1982 may have been the greatest year ever. At least for a 9 year old movie geek it was. Sure, '81 brought us the births of Indiana Jones and Snake Pliskin and '83 would wrap up the Star Wars trilogy and introduce us to the glaive and Tom Cruise, but '82 gave us E.T., Fast Times, Rocky III, Conan, The Thing, First Blood, Tron, Wrath of Kahn and Blade Runner . To close out the year was a little movie called the Dark Crystal.
I saw a few of these in the theatre, but as I was only 9 (and funds were slim), most would have to wait for VHS. I did get to see The Dark Crystal in the theatre however, most likely because it was from mother approved Jim Henson and company. And really, that's all I needed to know. It was by the father of the Muppets and the voice of Yoda. Does a kid need to know any more than that?
For the uninitiated the Dark Crystal follows Jen and Kira as they traverse Thra on a mission to return a crystal shard to the dark crystal so balance will be restored to the world. On the way they encounter Mystics, Skeksis, garthim, striders, podlings and Fizzgig (dear Fizzgig). It was filmed entirely with puppets and elaborate costumes and it was absolutely magical.
In '83 the behind the scenes special, the World of the Dark Crystal, was shown on T.V. (which I recorded) and Marvel released their adaptation in comic form, so I was able to relive the magic over and over and over again. My zeal carried over to the playground where we would ride chicken style on each others backs pretending to be racing across the plains of Thra atop our giant striders to do battle with the evil Skeksis. It's been a couple decades since I've seen my one time favorite movie, so how does it hold up....
It turns out it holds up incredibly well. CG was still in it's infancy, so every creature is a tangible being and every set could be walked through (if you were so lucky). The story is still filled with wonder and beauty. And it turns out Aughra went on to star in Touched By An Angel. OK, maybe not, but I can't see Della Reese without thinking that. The creature costumes were so well done that they could proudly stand next to any of the aliens from Henson Co's Farscape.
Apparently I'm not the only one who's remained infatuated with the film. He of Samurai Jack and the Clone Wars, Genndy Tartakovsky, is set to release a sequel next year. I don't really see the need for this sequel, but at least he has insisted on using puppets and Brian Froud is back on board for design work. As long as Fizzgig remains a little rolling lintball with a face, I'll be a happy man.
Oh yeah, Annie came out in '82 as well. Man, did I ever have a crush on that little orphan girl.