I’ve returned to the Labyrinth, and I love it!
In1986, there was a dark fantasy movie about an imaginative 15-year old girl who wished her baby brother away. The Goblin King appeared to grant that wish. Regretful, frantic over her moment of thoughtlessness, she made a bargain with the king to solve the Labyrinth within 13 hours. If she fails, the king keeps the baby forever, as one of his goblins in the Underground Kingdom.
The girl’s name was Sarah, the baby’s, Toby, and the Goblin King’s, Jareth. As she went on her quest, Sarah met strange and wonderful creatures: the dwarf Hoggle, squirrel-fox Sir Didymus, and gentle beast Ludo.
Jareth was portrayed by David Bowie and Sarah by Jennifer Connelly in the movie.
Since then, countless adolescents, and adults, have fallen under the Labyrinth’s spell. Every now and then, there is a resurgence of interest, as evidenced by the flood of fan fiction on the net and consistent good sales of the DVD.
Produced by George Lucas, directed by Jim Henson, and co-written by children’s author Dennis Lee and Monty Python alumnus Terry Jones, Labyrinth is winning the test of time, and is on its way to becoming a classic… I’m quite sure (and I’m quite giddy at the thought), years from now, there will be a movie sequel, an anime series, and even telenovelas based on the original story.
For now, there is an OEL manga series, Return to Labyrinth, in the works. Story by Jake T Forbes and art by Chris Lie, the first volume centers on teenage Toby as he struggles through adolescent angst, and finding himself back in the Labyrinth via the schemes of the Goblin King.*
Though I’m not crazy about this focus, away from Sarah, with little of the adventure and whimsical drama of the movie, and none of its logic puzzles and nonsensical humor, I still really enjoyed reading the manga.
Sarah in this reincarnation is a teacher, older, dowdy, and sad. At first, I was aghast. Her will, as strong as the Goblin King’s, would not have allowed her to fall so low. Much of why we love the movie is that will, that spirit of defiance against an otherworldly force: she is destined for greatness, that one, and she shines with that potential.
So imagine my chagrin to see her missing from the cover and drawn like a woman who is just like any other on the inside pages. Fangirls the world over must have had a fit.
In fairness, the cover art, by Kouyu Shurei, is gorgeous.
Nevertheless, I don’t regret having discovered this series. Rather disappointed at first, I tried to imagine its potential, realizing I should give it a chance—there are three more volumes to go after all. There are hints enough of a more exciting storyline in the sequels.
With the Goblin King appropriately mean and enigmatic, as devilishly handsome as ever (in my imagination, and close enough in the manga), I am thinking I have good reason to look forward to this. Though the first volume focused on Toby, I believe this is a smokescreen—Jareth probably has an ulterior motive… He isn’t done with the girl yet, and uses her brother to draw her back into the Labyrinth.
He probably is also plotting revenge on the mortal girl who defeated him 13 years ago… but then, this is the Goblin King, who would be much less interesting if he were nice.
So here I am as well, back in Labyrinth, stuck on it, in fact. Thanks to Return to Labyrinth, which made me remember.
*Original English Language Manga. The first volume was released in 2006; the fourth volume is set to be released next year.
<br><object width=”330″ height=”200″><embed src=”http://lyrics.stlyrics.com/lyrscroll.swf?page=http%3A//www%2Estlyrics%2Ecom/lyrics/labyrinth/underground%2Ehtm” bgcolor=”#FFFFFF” width=”330″ height=”200″ name=”lyrscroll” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowScriptAccess=”never” allownetworking=”all” /></object><br><a href=”http://www.stlyrics.com” target=”_blank”>Lyrics</a> | <a href=http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/labyrinth/underground.htm target=_blank>Bowie, David – Underground lyrics</a>
Honey
June 18, 2009
MayD! I don’t know how I missed this! I mean, this blog. I always went to your multiply site. So sorry, but will correct the oversight and revise my blog roll right now.
Great blog, by the way.:)
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artseblis
June 18, 2009
hi, fantaghiro23. no problem. same books, same reviews. i wanted to practice WordPress for work. i figure, setting up a purely book blog will do the trick.
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katy
July 4, 2009
A little while ago, my mom told me of a telivision series that was only aired once at around the time that Jim Henson’s movie ‘Labyrinth’ came out. She said that when she watched that one time that, it was more like a TV movie than is was a series. The name of this movie/series was something like ‘labyrinth: the royal wedding’ or something close to that. I swear that she’s not on drugs (even though somtimes I wonder) and neither a I but, this series was definately a Jim Hensom production. It didn’t have the original actors in it but, other than that, she said it was a good movie/series. I really want to believe her because I LOVE the Labyrinth, but I haven’t been able to find it anywhere, an I’ve been searching about 3 hours on the internet trying to prove if this forgotten Jim Henson series even freakin’ exsists, so I’m not giving up just yet. Please post comments up if you’ve got any info because I’m going crazy over here!
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artseblis
July 4, 2009
labyrinth, the royal wedding…? between jareth and sarah?!!! i don’t know anything about this! oh, no!!! now, i will join you in going crazy.
but, thanks for posting here. fanfiction.net has a very good forum on everything labyrinth. maybe we could ask around there.
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Caitlyn
September 27, 2009
I have read the first 2 of the manga, I need to find the 3rd somewhere… But I like the story & well, I’m fine with Sarah as she is… I’m a big Labyrinth fangirl but… I’m all about Jareth, Sarah whines too much 😛 The manga introduces many new characters, I don’t think it could really be a live action movie, but a movie might be nice… But it could not be done without Bowie…
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artseblis
September 27, 2009
hi, caitlyn. thanks for posting… yep, only bowie could be the goblin king! they can do wonders with digital magic these days–so age may not be an issue…. here we are, dreaming and wishing, hehe.
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