Muppet creator has another marvel

Press, 24 July 1986, Page 37

Muppet creator has another marvel

By 808 THOMAS of Associated Press through NZPA Los Angeles Muppet man, Jim Henson, whose mild manner hides a whirlwind mind, has brought forth another creative marvel. • This time it is in collaboration with George Lucas, who made the “Star Wars” films. The movie is called “Labyrinth,” a Tristar release starring David Bowie and other human actors, together with a gallery of Henson creatures including Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, Humongous and the Fireys. Henson, bearded and boyist at 50, came to town to launch “Labyrinth,” which he directed from his original story, written with Dennis Lee, and the script by Terry Jones of “Monty Python” fame.

Lucas was the executive producer. “Dennis Lee, who is a Canadian poet, and I kicked around ideas and came up with the basic story,” said Henson.

“Brian Froud worked up the characters, and Terry referred to the sketches as he wrote the script. His first draft was one of the funniest scripts I’ve ever read.

“George Lucas became involved in the early stages, helping in the story construction, which he is good at. “George is a terrific film-maker, with a great sense of audience. He has an. amazing gut reaction

in controlling the shaping of a film — how much tension to create and when to relieve it.

"George wasn’t around much during the shooting, but we sent the rushes to him in California or wherever he was.

“He was very much present in the pre-produc-tion and in the editing. I had met George on ’The Empire Strikes Back,’ for which we provided a little assistance on the character of Yoda.”

“Labyrinth” is about a teen-age babysitter who wishes her bawling brother would be carried away.

An evil spirit (Bowie) fulfills her wish, and the anguished girl struggles through myriad obstacles to rescue him. Reviewers have cited similarities to the “Wizard of Oz” and “Alice In Wonderland.”

“That’s natural,” said Henson. “The ‘Wizard of Oz’ is maybe my favourite movie, and the first one I remember seeing as a child. I’ve always loved ‘Alice’ as well as Maurice Sendak, who is a good friend.

“We planted all those things in Sara’s room as what she would dream about. The film is really a homage to all the things we love.”

The casting of Sara was crucial, since she appears in almost every scene. “At first I thought of using an 18-year-old because of the labour laws restricting work with younger children,” Hen-

son said. “But I wasn’t seeing the quality I wanted, and I started looking for younger actresses.

“I had seen about 150 girls and was beginning to hope that somebody would walk in who was just right.

“That is when I saw Jennifer Connelly. She did a terrific line-reading, then an improvisation that sent chills down my back. She was only 14, but she was simply a perfect actress.” Henson recruited the non-human actors from his own creature workshop in London. The British illustrator, Brian Froud, designed them all, as he did for Henson’s “The Dark Crystal.” Some of the characters were animated by radio control, others by puppeteers.

“Labyrinth” was filmed in England, and Henson hired two dozen dwarfs, many of whom had played Ewoks for Lucas in “The Return of the Jedi.”

Two strong men alternated carrying the 32kg costume for the 2.5 m Ludo, a lovable character who has the power to conjure rocks.

“The man inside had two television screens to look at,” said Henson. “One showed what the movie camera saw. The other showed where he was going; the picture came from a tiny camera mounted in Ludo’s horn.”