartly cast funnyman Will Arnett(The Lego Batman Movie).
The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational event is heading your way.
It’s been 40 years sinceThe Muppet Showwrapped its now classic five season run back in 1976-1981, with its last episode guest-starring Singing in the Rain star Gene Kelly. One of the greatest half-hour series of all time and the greatest variety show format series ever is coming to the streaming platform Disney+ later this month. Everyone who was anyone in the 1970s was a guest on the show, from Vincent Price to Don Knotts, from Cloris Leachman, George Burns, John Cleese and Paul Simon, to Linda Ronstadt and Steve Martin, to Elton John, Julie Andrews, Gilda Radner, Shirley Bassey, Peter Sellers, Debbie Harry, Rita Moreno, and Madeline Kahn, to Roy Rogers, Dudley Moore, James Coburn, Roger Moore, Sylvester Stallone, Lynda Carter, Milton Berle, Christopher Reeve, Bernadette Peters, Ethel Merman, Bob Hope, Diana Ross, Johnny Cash, Harvey Korman, Carol Burnett, Dizzy Gillespie, Alice Cooper, and even the cast of Star Wars–more than 100 guest stars in all, and from every single corner of music, TV, and film. The show won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Grammy (one of our favorite subjects–check out more about The Muppets here). Behind the scenes (and under the table and behind the curtain) it was Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Louise Gold, Kathryn Mullen, and Steve Whitemire working the real magic.
Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal Bestiary: The Definitive Guide to the Creatures of Thrais a new in-universe guide coming this Fall to whet the appetites of fans of the 1982 film and the expansion into Netflix’s television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Will we get a sequel series? We hope so, but while we’re waiting to find out you can read about the critters and plant life lurking in the corners that didn’t get to be center stage on the screen. It’s all coming this Fall from Insight Editions, and you can see a preview of the book of fantasy stories and artwork below.
We watched them get the band back together the first time with Muppet Guys Talking, a fun documentary we discussed two years ago here at borg. Now not even sheltering at home will hold back the fun-loving Muppet Guys, who are returning once again to share some more about Muppet creator Jim Henson, and the incredible creative process and their experience as Muppet performers, all while earning some money for front-line COVID-19 workers. Part in honor of Jim Henson, who passed away 30 years ago, and part reason to get some of our favorite people back together virtually, it’s all happening this Saturday, and everyone is invited.
Today only, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA, is offering a free virtual tour of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: World of Myth and Magic, an exhibit scheduled at the Atlanta facility through June 28, 2020, but is now temporarily closed to foot traffic because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Museum director Jill Nash Malool will be presenting the tour online at the Center for Puppetry Arts page on Facebook here. It all happens today, Friday, April 10, at 2 p.m. EST/1 p.m. CST.
The exhibit revealed on the virtual tour features more than 50 props and other artifacts from 1982’s classic fantasy film The Dark Crystal, including the actual Jen, Podlings, Skeksis, and Aughra used in the movie. Original Brian Froud artwork, animatronic prototypes, and other props, artifacts, and ephemera from the film are part of the exhibit.
The museum invites fans of the film and last year’s groundbreaking television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, into the imaginative world of Thra. The exhibition discusses how the movie was a passion project for Jim Henson and how he needed the fantastical work of Brian Froud to make it come to fruition. It explores the intricate artistry that went into the creation of the world brought to life in the 1982 film that would become a lasting influence on the fantasy genre, including films like the Star Wars franchise, Jurassic Park, and more.
Watching the incredible award-winning Netflix series Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the seamless visuals and storytelling can’t prepare viewers for the amount of detailed craftsmanship required to create the series (which was our pick for Best TV Series, Best New Limited TV Series, Best TV Fantasy, Best Writing for TV, Best TV Costumes/Makeup, and Best TV Soundtrack in our year-end wrap-up last year here at borg). It was far more involved than any other live-action project, CGI production, or animated series, and that feat is what Daniel Wallace’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance–Inside the Epic Return to Thra is all about.
Like in Industrial Light & Magic Presents: Making Solo: A Star Wars Story (a diary of sorts of the making of that film reviewed here), creating this level of rich behind the scenes account for such a complex production benefits from being assembled during the development and execution of the series. This is a complete story that begins where Caseen Gaines’ compelling The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History (reviewed here) ends, taking readers from 1982 into the development of Thra’s expanded universe of books, comics, and online resources, all waiting to be combined together to inspire and become the Netflix series.
But the biggest thing not found on the screen–the thing that glues together the book and process behind the series–is the imagination, influence, and contributions of Brian Froud. Readers will find hardly a page of this volume without a key concept design personally envisioned, painted, or sketched by Froud, the visionary behind the look of the original The Dark Crystal film.
And that explains why the series feels so faithful to Henson’s original film.
Nothing in my lifetime in the fantasy genre has had an impact as great as Jim Henson, his creations, and influence. That stretches to The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie, tangent puppet creations like Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, and Henson’s masterwork, the 1982 holiday release The Dark Crystal. So nothing could be greater than to revisit The Dark Crystal in a new incarnation, and not only find the people behind it got it right, but set a new standard in storytelling along the way. No visual storytelling medium is older than puppetry, and nothing reaches inside you like a story told with creations you know aren’t real, yet when done exceptionally well they convey every emotion as if they were real. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, now streaming on Netflix, sets a new bar because it expands on the original film’s story, bringing to life a larger, fully fleshed-out world and a timeless tale that firmly installs the name Henson (Jim and daughters Lisa and Cheryl) as equal to fantasists like the Grimms, Kipling, Milne, Howard, Tolkien, Lewis, Beagle, Harryhausen, Lucas, Jackson, and Rowling. “Wonder” should be the Henson family hallmark. Beyond that, the series surpasses the best fantasy of television and big-screen productions, so from here on audiences may ask comparatively, “Yes, but does it convey the emotion and wonder The Dark Crystal series created?”
