PRESENTS

A FILM BY JIM HENSON

(101 minutes)

DIRECTED BY: JIM HENSON

SCREENPLAY: TERRY JONES

STORY: DENNIS LEE AND JIM HENSON

PRODUCED BY: ERIC RATTRAY

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: DAVID LAZER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: GEORGE LUCAS

MUSIC BY: TREVOR JONES

STARRING DAVID BOWIE AND JENNIFER CONNOLLY

INTRODUCTION

This June, Jim Henson and George Lucas’ cult classic Labyrinth celebrates 30

years since its release in 1986. To honour this special date, Penney Film

Productions are re-releasing the film with all new special features. Re-live the

magic as you once again enter the world of the labyrinth.

Penney Film Productions are a new film production company. Our company has

been behind many projects, and have worked alongside organisations such as

The Jim Henson Company to re-release notable films such as the 20th

Anniversary of The Dark Crystal in 2002. Our aim to is to make Labyrinth

bigger and more popular than ever before. We are proud to once again be

working with The Jim Henson Company on the anniversary of this film.

(Re-release date: 27 June 2016)

Based around conceptual designs by fantasy illustrator Brian Froud, the film’s

plot revolves around Sarah (Jennifer Connolly), a dramatic 15-year-old girl

whose infant brother Toby is kidnapped by Jareth, the Goblin King (David

Bowie), after Sarah unintentionally wishes for the child to be taken away. Jareth

then gives Sarah a choice: forget about her brother and he will give her

everything she’s ever dreamed of, or she has 13 hours to solve the labyrinth and

rescue her brother before he becomes a goblin forever. With the help of the

weird creatures she meets who live in the labyrinth, Sarah must learn to not take

anything for granted and find a way to defeat Jareth once and for all.

Labyrinth has many different genres within it, the main one being fantasy. The

film is set inside a giant labyrinth, the origins of which can be traced back to

Greek mythology with the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur, a fearsome half

bull, half human beast that lived in a labyrinth. Also, the majority of characters

in the film, such as the goblins of the goblin city themselves, are also creatures

of fantasy. The tone of the film is a mixture of light and dark – there are

elements of comedy and feel good musical numbers, while at the same time

there is a theme of love and lust. Bowie’s character appears flirtatious towards

Connolly’s character, even stating at one point that everything he does is done

for her. He is shown to have strong romantic feelings for her, feelings she does

not return. Rated as “U” by the BBFC, the film’s target audience is families and

children, since it has very mild violence and can therefore be watched by people

of all ages.

Cast and Crew

Director: Jim Henson

Jim Henson was born on 24th September 1936 in Greenville,

Mississippi. He was best known as the creator of The Muppets. He

was married to Jane Nebel and had 5 children: Lisa, Cheryl, Brian,

John and Heather. He was the founder of Jim Henson Company

and Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, both of which played a huge role

in the making of Labyrinth. He died on 16th May, 1990. Labyrinth

was the last major feature film that he directed.

Executive Producer: George Lucas

George Lucas was born on 14th May, 1944 in Modesto, California.

He is a renowned filmmaker/entrepreneur, most famous for creating

the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. He is the founder of

Lucasfilm and led it as chairman and chief executive before selling it

to the Walt Disney Company in 2012. He married twice and has 4

children.

Jareth, the Goblin King: David Bowie

David Bowie was born on 8th January, 1947 in Brixton, London.

He is a singer-songwriter and actor. Bowie has been described as

an extremely influential figure in pop music for over four decades.

His trademarks include his baritone voice and his permanently

dilated pupil that gives him the appearance of two different

coloured eyes. Both eyes are actually blue, but one is darker. He

was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. His

movies include Labyrinth, Arthur and the Invisibles and The Man

Who Fell to Earth. He has released 26 studio albums.

Sarah: Jennifer Connelly Jennifer Connelly was born on 12

th December 1970 in the

Catskill Mountains, New York. She is an actress whose films

include Reqiuem for a Dream (2000), Labyrinth (1986), Hulk

(2003), The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), He’s Just Not

That Into You (2009) and most recently, 2014’s Noah where

she starred alongside Russell Crowe. She had two

relationships and 3 children.

Hoggle (voice): Brian Henson

Born on 3rd

November, 1963, New York City, Brian Henson is the

middle child and first born son of Jim Henson. He is a puppeteer like

his father, and is the director, producer and chairman of the Jim

Henson Company. Other roles other than this film include Jack

Pumpkinhead in the 2005 film Return to Oz, the puppet for Audrey

II in the 1986 Little Shop of Horrors and of course, The Muppets.

Hoggle (puppeteer): Shari Weiser

Sir Didymus (voice): David Shaughnessy

David is a British television director, theatre director, producer and

actor. One of his notale directing projects was Steve Brown’s critically

acclaimed musical, Elmer Gantry. Labyrinth was his debut as a voice-

over actor. He now provides the voices for a range of films, cartoons,

commercials and video games.

Sir Didymus (puppeteer): Dave Goelz and David Barclay

Screenplay: Terry Jones Born on 1

st February 1942, in Colwyn Bay, Wales, Terry Jones is a

British comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, historian and

author. He is best known for his work as part of the team behind

Monty Python. His works include Monty Python and the Holy

Grail, Life of Brian, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, as well

as a number of books.

