Brian Froud on Labyrinth, Crystal
fantasy artist recorded DVD commentary for Jim Henson movies
The next editions of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth DVD's will feature commentaries by noted fantasy artist Brian Froud, who helped create the characters.
(Source: www.worldoffroud.com)
English fantasy artist Brian Froud has recorded full-length audio commentaries for two of Jim Henson's mid-80's movies: 1982's The Dark Crystal and 1986's Labyrinth. The commentaries will appear in the next deluxe edition DVD's for both these flicks, which will hit shelves some time in late 2007. Sony Home Entertainment is doing the distribution honours.
This past February, Froud (Peter Pan, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland) went to Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Bath, U.K. to record the commentaries. This the first time that Froud has done any sort of commentary for these movies, or any film that he has worked on.
Froud was the conceptual artist for Labyrinth, and helped with creature design on The Dark Crystal. Sharp-eyed observers will definitely notice his stylistic traits infusing the design of the Gelflings, the elf-like heroes of the movie.
Despite garnering a lot of critical acclaim (professional movie reviewers Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert rated Labyrinth as 1986's "movie that should've done better in theatres than it did"), neither of these two flicks caught fire in theatres. However, they have since become cult favourites on home video and DVD. In fact, The Dark Crystal became such a hit among home video collectors that The Jim Henson Company is now working on a sequel, called The Power of the Dark Crystal. Froud is also doing the concept art for this movie, which is scheduled to hit theatres in May of 2008.
There's not much further information about these two DVD re-releases, other than a rumour about some audio and visual clean-up on the original stock. I'll keep you posted as further details develop.
Fun Fact 1: Froud has worked with several other acclaimed artists and writers. His 1979 book Faeries was in collaboration with famed Tolkien artist Alan Lee, who went on to do a lot of the concept art for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
Froud also worked with Labyrinth scriptwriter Terry Jones (Monty Python's Flying Circus, Erik the Viking) on several surreal books on fairies, the best known being 1994's Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book (which features illustrations of flattened fairies), 1996's Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Quentin Cottington's Journal of Fairy Research, 1998's Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Journal, and 2002's Lady Cottington's Fairy Album.
Fun Fact 2: Labyrinth not only featured a performance from musician David Bowie, but it also was the first starring role for Jennifer Connelly. Brian Froud's son Toby also appeared in the movie, playing Connelly's character's younger brother.