Dynamic, thrilling, suspenseful, and full of action, mythology, sorcery, good and evil, despair and triumph, swashbuckling adventure, unimaginable beauty and love for nature and community, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance presents better than anything before what every other fantasy before it seems to stumble on: Stakes. The preparation of the viewer for a world of dire fantasy stakes couldn’t have been more artfully revealed. What is at stake in the film isn’t just another “end of the world” story, but something that reaches in and makes you believe a stack of rocks can be lovable, the innocent can rise against the darkest evil, where the world of humans and their conflicts is not a consideration, and where you may find you want a hug from a giant spider. Glorious, ground-breaking, faithful to the original, with thousands of creators making a film in a spectacularly difficult way, it more than fulfills its promise.
You could heap all sorts of praise on the series, beyond Netflix for betting its money on a prequel, the Hensons and original visionary family the Frouds, beyond director Louis Leterrier, writers Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, and Javier Grillo-Marxuach, haunting music by Daniel Pemberton, the spectacular assemblage of voice actors, from Simon Pegg and Warrick Brownlow-Pike (who perfectly resurrected Chamberlain the Skeksis, one of fantasy’s greatest villains) to Donna Kimball and Kevin Clash (resurrecting fantasy’s greatest sorceress, Aughra). The unsung heroes will be those puppeteers and the designers of the production, the puppets, the costumes, and props. There’s not a big enough award for this series or its many creators, artists, and artisans, and all that had to come together to make it. A glimpse behind the scenes can be found in a must-see feature following the ten episodes of the series.
You may have gulped it down in one sitting or maybe you think it’s so good you’re (like us) enjoying this new series slowly, but there’s no doubt Netflix′s original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance will be a contender for the best series of the year in any category. Lisa Henson and The Jim Henson Company have created something special here, and we’re now seeing some of the first tie-ins from this reboot of The Dark Crystal franchise, which began only two years ago with Caseen Gaines’ authoritative look at Henson, his inspiration, and his original Thra creations in The Dark Crystal: The Ultimate Visual History (reviewed here at borg). If you’re enjoying the new series, you’ll want to dive in to learn about the Hensons and how they created the world of Thra from the very beginning.
Funko has six 3 3/4-inch action figures to add to its earlier The Dark Crystal collection (first discussed here in 2016, these figures sell for top dollar on the aftermarket, with a few still on Amazon like Jen, Kira & Fizzgig, Chamberlain, Aughra, Landstrider, Garthim, and UrSol). For the new TV series Funko’s first wave of figures have better sculpts and paint work than the prior series. They feature gelflings Deet and Rian, Hup the podling, Aughra the Oracle, theHunter Skeksis, and a Silk Spitter(see larger images below, and click on the names to learn more and order these at Amazon, currently about $10 each).
“The waters speak the truth, that they do. Only now have you lived long enough to know the child that you shall always remain. That which dwells in the heart can never be lost to the spirit.”
Some artists’ works are so brilliant, so evocative, so memorable, and so successful, that whenever they draw, sketch, or paint, it turns heads. One of those artists is Bill Sienkiewicz. His 1980s comic book artwork changed the way comic books are approached by artists and readers, forever. His trademark abstract works and his recurring sketches of people making the news are regular features that can make you happy to open your social media application for the day. Put Sienkiewicz together with a Santa Claus story? It’s as good as it sounds, and it arrives in stores beginning this week.
We’ve seen some incredible work on Christmas stories in the comic book medium before. Take for example the modern Batman opus, 2011’s Batman: Noel by Lee Bermejo (we reviewed it here). Now this year we haveSanta: My Life and Times, An Autobiography, a lavish, updated edition to a 1998 project. It features a holiday story written by Jared Green (and Santa, of course), with vibrant and festive watercolor art, cover to cover, by Sienkiewicz. As are all good storybooks, this is a shiny, over-sized hardcover. You will get lost in the details of every page of art. Marvel at all the wintry critters. Peek inside windows. The beauty of nature’s magic is everywhere. By my count there are not only more than 100 illustrations by Sienkiewicz in this book, there are 100 poster-worthy illustrations.
The storytelling is very Victorian and grand, neither modern nor silly. This is the same voice found in the classic 1823 Clement Clarke Moore holiday staple, A Visit from St. Nicholas(aka ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas). Green’s voice of Santa is like a conversation in a good Dickens hero’s friendly voice. Think Bob Cratchit. This is a deep, rich, well-thought out fantasy. The story spreads pure goodness and joy, the kind you’ll want to read to little kids (or adults, or cats), complete with Dr. Seussian sound effects peppered about. No doubt this is the same Santa that influenced the likes of Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross, Steve Irwin, and Jim Henson. The look and feel matches the spirit of the Rankin/Bass Christmas classics perfectly.
