Make Your World In Its Light: The Story and Structure of Jim Henson's THE DARK CRYSTAL

Another world...another time...in the age of wonder. 

Such was the age of wonder I was in myself, at age 7, when I first heard those words in a dark movie theater for my first viewing of The Dark Crystal - a film I was already obsessed with before walking into my seat. Seeing the movie poster advertisement in the newspaper and hearing that the same guy who made The Muppets had a new movie with things called "gelflings" was one of those formative moments in my life, and the obsession hasn't really stopped. So read on whilst I geek out a little bit with a few ponderings...

The Dark Crystal has a fascinating history behind the mere making of it, which is outlined in full detail through documentaries, books, and rare TV spots on YouTube. (Of which my favorite is embedded at the end of this article - watch it later, and all the way to the end)

An Obsession

The film was an obsession of Jim Henson himself too. So much so, that while he was working on other Muppet projects at the height of their popularity, he couldn't stop thinking about this fantasy world he wanted so desperately to create. In fact, many plot points of The Muppet Movie, which overlapped in production, are basically fore-shadows of what would end up in Dark Crystal.

Both films have early scenes of the lead character playing music in a swamp.

Both films have a scene where a boy and girl meet and they show a dream sequence.

Both films have a moment with the boy and girl in a rowboat (a puppetry technique that was tested in Emmett Otter, another overlapping production.)

Both films have an evil scientist who uses a torturous chair with hand-and-leg restraints to turn someone into a slave.

Both films end with a crumbling building.

Both films end with a beam of light coming through a hole in the ceiling.

This image of Sweetums running is not in The Muppet Movie, but it's in the record jacket for the soundtrack album. Looks familiar...

...and I can't help but think these two are related somehow.

So in many ways, The Muppet Movie was a preview for Dark Crystal. Even while Jim was working on other projects, he couldn't stop thinking about it. They are also both essentially road movies, where the main character goes on a journey and makes companions along the way in a race against time. For Jen, he must reach his destination before the Great Conjunction, and for Kermit, in time for his audition.

Even later on, Labyrinth would follow the same story of a girl who picks up companions in a race-against-time journey to save her baby brother. (Jim Henson's biography suggests that his entire life and career was a race against time ~ most exemplified by TimePiece ~ after the death of his own brother.)

A Structure to the Story

If The Dark Crystal has any weakness, as much as I love it dearly, I have to admit that it's flawed at times in its pacing, characterization, and story structure, up to a point. It was such a gargantuan effort to realize the film technically and visually, I imagine this made it difficult to finesse the actual story being told.

The version we have is marred by forced and often banal dialogue, mostly by the Skeksis, which was hastily written and recorded in order to match their mouth movements. (Originally, the Skeksis spoke an alien language with subtitles, but early test audiences balked at this. The unofficial "directors cut" of the film with their strange dialect is much more poetic and extremely frightening) All things considered, it was a 25-million-dollar experimental art film, but sad to say it all needed to be balanced by the practical side of studio politics and audience expectations.

The other part where the film falls apart is once the Gelflings reach the castle, and the characters spend several scenes wandering through its hallways, chambers, and caves...verrrry sloooowly. As a kid, I didn't care about this much, but it bothers me a bit today. Once the film reaches its climactic moment, luckily it picks up again with its gorgeous visuals and profound moments.

The Gelflings themselves also are not consistent in their character and mannerisms, going from engaging to bland, brave to weak, from scene to scene. This was pointed out by many critics in its official release. When things do work, they work beautifully...like my favorite exchange between them ("I don't have wings!" "Of course not, you're a boy."). Other times we are faced with Jen simply staring at things...again, verrrry slooowwwly.

It's not the slow pacing in general that hurts the film though...other times it works, when we are following the slow speech and movement of the Mystics, or moving through the flora and fauna alive with strange creatures eating each other. As long as the film continues to surprise us, it's fascinating beyond all measure.

All this being said, despite its wrinkles I do find the basic plot & story structure very fascinating and unique, and I've had a fun time analyzing it, as someone with ideas for stories of my own. As the world and its inhabitants are introduced to us, new discoveries continue to unfold for us as Jen experiences them himself.

-Once the dual races of Skeksis and Mystics (actual name "Urru" - this was left in the final cut when you hear a Skeksis blurt it out) are set up and introduced, our hero Jen is given a small piece of information about his quest before his master dies.

-Later in his journey, he is given another small piece of information - and then Aughra assumedly dies.

-He then meets Kira, another piece of the puzzle who has also existed all this time and has her own history. Jen and Kira complement each other; while Kira is more street-wise and knowledgeable about the world around her, speaking to animals and such, Jen knows how to read, which Kira doesn't. Together they figure out the unknown elements of the prophecy.

-Aughra turns out to not be dead after all, which is another surprise.

-At the castle, the Gelflings are separated and each go on their own mini-journey...Jen through caves and chambers, and Kira through capture and essence-draining. At the Great Conjunction they are separated by balconies on either side of the crystal, but they are re-united at the end.

Perhaps their separation at the castle is why the story seems so dis-jointed for those few minutes. Much of their collective journey together builds into surprising puzzle pieces before it falls a bit flat. (Even Aughra doesn't know what to do with herself...while this cosmic celestial event is about to happen, she's puttering around tinkering with garbage. But luckily she's there to save Fizzgig. Anyway...)

I don't really know how profound this conjecture all is, but it's something my geek-brain likes to think about. All things considered, the brilliance of the film (and its musical score....O how lovely and transcendent is the musical score) has seeped its way into my DNA and has made me who I am as an artist and storyteller. The inspiration I get from its story structure is a big part of that too.

Now you can watch that YouTube clip I told you of earlier...and remember, all the way to the end.