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The last thing we saw from the filmmakers behind the sequel to Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal was a glimpse of storyboards, back in October. Since then there's been no word on when the film would finish production, or even a glimpse at a solid release date. All of which served to fuel a rumor that began on film ick, and then started to work it's way through the mill. G4 The Feed has now reported that The Power Of The Dark Crystal has been put on hold. Genndy Tartakovsky has also gone on hiatus, with no plans to re-start. It's all still speculation at this point, since The Jim Henson Company has yet to release an official statement to confirm or deny.

As the story goes, the film has gone on permanent hiatus while The Jim Henson Company concentrates on other projects such as Edward Gorey's The Doubtful Guest and a film based on the Monster Blood Tattoo. If the rumors are true that The Dark Crystal 2 has been put back on the shelf, it doesn't exactly inspire me with confidence that The Henson Company is going to follow through with these other projects either.

Although I don't frequently throw links their way, the folks over at MTV Movies have a nice little write-up on the Henson Company's return to the world of The Dark Crystal. It has long been believed Jim Henson and Frank Oz could have put together a much more fantastic and successful film had puppetry and cinematography been more advanced art forms in the early 80s. Now, here we are two decades later and Henson's children are set to test that belief. I belong firmly in the camp of fans who loves the film as a cult classic, but then again, I am an open Jim Henson apologist -- I love the man and nearly everything he touched.

It is always a risk to sequel or remake a "cult classic" film, as it's tough to capture that sort of magic twice. Nonetheless, Henson Company is teaming up with director Genndy Tartakovsky and original script writer David Odell in a bold attempt to sequel one of the film properties the company did not sell off to Disney. If a team can be assembled to bring this thing to fruition, I imagine these would be the folks to do it. Odell provides the best link to the previous flick, as he and Henson had discussed sequel plans in the past, and thus fans can be assured the basic outline of the new film was contrived with none other than Jim himself. If you are interested in seeing some early concept art/storyboards for the film, I suggest you swing on by MTV and check out their write-up. As excited as I am for this flick, I'm even more anxious for the occasionally discussed Fraggle Rock movie. I mean, at the rate the old Henson team has been dropping, we need to get to work on that while we've still got the cast more or less intact.

That's right, good readers, the Fraggle Rock rumors have returned, and the Henson company revealed they are quite serious about plans to bring Gobo, Red and the rest of the gang to big screen. In their panel at Comic Con, the Henson Co. discussed updating several of their classic titles:

1. Yes, Power of the Dark Crystal is happening now, and it even pulls a small bit of inspiration from the legend himself, Mr. Jim Henson. He had entertained ideas of a Crystal sequel on more than one occasion, and we are told it was his desire to go beyond the adventures of the Gelfings and deeper into the world itself. The new movie will attempt to do that, depending far more on CG than puppetry.
2. Bits were shown from the late night puppet show Henson Co. is developing -- sans Muppets, of course, as they were sold to Disney -- and a puppet improv performance troupe that apparently has to be seen to be believed. We're glossing over these because they aren't movie related, follow the "read" link at the bottom if you want to know more.
3. Fraggle Rock is still a long way off, but they are in the early stages of development and definitely plan to bring the film into existence.
4. No plans for a Labyrinth sequel ... yet. They are too wrapped up in Crystal work to seriously contemplate it for now. Ask them again later. There IS a graphic novel on the way, however.

Muppets and Mechanisms, a "small exhibit" celebrating the work of Jim Henson, opened yesterday at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. As the people over at Pan and Scan point out, this week marks the anniversary of Henson's death, so it seems an appropriate time to celebrate him yet again, in this case with an array of puppets from a selection of his projects.

According to the exhibit's website, visitors will, in addition to old favorites Kermie and Fozzie Bear, be able to see the puppets that are "regarded as ... the earliest creatures known as 'The Muppets," a group of characters called Sam and Friends, created by Henson for local TV in 1955. Plus, there's going to be Dark Crystal stuff there! Movie fans in DC, you've got no excuse not to get yourselves to the Smithsonian -- the show closes September 4.

[via Pan and Scan]

I don't know if you are the sort of person who reads comic books and/or manga, but if you aren't, you might want too change very soon or you're going to miss out on some serious action from Henson Company in the coming months. In July, the manga company TokyoPop will be rolling out Return to Labyrinth, a manga story which follows the life of the child Toby (cruelly stolen by David Bowie in his infancy), who is still being secretly watched and guarded by the minions of the Goblin King who have been tasked with keeping him safe until the time comes for him to return to King Jareth's side and rule. Also rolling out in early 2007 will be a Legends of the Dark Crystal manga, but no story details have been released for that title at this time.

If you don't read manga but are thinking this may be a good time to start, you should consider purchasing The Jim Henson Fantasy Collection, which is coming to DVD in early September. Not only will you get several awesome DVDs (including the recent MirrorMask), but you'll also snag yourself previews of both previously-mentioned manga stories. I'm curious as to what role (if any) these stories will play in the rumored sequels to their respective films. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to obtain new Labyrinth tales in any form.

While discussing the DVD release of Henson Co's TV show Dinosaurs in a recent interview with Now Playing, Brian Henson dropped a few tantalizing details about two highly anticipated upcoming Henson film projects: Dark Crystal 2 and Fraggle Rock: The Movie. Yours truly is very excited about both these films, although the potential for destroying my childhood memories does make me a bit hesitant. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal! The information is as follows ...

• Fraggle Rock, though already announced and definitely coming, is still in very early stages. It is the number two priority right now, but a script is being written. Henson said to consider the movie something of a "revisiting" of the classic characters, updated slightly to reflect the change in time. The characters we all know and love will remain the same -- but the story will likely not be a direct sequel to the old series. Henson indicated the plan is "to do something that sort of stands next to Fraggle Rock rather than [being] a continuation of [it]." This makes me a bit nervous, because I'm always hesitant when people try to "update" classic stories ... but the idea is sound, and the original cast is returning so hopefully it'll maintain the classic Fraggle Rock feel.
• Dark Crystal 2 is the top priority for Henson right now, and is moving along with a full head of steam. According to Henson, "that one's pretty far along. It's got a good, strong script, a great vision for how to do it and we're just trying to [put it together]." They're attempting to recruit the original voice actors where possible, and bring in very good imitators when necessary.
• And the final, crazy bit of news from Jim Henson's son is the studio's desire to return to the world of their cult classic Labyrinth. Henson described this idea by saying "Actually, we're talking about doing something different with Labyrinth but I can't really talk about it." The existence of such a film is highly contingent upon the success of Dark Crystal 2. This means get out there and watch DC2 at least a dozen times each and encourage your friends to do the same. And by encourage, I mean force.