Labyrinth (1986)

A 16-year-old girl is given 13 hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King.

Director:

Jim Henson

Writers:

Dennis Lee (story), Jim Henson (story)

Stars:

David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Bowie	...	Jareth
Jennifer Connelly	...	Sarah
Toby Froud	...	Toby
Shelley Thompson	...	Stepmother
Christopher Malcolm	...	Father
Natalie Finland	...	Fairy
Shari Weiser	...	Hoggle
Brian Henson	...	Hoggle / Goblin (voice)
Ron Mueck	...	Ludo / Firey 2 / Goblin (voice)
Rob Mills	...	Ludo / Firey 3
Dave Goelz	...	Didymus / The Hat / The Four Guards / Left Door Knocker / Firey 3 (voice) (as David Goelz)
David Alan Barclay	...	Didymus / Firey 1
David Shaughnessy	...	Voice of Didymus / The Hat / The Four Guards / Goblin
Karen Prell	...	The Worm / The Junk Lady / Firey 2
Timothy Bateson	...	The Worm / The Four Guards / Goblin (voice)

Storyline

The teenager Sarah is forced by her father and her stepmother to babysit her baby brother Toby while they are outside home. Toby does not stop crying and Sarah wishes that her brother be taken by the Goblin King. Out of the blue, Toby stops crying and when Sarah looks for him in the cradle, she learns that her wish was granted and the Goblin King Jareth has taken him to his castle in the Goblin City in the middle of a labyrinth. Sarah repents and asks Jareth to give Toby back; but the Goblin King tells her that she has to rescue her brother before midnight, otherwise Toby will be turned into a goblin. Soon Sarah teams up with the coward goblin Hoggle, the beast Ludo and the knight Didymus and his dog Ambrosius in her journey. Will they rescue Toby in time?

---

Plot Keywords:

rescue | labyrinth | masquerade party | female protagonist | goblin | 

---

Taglines:

Where everything seems possible and nothing is what it seems.

---

Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Musical

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 June 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Laberinto

Filming Locations:

West Wycombe Park, West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$12,729,917

Company Credits

Production Co:

Henson Associates (HA), Lucasfilm, The Jim Henson Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo 70 mm 6-Track

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sources of the characters can be seen in Sarah's bedroom at the beginning of the movie. She has a stuffed animal that looks like Sir Didymus on her dresser, a doll that looks like Ludo on the shelves next to her door (along with the book "Where the Wild Things Are" as the camera pans across her desk), a Firey doll on a shelves next to her bed, bookends with Goblins reminiscent of Hoggle on her dresser, and a figurine of Jareth on the right hand side of her desk. After you see the Hoggle bookend, there is a scrapbook shown. It shows newspaper clippings of Sarah's famous actress mom with another man, David Bowie. In addition, the dress that she wears in the ballroom scene can also been seen adorning the miniature doll in her music box, and a wooden maze game on her dresser next to her books is reminiscent of the hedge section of the Labyrinth. There is also a small painting on her wall that depicts a contraption much like the one operated by the "Cleaners" that Sarah and Hoggle had to escape from. And there is a copy of the famous picture by M.C. Esher which is used in the room where the final confrontation with Jareth occurs.

---

Goofs

When Jareth transforms from the beggar to himself he throws his costume behind himself to the left several moments later he again has the costume in his hands and he throws it behind himself to the right.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Sarah: Give me the child. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great...
[thunder rumbles]
Sarah: For my will is as strong as yours, my kingdom as great... Damn.
[pulls the Labyrinth book out of her pocket]
Sarah: I can never remember that line.
[reads]
Sarah: You have no power over me.

---

Connections

Referenced in Best Worst Movie (2009)

---

Soundtracks

Chilly Down
Performed by David Alan Barclay, Karen Prell, and Rob Mills
Written by David Bowie
Produced by David Bowie and Arif Mardin

User Reviews

Just Magical

The movie takes you to a wonderful world where nothing is what it seems. I was about 10 years old the first time I saw it and it made such an impact on me that I ended up ordering it from Germany just 12 years old. The setting is fantastic; it's just scary enough without making scares in a young boy's soul. Bowie acts in a trilling way, and his unique and magical voice brings it all together. If you like fantasy you will love this film. All the Quotes make Bowie as Jareth "the Goblin King" the perfect villain. At times you almost despise him but as I wrote in my first sentence, nothing is like it seems. And as I grow older I sympathized with him, you may even say that he tries to help Sarah. If you decide to see that aspect of it that is. All in all I wish you all a lovely experience watching this movie!