http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/labyrinth-at-the-samuel-goldwyn-theater/ thinking film Sun, 23 Nov 2008 11:37:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://www.altfg.com/blog/hollywood/labyrinth-at-the-samuel-goldwyn-theater/#comment-2626 Marcus Tucker Thu, 29 Jun 2006 04:57:12 +0000 http://www.altfg.com/blog/archives/2006/06/22/labyrinth-at-the-samuel-goldwyn-theater/#comment-2626 Jim Henson's The Labyrinth, (it's twin of sorts) The Dark Crystal, The Witches, and another non-Henson film The Neverending Story are the last great fantasy children's films before the age of computer generated graphics and blue screens. Although none of films was a runaway hit at the time perhaps because of the dark nature of all of the films it is important to see that in the age of media blaming that there was a time when children were able to experience darker themes in films without the heavy handed "family" organizations labotomizing the cinematic experience for children. True there are dark themes in The Lion, the With, and the Wardrobe, and the Harry Potter flicks, but films are so obviously fanstasy that the messages of valor and courage in the face of darkness no longer resonate. Because Jim Henson's creations were tangible and not pixels in a computer they had more weight with children. The 80s was a truly wonderful time for children's films and will never be repeated. Marcus. Jim Henson’s The Labyrinth, (it’s twin of sorts) The Dark Crystal, The Witches, and another non-Henson film The Neverending Story are the last great fantasy children’s films before the age of computer generated graphics and blue screens. Although none of films was a runaway hit at the time perhaps because of the dark nature of all of the films it is important to see that in the age of media blaming that there was a time when children were able to experience darker themes in films without the heavy handed “family” organizations labotomizing the cinematic experience for children. True there are dark themes in The Lion, the With, and the Wardrobe, and the Harry Potter flicks, but films are so obviously fanstasy that the messages of valor and courage in the face of darkness no longer resonate. Because Jim Henson’s creations were tangible and not pixels in a computer they had more weight with children. The 80s was a truly wonderful time for children’s films and will never be repeated. Marcus.

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