Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson from a screenplay by Terry Jones based on a story conceived by Henson and Dennis Lee. A co-production between Henson Associates and Lucasfilm with George Lucas serving as executive producer, the film stars Jennifer Connelly as teenager Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, and follows Sarah's journeys through a maze to save her baby brother from the Goblin King.
Labyrinth started as a collaboration between Henson and Brian Froud following their previous collaboration The Dark Crystal (1982). Jones of Monty Python wrote the first draft of the film's script early in 1984, drawing on Froud's sketches for inspiration. The screenplay underwent several revisions by Laura Phillips, Lucas, Lee, and Elaine May—although Jones received the film's sole screenwriting credit. It was shot from April to September 1985 on location in Upper Nyack, Piermont, and Haverstraw, New York, and at Elstree Studios and West Wycombe Park in the United Kingdom. The film's fantastical creatures were designed by Froud and created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
The New York Times reported that Labyrinth had a budget of $25 million. The film underperformed at the United States box office, grossing $12.9 million during its US theatrical run. However, it was a success in the United Kingdom and overseas, grossing over $34 million worldwide. Labyrinth was first met with a mixed critical response upon its release, which contributed to a difficult period of Henson's career, according to his son Brian Henson. It was the last feature film that Henson directed, and over the years it has been re-evaluated by many critics. A success on home video and television broadcasts, Labyrinth has gained a large cult following.
The film has been adapted into a variety of media, including books, video games, board games and comics. Tokyopop published a four-volume comic sequel Return to Labyrinth between 2006 and 2010, and Archaia Entertainment published a comic prequel Labyrinth: Coronation between 2018 and 2019. In January 2016, it was announced that a sequel was in development, but by 2024 the project’s future was still uncertain.
Plot
While in the park with her dog, Merlin, 16-year-old Sarah Williams recites from a book titled The Labyrinth but is unable to remember the last line. Realizing that she is late to babysit her infant half-brother Toby, she rushes home and is confronted by her stepmother who goes out with Sarah's father for the night. Frustrated that Toby was given her treasured teddy bear, Lancelot, and annoyed by his constant crying, Sarah rashly wishes that Toby be taken away by the goblins from her book. Toby vanishes and the Goblin King Jareth appears, offering Sarah her dreams in exchange for the baby. She refuses, instantly regretting her wish. Jareth reluctantly gives Sarah 13 hours to solve his labyrinth and find Toby before he is turned into a goblin forever.
Jareth transports Sarah to a wasteland where she meets a dwarf named Hoggle who aids her in entering the labyrinth. As Sarah traverses the labyrinth, Jareth plays carelessly with Toby in his palace at the labyrinth's center. After falling down a trapdoor, Sarah ends up in an oubliette where she reunites with Hoggle. The two are confronted by Jareth, escape one of his traps, and encounter a troll named Ludo being tormented by goblins. Hoggle flees, while Sarah befriends Ludo after freeing him but loses him in a forest.
Hoggle encounters Jareth, who instructs him to give an enchanted peach to Sarah, calling his loyalty into question, as he was supposed to take her back to the beginning of the labyrinth. Sarah is harassed by a group of creatures called The Fire Gang, but Hoggle comes to her aid. She kisses him, and they fall through a trapdoor that deposits them in a flatulent swamp called the "Bog of Eternal Stench" where they reunite with Ludo. The trio meet the guard of the swamp, the anthropomorphic Fox Terrier Sir Didymus and his Old English Sheepdog "steed" Ambrosius. Sarah begins crossing a bridge over the bog, but it collapses, and Ludo summons a trail of rocks to save her. Sir Didymus joins the group as they leave the bog.
Hoggle gives a hungry Sarah the enchanted peach and runs away as she falls into a trance and forgets her quest. She dreams of a masquerade ball and sees Jareth in the crowd. She approaches him, and the two dance together, but Sarah is reminded of her quest when she sees a clock. She runs, escaping the trance and falling into a junkyard outside the Goblin City near Jareth's castle. An old Junk Lady fails to trick Sarah, who regains her memory and rejoins Ludo and Sir Didymus. They are confronted by the humongous, robotic gate guard, but Hoggle comes to their rescue.
Despite Hoggle feeling unworthy of forgiveness for his betrayal, Sarah and the others welcome him back, and together they enter the city. Jareth is alerted to the group's presence and sends his goblin army to stop them. Ludo summons a multitude of rocks to chase the goblins away, and they enter the castle. Sarah insists she must face Jareth alone and promises to call the others if needed.
In a room modeled after M. C. Escher's Relativity, she confronts Jareth while trying to retrieve Toby. She recites the lines from her book that mirror her adventure up to that point, but she still cannot remember the last line. Jareth offers Sarah her dreams again, but she remembers the final line: "You have no power over me!" Due to Jareth's power deriving from Sarah fearing him, he is weakened by her willpower, eventually becoming so defeated that he transforms into his second form, a barn owl, and flies away, returning Toby to Sarah as a sign of mutual agreement and respect.
Realizing how important Toby is to her, Sarah gives him Lancelot and returns to her room as her father and stepmother return home. She sees her friends in the mirror and admits that, even though she has grown up, she still needs them in her life, whereupon the labyrinth characters appear in her room for a raucous reunion party, hugging each other in joy. Jareth, in his barn owl form, watches their celebration from outside and then flies off into the moonlight, knowing she has won.
