Throwinga puppetoffa cliffis a lotharderthan
youmightexpect.Forthebestpartof 40 minutes,
a veryfocusedpuppeteerontheLangleyStudios
setofTheDarkCrystal:AgeOfResistancehas
beentryingtoloba Gelfling,a smallelf-like
creature,tohisdeath,butthestupiddollrefusesto
dieproperly.Hehitsa camera.Heplopstoearth
beforemakingit totheedgeofthecliff.Hefrisbees
offincompletelythewrongdirection.After
repeatedresurrection,persistencepaysoffandthe
Gelflingwhizzespastthecamerainjusttheright
way,plummetingtohisendasintended,his
successfulmurderreceivinga roundofapplause.
OnTheDarkCrystal, youkeepgoinguntilthings
workout.It tookalmost 40 yearstogethereand
nobody’sabouttoletanuncooperativeGelfling
keepit fromcrossingtheline.
JimHensonandFrankOz’s 1982 movie
TheDarkCrystalwasa madidea.Hensonwas,
ofcourse,thegodfatherofpuppetry,buthewas
knownforfunnypuppetry,likeTheMuppetsand
SesameStreet.TheDarkCrystal, a fantasyepic,
treatedpuppetsasseriouslyasyouwouldlive
actors.Setina magicallandcalledThra,it followed
thelasttwomembersofa oncethrivingraceof
peacefulGelflingastheytriedtobringanendto
theevilreignoftheSkeksis—monstersthat
lookedliketheresultofa horrificunionbetweena
buzzardandanoldcrocodile,whoderivedtheir
powerfroma magiccrystal.It wasnota huge
box-officesuccess,butwasreveredasa landmark
ofpuppetryandbuilta cultfollowingoverdecades.
Rumoursofa follow-uphavematerialised
anddematerialisedfordecades,butit’sonlynow,
37 yearson,thatTheDarkCrystallivesagain,as
a 10-partNetflixprequelseries.Therewerehuge
obstaclestoovercomeontheway,butlikea flung
Gelfling, the project simply refused to die.
ESCAPINGDEVELOPMENTHELL
AgeOfResistanceisn’tthefirstattempttomake
aDarkCrystalfollow-up.Notevenclose.Jim
Hensonmulleda sequelfora while,making
notesaboutwherethestorymightgo,thoughhe
neverseriouslypursuedit.It’shisdaughterLisa
who’sbeentryingtogetsomethingoffthe
groundforwellovera decade.Standinginthe
middleofoneoftheshow’senormoussets,
Hensoncannotquitebelieveshe’sfinallyhere.
“Everyprojectthat’sbeenaroundthislong
haswarstories,”shesays,“It’shonestlyhardfor
metosayhowmanyyearswe’vebeen[working
towardthis].”JimHenson,whodiedin1990,
left some notes about a continuation of the
story,whichhisdaughterfoundinthecompany
archives,andusedasthebasisfora sequelscript.
Inearly2006,it lookedlikea sequelwasactually
happening.GenndyTartakovskywasannounced
asthedirectorfor‘PowerOfTheDarkCrystal’,
a sequelsethundredsofyearsaftertheeventsof
thefirstfilm.It wastobea mixtureofpuppetry
andCGI(oneoftheleadcharacterswasa girl
madeoffire).It gotstuckindevelopmenthell,
sheddingTartakovskyandthenhiringandlosing
a successionofdirectors.Abouteightyearsago,
HensonstartedworkingonthatideawithLouis
Leterrier(ClashOfTheTitans,TheIncredible
Hulk). “WeworkedwithLouisonthesequelfilm
fora fewyears,butweneverhadexactlytheright
scriptandwedidn’thavefunding,”saysHenson.
Atthesametimeasthefilmwasbeing
developed,therewasalsoworkhappeningon
a CGprequelseries,modelledonthemythic
televisionseriesTheLastAirbender(it’smuch
betterthantheterriblemovie).Neitherwas
goinganywherefastuntiltheadventofNetflix,
whichhadtheresourcestotakerisksonprojects
that were too much of a gamble for moviestudiosortraditionallyfundedTVchannels.
“WhenNetflixcamealong,wecombined
ourfeaturedevelopmentandourseries
developmentandshelvedthemovie,”says
Henson(thescriptfor‘PowerOfTheDark
Crystal’wasturnedintoa comic-bookseries).
GettingtheTVshowgreenlitwasnotthe
long-awaitedhappyending,justthebeginning
ofthesecondact.Now they had to get the
damn thing made.EMBRACINGTHEDARKNESS
“Wehavea mantrainthewriters’room,”says
JavierGrillo-Marxuach,oneofAgeOf
Resistance’s corewritingteam.“‘Thisain’tThe
HappyCrystal.’”Fora PGmovie,TheDark
Crystalwas,well,veryverydark.Anyonewho
sawit asa childprobablystillcan’tshiftthe
nightmarishimageofa Podlingrapidly
desiccatingashewasdrainedofhis‘essence’to
createa youthpotionfortheSkeksis.Grillo-
MarxuachandthewritingteamofJeffreyAddiss
and Will Matthews were given the difficult taskClockwisefrom
here:Director
LouisLeterrier
withSkeksis
TheGeneral;
TobyFroudat
work— heis the
sonoforiginal
DarkCrystal
puppetcreators
BrianandWendy;
Leadpuppeteer
BeccyHenderson
bringslifeto
Deet;Froud
finessinghis
creations.