Ludo (voice): Ron Mueck

Born in 1958 in Australia to German parents, Mueck is an

Australian hyperrealist sculptor. His career began when he worked on children’s

program Shirl’s Neighbourhood, having made, voiced and operated various

puppets in the show. He also helped to make a lot of the models and puppets for

Labyrinth.

Ludo (puppeteer): Ron Mueck and Rob Mills

Soundtrack/Music Composer: Trevor Jones

Born on 23rd

March 1949 in Cape Town, South Africa, Trevor Jones

is an orchestral film score composer. He has composed for a wide

variety of films, and his music has been praised for both its depth

and emotion. Some of his works include the soundtracks for Notting

Hill, I, Robot, The Last of the Mohicans, and The Dark Crystal.

Technical Information

Country: USA, UK

Type: Motion Picture

Language: English

Running Time: 1 hr 41

min (101 min)

Sound Mix: Dolby

Colour: Colour

Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 (70 mm prints)

2.35:1

Laboratory: Rank Film Laboratories, Denham, UK

Negative Format: 35 mm

Cinematographic Process: J-D-C Scope (anamorphic)

Printed Film Format: 35 mm (Eastman 5384)

70 mm (blow-up) (Eastman 5384)

Press Coverage/Reviews

The film received mixed critical reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes stating that the

film averaged a 66% positive rating, and Metacritic scoring it 50 out of 100.

One critic, Roger Ebert rated the film 2/4 stars, stating that the film was robbed

of any dramatic tension due to none of the events in the film having any

consequences. However other critics were more positive about the film, with

critic Kathryn Buxton finding it to have “excitement and thrills enough for

audiences of all ages as well as a fun and sometimes naughty sense of humor”.

“While it’s arguably more interesting on a visual level, Labyrinth provides

further proof of director Jim Henson’s boundless imagination” – Rotten

Tomatoes (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/labyrinth/)

“Labyrinth, a fabulous film about a young girl's journey into womanhood that

uses futuristic technology to illuminate a mythic-style tale, is in many ways a

remarkable achievement” – Nina Darnton,

(http://www.tvguide.com/movies/labyrinth/review/103545)

“Fabulous fantasy from the godfather of modern puppetry Jim Henson”- Ian

Nathan, Empire Movies

(http://www.empireonline.com/movies/labyrinth/review/)

Filming Process

The film took around five months to film and due to the large amount of

puppets and animatronics involved in the film, the shoot was quite complicated.

Henson had stated in the documentary Inside The Labyrinth that “everything

came together in the last couple of weeks” despite the puppets having been

created for about a year and a half prior to the shooting of the film. Large sets

were created for the film, such as the Shaft of Helping Hands and the Goblin

City itself. The Shaft was filmed on a forty feet high rig and required almost a

hundred performers to operate the hands themselves. The Goblin City set was

built at Thorn EMI Elstree Studios in London, and involved the largest

panoramic back-cloth ever created.

While shooting for the film wrapped up on the 8th

September in 1985, a lot of

effects in the film were actually added after during post-production. One major

effect was the CGI owl that can be seen as the title screens for the film open. A

sequence created by animators Bill Kroyer and Larry Yaeger, it marked the first

use of realistic CGI animal in film.

Merchandise

To celebrate the 30th

Anniversary, we’ve created a range of new merchandise

for fans to purchase. The aim of these new items is to not only promote the film

but to give fans of the movie something they can keep as a memento of the film.

Unisex Royal Blue “You Remind Me of the Babe” Owl Design T-Shirt (all sizes) £12.99

Movie Quote White iPad case £10.99

White “You Have No Power Over Me” Quote Pillow £8.99

White “I Move The Stars For No-One” Quote Pillow £8.99

Unisex Long-Sleeved “’Ello!” Labyrinth Worm T-Shirt £14.99 *I chose this design

30th Anniversary Edition Movie Poster – Jareth £5.99

30th

Anniversary DVD Cover and Disc

These are the designs for the anniversary edition DVD cover. When creating

the cover, I chose to stick to the same text and font style as the poster,

however this time the background is grey, not yellow. I used the outline of a

labyrinth to emphasise the title of the film, and incorporated an idea from the

original movie poster – I placed an outline of Jareth’s eyes above the

labyrinth. On the back cover I used gold boxes for the information as it

contrasted nicely against the grey background. I also included stills from the

movie to make it look more interesting.

This is the disc that will go inside

the case. I kept the background

black as it made the title stand

out. I kept the title in the same

style and colour that can be seen

on the poster and DVD cover. I

also added “30 YEARS” at the

bottom to once again show that it

is an anniversary edition.

I included a picture of the

labyrinth itself. The same picture

can be seen on the back of the

DVD cover, at the bottom. I decided to use this picture as after looking at

other DVD covers, I noticed that none of them used this image, and I

thought that to make mine different from other covers, I would include the

labyrinth itself.

30th

Anniversary Edition Poster

This is the poster that we are using to promote the film. For those who were

fans of the film before, the owl will either bring back memories for them –

as the leading male in the film has the ability to transform into an owl and

we see him in his owl form in the beginning and end of the film – or if they

have forgotten, the owl may make them want to come and see the film again

so that they can be reminded of the owl’s significance in the film.

The quote is part of the lyrics to one of the original songs featured in the

film. All the songs were written and recorder by David Bowie, and fans of

his will be persuaded to come and see their favourite music star in action

once more.