LIST FEATURE
Jim Henson028 | WWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK
7
THE FIREYS
LABYRINTHSeriously, what is it with Jim Henson and
puppets taking their eyes out? If there’s one
scene from Labyrinth that’s haunted Millennials
more than any other, it’s the weird Fireys
dance sequence, in which Sarah stumbles
across some terrifying dancing creatures who
can disassemble their bodies at will and try to
do the same to hers. Yikes.NIGHTMARE FACTOR
This one stayed with us for years.8
THE FRAGGLES
FRAGGLE ROCKHow could we pick just one of Fraggle
Rock’s characters? It was a feel-good show
that Henson hoped to use to feed anti-war
sentiments to kids. The Fraggles are also a
good example of the Creature Shop’s ‘magic
triangle’ – by placing the eyes in just the right
place over a protruding nose, it makes the
eyes look as if they’re focusing.NIGHTMARE FACTOR
The Gorgs were pretty scary, to be fair.9
HOGGLE
LABYRINTHHoggle begins the film as a grumpy creature
before becoming a hero, and also has the
distinction of being Labyrinth’s first creature.
At the time, Hoggle was the most complicated
character the Creature Shop had ever
built. Four people were responsible just for
controlling his face, while a fifth actress wore
the suit, controlling his body.NIGHTMARE FACTOR
His expressions are in uncanny valley territory.6
GONZO
THE MUPPETSSciFiNow doesn’t, as a rule, cover talking animals, which is why most of the Muppets are absent from this list.
We do, however, love aliens, so let’s take a moment to appreciate Gonzo, the blue-furred, hook-nosed ‘whatever’,
who was revealed to be an alien in 1999’s Muppets From Space. He also made a pretty good Charles Dickens
in A Muppet’s Christmas Carol.Nightmare factor
Are you kidding? It’s GONZO.GONZO WAS
PERFORMED BY
MUPPETS LEGEND DAVE
GOELZ, WHO WILL BE
PERFORMING BAFFI IN
THE DARK CRYSTAL:
AGE OF RESISTANCE.