I love an underworld story because I love stories about metaphorical death. “Writers - particularly writers of epic fantasy - will often talk about Joseph Campbell’s monomyth and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, but not a lot of time is spent on the underworld story, where the likelihood of the protagonist being femme is much higher. "In Labyrinth, Sarah journeys to the Underground a spoiled, selfish brat and emerges (theoretically) as an adult, changed by the experiences she’s gone through (again, theoretically),” she continues. When writing Wintersong, Jones was drawn not only to memories of Labyrinth but the broader narrative tropes its story falls under, notably "the descent into the underworld." “As a kid, I think I liked it because the protagonist was named Sarah, which is also my first name." "My Korean grandmother was my caretaker for the vast majority of my childhood, and whenever she needed a break, she often put on Labyrinth for me,” Jae-Jones tells IGN. Jones was first introduced to Labyrinth as a child. Jae-Jones is a New York Times best-selling author of the Wintersong series, a fantasy romance with heavy echoes of Labyrinth (as well as many of the stories that inspired the film, such as Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market and the myth of Hades and Persephone). Even Bowie returned to the world of Jareth, in a manner, with a Louis Vuitton advert from 2013. Just about every geek convention on the planet will feature at least a handful of Labyrinth cosplayers. The indelible fingerprints of Henson's Labyrinth can be found throughout the past three decades of pop culture, from Disney movies of the ’90s to the works of Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman (especially Mirrormask for the latter) to many a romance novel. Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie in Labyrinth.
After years as a second-hand rarity, the movie became available on VHS and DVD in the late ’90s and greatly expanded its reach beyond its initial fanbase.
Thanks to many years of TV broadcasts, Blockbuster rentals, and pushy family members with good taste (many thanks to my own grandmother), Labyrinth re-emerged into the mainstream more cherished than ever. It seemed that Labyrinth would disappear from the pop-culture consciousness, reduced to another '80s kids movie that failed to capture audiences' attention in the era of the blockbuster…Īnd yet Labyrinth has endured, and three and a half decades later, the film is a beloved classic as well as a wildly influential fantasy drama that's inspired generations of fans. It would be the last feature film Henson ever directed, and according to his son Brian, it contributed to a downward turn in his career. With a reported budget of $25 million, Labyrinth grossed only $12.9 million during its initial domestic run. It seemed like the perfect combination for a smash hit, yet when Labyrinth opened 35 years ago, in the summer of 1986, it proved to be a critical and commercial disappointment. Monty Python alumnus Terry Jones was on screenwriting duties, George Lucas would be the executive producer, and none other than David Bowie would star as Jareth and provide a number of songs. Together, Froud and Henson imagined a tale of a girl named Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) who wishes her brother away to a fantastical realm and must journey through many hardships to retrieve him from the clutches of the sinister yet alluring Goblin King, Jareth. Froud had a strong image in his mind of a baby surrounded by goblins, influenced by the classic folk tales wherein goblins traditionally trick children or steal them from their homes. Following their collaboration on the film Dark Crystal, illustrator Brian Froud and puppeteer extraordinaire Jim Henson agreed to work together on a new project.