A fantastic making-of documentary, Inside The Labyrinth takes a closer look into the casting, song creations, puppet making, and puppeteering in the classic movie that captured hearts in the 1980s.
I have always loved the movie Labyrinth. I’ve watched it countless times and both my husband and I were waiting on pins and needles to be able to show it to our children when they were old enough. It is a movie full of wonder and fantasy, but also challenges related to a young girl learning who she is and the uncomfortable steps that one may have to take to learn a few lessons.
Filmed in 1986, during the creation of the movie Labyrinth, Inside The Labyrinth is full of interviews, sketches, and backstage production visuals of how they put this fantasy movie together.
If you aren’t familiar with the film, young teen Sarah, who lives in her own fantasy world, is asked to babysit for her baby brother, Toby. She is unhappy about it and calls out to an imaginary Goblin King to take her little brother away. The real goblins in the land of the Goblin Kingdom hear her cries, take young Toby, and the real Goblin King, Jareth, arrives at her home. He tells her that if she can solve the Labyrinth, she can have Toby back if she really wants him. Otherwise, he will become a goblin. Sarah enters the Labyrinth, makes some friends, and has to go through many small quests to ultimately reach the castle and save her brother.
There are three human actors in this film: David Bowie as Jareth, Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, and baby Toby. Brian Froud, who was the conceptual designer on the film, drew all kinds of amazing sketches of goblins, which were used to help Terry Jones write the script and provide ideas for Jim Henson and the puppet makers. Froud also drew a sketch of Sarah’s baby brother among the goblins, and when his son was born, he looked just like the sketch. That is how his baby (now a grown man), Toby Froud, ended up with a starring role in this film.
In the movie, you learn how Bowie was approached for the part of Jareth and how he wrote the original songs. You hear from a young Jennifer Connelly about how she fell into acting and how she dealt with some of the tougher scenes (like falling down the shaft of hands grabbing at her).
There is tons of information on the creation of all of the puppets and how certain sequences were filmed. It is exceptionally cool to be able to look through the lens of the filmmakers and watch them learn how to alter the design of different characters to allow them to be as creative as they were. For example, Hoggel alone was performed with five total people (one in the suit, the other four on the mechanical movements of his face). Labyrinth was one big collaboration in puppetry and ideas.
I could go on and on about this film, but if you love the movie, you will absolutely love Inside The Labyrinth. Not only is it wildly nostalgic, but there is so much information that it is a full hour of magic.
Runtime: 56 minutes
Motion Picture Rating: Not rated (but I would say PG)
Languages Spoken In The Film: English
Should You Watch It? Yes
Did I Cry? Nope
My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Available: Free on Tubi and Youtube, to rent on Prime Video, or may be available for free on other streaming platforms
I have always loved the movie Labyrinth. I’ve watched it countless times and both my husband and I were waiting on pins and needles to be able to show it to our children when they were old enough. It is a movie full of wonder and fantasy, but also challenges related to a young girl learning who she is and the uncomfortable steps that one may have to take to learn a few lessons.