Cast David Bowie as Jareth, the king of the goblins Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams, a 16-year-old girl who searches through the labyrinth to find her baby brother Toby Toby Froud as Toby Williams, Sarah's baby half-brother Shelley Thompson as Irene Williams, Toby's mother and Sarah's stepmother Christopher Malcolm as Robert Williams, Sarah and Toby's father
Juggler Michael Moschen is credited with performing Jareth's elaborate "crystal-ball manipulation", which Moschen had created for his stage performances and is now known as contact juggling. He performed the manipulations blind, behind Bowie's back.
Creature performers CharacterPuppeteerVoiceHoggleBrian HensonShari Weiser (in body suit)LudoRon Mueckwith Rob MillsSir DidymusDave Goelzwith David BarclayDavid ShaughnessyThe WormKaren PrellTimothy BatesonThe WisemanFrank OzMichael HordernThe HatDave GoelzDavid ShaughnessyThe Junk LadyKaren PrellDenise BryerThe Four GuardsSteve Whitmire,Kevin Clash,Anthony Asbury,Dave GoelzAnthony Jackson,Douglas Blackwell,David Shaughnessy,Timothy BatesonRight Door KnockerAnthony AsburyDavid HealyLeft Door KnockerDave GoelzRobert BeattyFiery #1Kevin Clashwith David Barclay & Toby PhilpottFiery #2Karen Prellwith Ron Mueck & Ian ThomCharles AuginsFiery #3Dave Goelzwith Rob Mills & Sherry AmmottDanny John-JulesFiery #4Steve Whitmirewith Cheryl Henson & Kevin BradshawFiery #5Anthony Asburywith Alistair Fullarton & Rollin KrewsonRichard BodkinAmbrosiusSteve Whitmire,Kevin ClashPercy EdwardsGoblinsDon Austen, Michael Bayliss,Martin Bridle, Fiona Beynor Brown,Simon Buckley, David Bulbeck,Sue Dacre, Geoff Felix,Trevor Freeborn, Christine Glanville,David Greenaway, Brian James,Jan King, Ronnie Le Drew, Terry Lee,Christopher Leith, Kathryn Mullen,Angie Passmore, Michael Petersen,Nigel Plaskitt, Judy Preece,Michael Quinn, Gillie Robic,David Rudman, David Showler,Robin Stevens, Ian Tregonning,Mary Turner, Robert Tygner,Mak Wilson, Francis WrightMichael Attwell, Sean Barrett,Timothy Bateson, Douglas Blackwell,John Bluthal, Brian Henson,Anthony Jackson, Peter Marinker,Ron Mueck, Steve Nallon,Jan Ravens, Enn Reitel,Kerry Shale, David Shaughnessy Goblin Corps performed by Marc Antona, Kenny Baker, Michael Henbury Ballan, Danny Blackner, Peter Burroughs, Toby Clark, Tessa Crockett, Warwick Davis, Malcolm Dixon, Anthony Georghiou, Paul Grant, Andrew Herd, Richard Jones, John Key, Mark Lisle, Peter Mandell, Jack Purvis, Katie Purvis, Nicholas Read, Linda Spriggs, Penny Stead, and Albert Wilkinson.
Influences
Richard Corliss noted that the film appeared to have been influenced by The Wizard of Oz and the works of Maurice Sendak, writing that, "Labyrinth lures a modern Dorothy Gale out of the drab Kansas of real life into a land where the wild things are". Nina Darnton of The New York Times wrote that the plot of Labyrinth "is very similar to Outside Over There by Mr. Sendak, in which 9-year-old Ida's baby sister is stolen by the goblins". This almost got the film into legal trouble, as the similarity caused Sendak's lawyers to advise Jim Henson to stop production on the film. However, the legal complaint was eventually settled, with an end credit being added that states that "Jim Henson acknowledges his debt to the works of Maurice Sendak". Sendak's Outside Over There and Where the Wild Things Are are shown briefly in Sarah's room at the start of the film, along with copies of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, and Grimms' Fairy Tales.
The film's concept designer Brian Froud, who had previously collaborated with Henson on The Dark Crystal, has stated that the character of Jareth was influenced by a diverse range of literary sources. In his afterword to the 20th anniversary edition of The Goblins of Labyrinth, Froud wrote that Jareth references "the romantic figures of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights and a brooding Rochester from Jane Eyre" and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Bowie's costumes were intentionally eclectic, drawing on the image of Marlon Brando's leather jacket from The Wild One as well as that of a knight "with the worms of death eating through his armor" from Grimms' Fairy Tales. In his audio commentary of Labyrinth, Froud said that Jareth also has influences from Kabuki theatre.
The dialogue starting with the phrase "you remind me of the babe" that occurs between Jareth and the goblins in the Magic Dance sequence in the film is a direct reference to an exchange between Cary Grant and Shirley Temple in the 1947 film The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.
Labyrinths "Escher scene" features an elaborate staircase set inspired by the art of Dutch artist M. C. Escher. A print of Escher's lithograph Relativity is shown on Sarah's bedroom wall in the film.
Production Origins and script Brian Froud says that Labyrinth was first discussed between himself and director Jim Henson. Both agreed to work on another project together, and Froud suggested that the film should feature goblins. On the same journey, Froud "pictured a baby surrounded by goblins" and this strong visual image, along with Froud's insight that goblins traditionally steal babies, provided the basis for the film's plot.
Henson discussed the film's origins to say that he and Froud "wanted to do a lighter weight picture, with more of a sense of comedy since The Dark Crystal got kind of heavy, heavier than we had intended. Now, I wanted to do a film with the characters having more personality and interacting more".