The Dark Crystal - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Dark Crystal or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Dark Crystal

[kim]

Talented dwarf actors Mike Edmonds, Deep Roy, Jack Purvis, Malcolm Dixon, and others were used for the shots where the characters are seen walking, picking up objects, climbing, and running, which they were dressed up as the characters in the movie.

[oscar]

Originally, the Skeksis and Mystics were supposed to speak in their own alien languages (the Skeksis version being a more crude version of the Mystic language) and David Odell developed words for the actors to speak on-set. Ultimately, the only word in the Skeksis language that remains in this movie is "Haakskeeka", meaning "Judgement by stone". After the first test screening, British science fiction writer Alan Gardner was brought in to write an opening narration for this movie and Odell had to "translate" his Skeksis dialogue back into English, all the while making sure the lines matched the creature's mouth movements on-screen.

[veronica]

The last movie of cinematographer Oswald Morris before he retired.

[tom]

The Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray feature several "workprint" takes showing early passes at dialogue. This early voice-over work differs from the final dialogue in several ways: the Skeksis speak in a foreign language, Frank Oz provided the voice of Aughra (sounding very similar to his voice work for Yoda in the Star Wars movies), and the Mystics were referred to by (presumably) their original name, the ur-Ru. The novelization was apparently based on this earlier version, referring to the "Trial By Stone" contest by its original name, "Hakskeekah", and calling the Mystics the ur-Ru. In the final movie, one reference to ur-Ru was not redubbed: when the Mystics enter the Skeksis Great Hall, SkekOk, the Scrollkeeper sees them and shouts "Ur-Ru!" Also, in the German dubbed version, the Mystics are also referred to as ur-Ru. The filmmaker's decision to rename them came too late for the German dialogue track, which was already in the making at the time.

[miriam]

As of 2018, Universal Pictures still owns the theatrical rights to this movie.

[amber]

Some 9 tons of rubber was used to create the creatures.

[oscar]

When Jim Henson and Brian Froud were still developing the story, they published a twenty-page presentation booklet titled "The Crystal" to pitch this movie to potential backers. In this booklet, which was reproduced in the 2003 version of "The World of the Dark Crystal" book, all of the characters and species save Jen have slightly different names: Skekses instead of Skeksis; Oo-urs instead of Uru/Mystics; Dee instead of Kira; Earth-People instead of Pod People, and Garthem instead of Garthim.

[sylvia]

Two other actresses were considered for voice of Aughra. The first had to pull out and was never recorded. The second choice can be heard on the bootlegged "Director's Cut", but she was deemed too difficult to understand by a test audience. Third choice Billie Whitelaw finally recorded the version as heard in this movie.

[bryan]

According to Steve Whitmire, Jim Henson insisted that he do repeated takes of skekTek's death cries.

[amber]

In May 2017, it was announced that Netflix is producing a prequel television series to this movie titled The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019), and that the prequel series will take place on Thra several hundred years before Jen embarked on his quest to find the missing crystal shard to The Dark Crystal. The prequel series premiered on August 30, 2019.

[phyllis]

At the time it was made, it was hailed as the only live-action movie in which a human character makes no appearance. With the exception of some wide shots of the Gelflings, it would've been the first live-action movie where no human actors appeared.

[ronnie]

In February 1978, Jim Henson and his daughter Cheryl found themselves stuck at an airport hotel when Kennedy Airport was struck by a snowstorm. They worked out the details of this movie's world on numerous sheets of hotel note paper. The notes became inspiration for a screenplay. Work on this movie didn't begin in earnest until 1979, after the completion of The Muppet Movie (1979), which was shot in Los Angeles, California. This movie was shot in England, back-to-back with The Great Muppet Caper (1981).

[jamie]

The Landstriders were originally conceived as "Landspiders" and various brainstorming sessions were held to decide how best to create and perform such a creature. When Robbie Barnett first proposed using stilts to create the look of the Landstriders, each creature was to be played by two performers, giving it a total of six legs: two long front and middle appendages (the performer in front) and two shorter ones in the back ( the second performer). This idea was soon discarded for being too difficult and four legs were settled upon.

[toni]

The reason Universal Pictures was only the theatrical distributor of the movie (and continued to retain rights to theatrical re-releases) and never got home video rights is because ITC Entertainment sold their share back to The Jim Henson Company, who had control over home video distribution. They made a deal with Disney and one with Sony (Columbia-TriStar) in the 1990s. Even though later on they made deals with Hit Entertainment, Lionsgate, and Vivendi Entertainment. This movie, Labyrinth (1986), and The Storyteller (1987) video rights have always remained with Sony.

[clayton]

Jim Henson's plan with this movie was to get back to the darkness of original Brothers Grimm fairy tales. He felt that children liked the idea of being scared and that this was a healthy emotion for them with which to deal.

[dustin]

Director and puppeteer Frank Oz adamantly denies that he and Jim Henson ever considered ideas for a sequel, and has publicly denounced any attempts to make one. Nevertheless, several sequel novels and comic books have been released since then. The Jim Henson Company began touting plans for a sequel in the mid 2000s, and their plans finally came to fruition with the Netflix prequel series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019).

[charlie]

Jen the Gelfling was originally supposed to be blue in homage to the Hindu god Rama.

[phyllis]

The little hairy things that crawl across and that the Creatures eat are modified wind-up toy robots that run like crazy on two legs as a round rolling central body that houses the wind up motor. The wind-up key was removable.

[carl]

Co-directors Jim Henson and Frank Oz were in charge of every aspect of this movie, but according to Henson, his own strengths lay in composing camera shots and movement, while Oz was more in tune with character development and the dynamics of a scene.