Labyrinth (1986) on Netflix
PG19861h 41mAdventureFamilyFantasy
Sixteen-year-old Sarah wishes her baby brother Toby away, and the Goblin King Jareth appears to claim him. She refuses his bargain, and he gives her thirteen hours to cross the labyrinth.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.3/10166,969 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes63%
Trailer
Plot summary
In the park with her dog Merlin, Sarah Williams reads from a book called The Labyrinth and finds she cannot remember how it ends. She hurries home late to mind her half-brother Toby, and her stepmother and father go out for the night. Toby is given the teddy bear Sarah treasures, Lancelot, and when his crying will not stop she wishes that the goblins in her book would take him. The baby disappears, and the Goblin King Jareth stands before her, offering her dreams in return for the child. Sarah refuses, and Jareth tells her she has thirteen hours to find Toby in his labyrinth, or the boy stays a goblin.
Cast
- Ron Mueckas Ludo / Firey 2 / Goblin (voice)
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Labyrinth (1986)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The barn owl that opens the film was created by animators Larry Yaeger and Bill Kroyer at Digital Productions and marked the first use of a realistic CGI animal in a film; the owl head maquette was later rescued from a skip when the animation company Omnibus went bankrupt in 1987.
- Jim Henson wanted a big, charismatic star "who could change the film's whole musical style" to play the Goblin King, and considered Sting, Prince, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson before choosing Bowie.
- The film's mixed critical reception hit Jim Henson hard; his son Brian told Life magazine it was the closest he'd seen his father come to becoming withdrawn and depressed, and it turned out to be the last feature film Henson directed before his death in 1990.
- The Shaft of Hands scene used 150 real human hands from 75 performers alongside 200 foam-rubber ones, and star Jennifer Connelly was strapped into a harness and left suspended midway up the shaft between takes.
- The film's similarity to Maurice Sendak's work almost got it into legal trouble, with Sendak's lawyers advising Jim Henson to stop production; the complaint was eventually settled by adding an end credit stating that "Jim Henson acknowledges his debt to the works of Maurice Sendak".
- Helena Bonham Carter auditioned for the part but was passed over in favour of an American actress; Jane Krakowski, Yasmine Bleeth, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marisa Tomei, Laura Dern, Claudia Wells, Ally Sheedy, Maddie Corman and Mia Sara all read for the role at monthly US auditions held until January 1985.
- Hoggle was the most complex puppet of the production: Shari Weiser was inside the costume, while the face was radio-controlled by Brian Henson, who also provided the character's voice, and three additional puppeteers.
- Building the forest set alone required 120 truckloads of tree branches, 1,200 turfs of grass, 850 pounds of dried leaves, 133 bags of lichen and 35 bundles of mossy "old man's beard."
