I haven’t been able to escape “The Dark Crystal” lately. On Saturday I heard a radio commercial for the new Netflix series based on characters created by head Muppeteer Jim Henson for his classic 1982 film. At a flea market the same day, I saw a vintage metal lunchbox from the original movie, rather worse for the wear after nearly four decades of dents and rust. Even the dealer’s price tag had turned brown, ignored by shoppers like me who beheld its misery and passed by on the other side of the aisle.
But these minor brushes with the fantasy world of Gelflings, Skeksis and Mystics were nothing compared to the thrill I had this summer to view those actual characters in person. The day before my epic trip to the Waffle House Museum (see last week’s column), I toured the Center for Puppetry Arts. Part theater, part workshop and part wonderland, the center tells the story of our centuries-old fascination with puppets.
Long an Atlanta institution, when the center doubled in size a few years ago from the Henson family donated Muppets — all of them. Hundreds of puppets from every phase of their storied television and film career. The displays started with the simple characters Henson created in the 1950s for TV commercials, and then moved on to “Sesame Street,” the ground-breaking children’s program now in its 50th year. It’s difficult for adults not to get misty-eyed in the presence of Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Kermit, and other icons, inches away from us behind glass.
“The Muppet Show” is well represented, with rotating displays that feature different characters every six months. It was my luck that day to see the puppets from “Pigs in Space,” a skit that spoofed the old “Star Trek” TV series. They took me back to elementary school, where I carried my “Pigs in Space” lunchbox every day to the cafeteria.
Other exhibits featured characters from “Fraggle Rock” and “Labyrinth,” the 1986 fantasy film starring David Bowie as a goblin king. Walking past those glass cases was like a virtual march through my childhood. I was obsessed with Henson’s creations for years. I drew Muppet characters, I imitated Muppet voices, I collected Muppet swag.
Actually, not much has changed. Less than a month ago, I bought a vintage Cookie Monster puppet. Purely for investment purposes, of course.
But what drew me back to the Center for Puppetry Arts — my second trip there — was a special exhibit on “The Dark Crystal.” It’s difficult for audiences who have grown up with digital animation to appreciate how incredible the original film was. To this day, it remains the only live-action film made entirely with puppets — without a single human actor. The lengths to which co-directors Jim Henson and Frank Oz went to create the fantasy world of the movie are amazing. At age 5, I was blown away by “Star Wars.” At 10, it was “The Dark Crystal.”
The plot in short: A thousand years ago, the breaking of a magic crystal split a benevolent alien race into two: the wise and gentle Mystics, and the cruel and vain Skeksis (pronounced Skek-SEEZ). For a millennium, the Skeksis have ruled through murder and intimidation. Because of a prophecy about their eventual ruin, they have systematically exterminated a race of small, elf-like creatures called Gelflings. Only two remain, and they unite on a quest to restore the crystal and end the Skeksis’ reign.
Each puppet in the film was meticulously drawn, crafted and operated by hand. All special effects had to involve the actual figures — no CGI in those days. The ancient Mystics — who looked like shriveled armadillos with multiple arms — were operated by puppeteers who had to hunch over so severely to fit into the costumes that they could only film in character for a few minutes at a time. The towering Skeksis had bird-like faces, with beaks that were made to talk by actors watching TV monitors inside their costumes.
And there they all were behind glass. Nearly 40 years old, the puppets were stunning, crafted with a level of detail that is not always visible on screen. Time will tell how the Netflix series does with the story. But as I stood there, face-to-face with the architects of my childhood, I was 10 years old again, back in a world of fantasy with no human adults in sight. I am not sure exactly when I will make it back to age 47, but I doubt it will be before Christmas.