![]() ![]() I watched the DVD many times and all the deleted scenes, which made me want to find out more about this early version that was subsequently lost. It appealed to my childhood and early adulthood while still being brand new. My perspective while watching it was a little unusual since the film was undeniably "Henson" but my matured brain got to see a vivid and ambitious world that had somehow eluded me as a child. Roughly a year after that, I decided to buy the DVD and give it a go. I was born the same year the film was released and was a huge Henson fan as a kid but didn't really hear about The Dark Crystal until I was about 17. Orgeron: This tidbit is a little shameful. Higgins: What's your personal relationship with the theatrical version of The Dark Crystal ? Do you remember seeing it as a kid? Did you like it? ![]() ![]() Totally different ending where (spoiler alert!) the plant multiplies and goes on a killing rampage, destroying the entire city! These days I think the formulas for movie-making and audience reception are a little more clear and changes made after test screenings are a little less dramatic. Another one I just discovered recently was in, oddly enough, a Frank Oz film called Little Shop of Horrors. The Blade Runner comparison is a fantastic analogy with similar circumstances. The Skeksis and Gelflings seem more like extraterrestrials in a way. This version of The Dark Crystal plays out more like a sci-fi film set on a different planet than a kids' fantasy movie. Less restriction in unexplored mediums led to some really great creativity. Late 70s and early 80s sci-fi movies are arguably some of the best that have ever been made. It was clearly a time of film-making experimentation. Do you agree with the Blade Runner parallel? There seems to be a parallel to me with Blade Runner (another 1982 film.) and its many cuts-it had narration and other de-complicating factors added after test screenings, but the original version has more depth. Higgins: How would you characterize the differences between this version and the theatrical version? Certainly it is darker, weirder, more surreal. I think it should also be noted that the performances given by the puppeteers on set were based on the lines heard in the workprint so in that way, this cut matches the acting better. So the changes that were made to the dialogue had to be done to help the film appeal to a wider, theater-going audience. There were obvious hurdles for Henson when it came time to convince the studio execs of the viability of such an ambitious film. In that sense alone it's a "director's cut," but I think sadly that's where the distinction ends. This edit is indeed an exact replica of an early version of the film that Henson and company showed to a test audience. ![]() That's where there's a little contention over the use of the "Director's Cut" title on my video. Higgins: When you look at this cut of the movie, do you feel that this is closer to what Henson and his collaborators intended than what was released theatrically? IMPORTANT UPDATE: On Monday, Januthe videos were removed from YouTube and the Internet Archive, at the request of the Jim Henson Company. Here it is, and below, my interview with Orgeron. Whether this is better or worse than the theatrical version is debatable-but at the very least, it's a fascinating glimpse into what might have been. But looking at this version of The Dark Crystal gives us a dose of the Henson weirdness that we see in many of his early films. He had limited materials to work with, so there are rough edges in many places (most notably the black-and-white scenes from a VHS dub of the original cut). Voiceover was added, and English dialogue was added to many scenes where the action was previously supposed to be understood through puppets' pantomime.įor the past two years an enterprising fan, 31-year-old Christopher Orgeron, has labored to reassemble that original cut of the movie. The earlier cut didn't test well with audiences, so the film was substantially changed to appeal to a broad audience. But there was an earlier version-darker, weirder, and trippier-that didn't make it to theaters. The version of The Dark Crystal that was released in 1982 was dark and weird, especially for a kids' movie. ![]()
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