Wednesday, October 14, 2026
By Peter Hummers on September 3, 2026
I don’t know what was going on with me in 1986 but I missed this one, even though I’ve been a fan of Jim Henson and David Bowie. It’s high fantasy, starring Muppets (new ones, not Kermit etc.), Jennifer Connelly, and Bowie—in that order. Ultimately, a young friend had to tell me about Labyrinth.
Where everything is possible and nothing is what it seems.
Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by master puppeteer Jim Henson (The Muppet Christmas Carol), in which a teen-aged girl named Sarah (Jennifer Connelly, Pollock) must navigate a treacherous maze filled with, to put it mildly, fantastical creatures, in order to rescue her infant brother from the Goblin King Jareth (Bowie). Jareth, who also sings some original songs, and Sarah, are practically the only humanoids here—Labyrinth features extensive puppetry (muppet puppetry—muppetry?) created by the Jim Henson Company. Written by Monty Python’s Terry Jones (and some others, not credited) from a concept by Henson, it’s a co-production between Henson Associates and Lucasfilm Ltd., with George Lucas, no less, serving as executive producer. Filming took place over twenty weeks at Elstree Studios in London, beginning in April 1985, with a budget of $25 million devoted largely to practical special effects and more than a hundred puppets designed by Brian Froud.
In North American theatres Labyrinth made only $12.7 million, a pretty hefty commercial disappointment. Still, it received praise for its imaginative visuals, Henson’s crazy-innovative puppetry, and Bowie’s charismatic (of course!) performance. And lo and behold, over the years, it has achieved cult-classic status, gaining a devoted following through streaming, home video releases, and television airings.
It does remind me of Henson’s poetic 1982 The Dark Crystal—a little unfortunately. Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal, a similar sort of Tolkein tribute, would make a good double feature, but Labyrinth should open—it can’t quite follow the Crystal.
But it is a lot of fun! Bowie’s having a ball; his relatively short screen time is enhanced when he sings a song, and this is a good selection of new ones.
Young model Jennifer Connelly, who later won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Alicia Nash in the John Nash biopic A Beautiful Mind, was fifteen or sixteen here, in her fourth film. She’s a little stiff, but it must have been a brutal shoot with the special effects: all of her co-stars, except Bowie, were puppets. Who knows if she was even standing amid scenery?
The plot, such as it is, is this: Frustrated with babysitting her infant half-brother Toby on a stormy evening, 16-year-old Sarah recites lines from her favorite fantasy book The Labyrinth, wishing aloud that the goblins would take the crying baby away. Her words summon Jareth, the Goblin King, who appears in her room and indeed abducts Toby to his castle in the center of an enormous, ever-shifting maze known as the Labyrinth, giving Sarah thirteen hours to navigate it and rescue her baby brother before he’s turned into a goblin forever. (Problem?) Determined to save Toby, Sarah enters the Labyrinth, where the walls and paths constantly rearrange themselves, trapping unwary travelers. Beautiful if unnerving scenery.
Sarah begins her journey and encounters Hoggle (voice of Brian Henson), a cowardly and foul-mouthed dwarf reluctantly serving Jareth, whom she coerces into guiding her through the maze’s traps, including a riddle posed by two door guardians—one of whom always lies and the other always tells the truth. (An excellent traditional paradox that somehow we don’t hear about nowadays.)
Reaching the vibrant but chaotic Goblin City surrounding Jareth’s M.C. Escher-inspired castle (an excellent set), Sarah and her companions battle waves of mischievous goblins using improvised weapons. Sarah finally locates Toby, and Jareth appears and offers her eternal youth and companionship in his realm. What do you suppose will happen?
The journey is the thing, and this great-looking journey is well worth taking.
#cult film #muppets #adventure #musical
(Pete Hummers is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to earn fees by linking Amazon.com and affiliate sites. This adds nothing to Amazon’s prices.)
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