``The Dark Crystal'' Jim Henson's mysterious world that drastically changed the image of puppet theater

The secrets of “The Dark Crystal” and “Star Wars”

What this film unleashes on an unprecedented scale is an astonishing visual innovation. ``The Dark Crystal'' is the culmination of the technology of puppetry movies, special effects, animatronics, and so on.

Jim Henson, known for his work on the children's educational program ``Sesame Street'' and the puppet talk show ``The Muppet Show,'' is one of America's leading Muppeteers. He is known as the creator of "Muppets," a combination of marionettes and puppets. Kermit the Frog, the first Muppets created by Henson, Miss Piggy the pig, and Cookie Monster are some of the most famous characters.

Henson's Muppet films include ``The Muppets'' (1979) and ``The Muppet's Adventures: To Catch the Jewel Thief!'' ” (81), but even within his filmography, ``The Dark Crystal'' is extremely unique.

"The Dark Crystal" TM&(c)1982,2007 THE JIM HENSON COMPANY,ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.THE DARK CHRYSTAL MARK&LOGO,CHARACTERS AND ELEMENTS ARE TRADEMARKS OF JIM HENSON COMPANY,ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The Dark Crystal, which took five years from conception to completion and cost $15 million to create a lyrical world, is much more than a Muppet movie. If this movie were to be made today, it would be a clichéd image that uses digital processing (in fact, the prequel, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance , used a lot of digital processing). .

``The Dark Crystal,'' which brought together a wealth of know-how as a puppeteer, is still talked about as the forerunner of the Muppet movies that no one has ever seen. Not only that, but the Muppets' sophisticated technology also played a role in the creation of Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980).

At the time, Lucas Film had no plans to bring Yoda to the big screen. We had a rough design for Yoda, but we were wondering how we could bring it to life on screen. Therefore, Gary Kurtz, the famous producer of ``Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back,'' asked Henson's Henson Company for help.

Henson complied with the request and sent Frank Oz, a well-known puppeteer from the same company. This is how the Company's Muppet technology was used to create a detailed Muppet of Yoda. Frank Oz ended up joining the Star Wars series as the voice actor for Yoda, and producer Gary Kurtz was also involved in the production of The Dark Crystal. .

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