"While waiting in line for the screening of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, I overhead someone say that Guillermo del Toro's latest is being seen as his audition tape for The Hobbit," observed Jonathan Pacheco in his review for The House Next Door. Of course, Del Toro already had the directing gigs for the two Hobbit films before Hellboy II hit theaters, but that won't stop audiences from evaluating the current parade of fairies, demons and evil elves with Del Toro's Middle-Earth-to-be in mind.
Needless to say, it's a narrow perspective.

It would make more sense to expect that these upcoming features will negotiate between the gothic horror of Pan's Labryinth and the blockbuster approach of Hellboy II. In the latter work, it's clear that Del Toro has more interest in placing these loony supernatural beings in relatively conventional action sequences, allowing the specificity of the characters to create a sense of ingenuity. Pan's Labryinth, on the other hand, offers a single package of storytelling: The art direction, special effects and even the violence directly relate to the drama. The best case scenario for the Hobbit films would be a happy medium: Glorious visuals that reflect Tolkien's deeply involving mythology.

While I'm sure many people are itching for more big-screen muppets, it looks like we're finally getting a peek behind the puppet superstars. Empire reports that a film company called Empire Film Group (no relation) is going to make a biopic about the legendary puppet icon -- Jim Henson. A screenplay has been written by Robert D. Slane (Come Away Home), and they hope to get a big-name director "like Penny Marshall." She could definitely make a decent film, and has been directorially free since 2001's Riding in Cars with Boys. However, I'm sort of with Empire with the idea of making it mirthfully quirky with someone like Michel Gondry.

We know all about Jim's accomplishments -- Sesame Street, The Muppets, The Dark Crystal... But what of his life? As great as his furry faux creatures are, there has to be a story. Skimming Wikipedia... The early days look pretty angst-free, with talk of his early accomplishments, and, get this, a BA in home ec in 1960. From there, you know what happens. While there were some struggles along the way, his success continued to grow into what we know today. So really, this won't be some traumatic sort of biopic drama, but maybe that's okay. Henson was all about the funny anyway, so why not have a light, fun story of his life?

The Muppet Christmas Carol may be to the Muppets what Room Service is to the Marx Brothers. Neither is particularly good, especially in relation to the rest of the Muppet or Marx Brothers movies, but they can still be enjoyed immensely if you are a big enough fan of the Muppets or the Marxes. The films share two significant factors that aided in their surprisingly low quality. Each comedy "troupe" (if you can accept Kermit & Co. as a troupe) had recently suffered from a terrible disruption in their respective commands. Muppet Christmas Carol was the first Muppet movie produced after the death of Jim Henson, while Room Service was the first Marx Bros. movie to be filmed (fully) after the death of producer Irving Thalberg (though, of course, Thalberg was not the Bros.' creator like Henson was the Muppets'). And, most importantly, each is notable for having not been written for their "troupe"; instead the "troupe" was rather ill fittingly dropped into pre-existing stories.

In the case of The Muppet Christmas Carol, that pre-existing story is of course Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (umm, commonly known as simply A Christmas Carol). Unlike previous Muppet vehicles, such as The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan, this one focuses on a main character not played by a Muppet. Instead, Michael Caine portrays the lead, Ebenezer Scrooge, while the old favorites play minor supporting characters from Bob Crachit (Kermit) and his wife (Miss Piggy) to the narrators, Charles Dickens (Gonzo) and Rizzo the Rat (himself). Strangely the Christmas spirits aren't played by any of the star Muppets. In fact, only one of them is even technically a puppet: the Ghost of Christmas Present, which is a burly, redheaded body puppet (has an actor inside) with a Scottish accent.

As I pointed out in my Poltergeist review, I didn't watch much horror as a boy. That's probably a good thing, as even the non-horror flicks I enjoyed often scared the bejesus out of me. You kids today don't know how lucky you have it with your wussy Shreks and your lamewad Pikachus! Children of the 1980s are still in therapy over what Hollywood deemed "family films" back then. The following non-horror mind-screws should prove my point.

Return to Oz (1985)

In high school, I brought Return to Oz to a Halloween movie marathon. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid. Everyone scoffed. "A Wizard of Oz sequel? That's supposed to scare us?" I didn't hear a lot of mockery after the movie started. In fact, nobody said a word until about halfway through, when a friend of mine whispered "Can we please turn this off?" I'm not sure who thought this movie was appropriate for children. It gave me nightmares for nearly a decade.

Dorothy finds a key with an Oz symbol on it, shows it to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry as proof that Oz exists, and is sent to an insane asylum! An evil insane asylum where they give our young heroine electro-shock therapy! That's how this "childrens' film" starts! Once Dorothy gets to Oz, it's a speeding night train of horrors. How about that Nome King? Good LORD! Winged monkeys aren't scary enough anymore, let's give the kids The Wheelers -- sadistic shrieking psychopaths with roller skates instead of hands and feet! Kids today won't be satisfied with just a standard wicked witch, let's really ramp that up too, and ruin their lives! The sequence with the witch's cabinets full of human heads easily rivals anything in the Nightmare on Elm Street series for sheer terror. "Dorothy Gaaaaaale!!!!"

Even the heroes are horrifying! Jack Pumpkinhead? A hybrid stick n' pumpkin creature who calls Dorothy "Mother"? That's your good guy? Not cool, Return to Oz. Not cool.

The Neverending Story (1984)

Along the same lines as Return to Oz, The Neverending Story feels way too dark, weird, and just...wrong to be a kids' movie. I feel my eyes welling up now remembering Atreyu's horse slowly sinking into quicksand and dying. I can't even talk about the Gmork, that big wolfy vampire thing. And a storm called "The Nothing?" Sweet fancy Moses! Also, again, the heroes should not be scarier than the villains! The racing snail? The Rockbiter? That bat-dude? And Falkor? A big flying dog/dragon mutation with disgusting scaly eggs on his skin? We were supposed to root for this hellacious beast?

Another scream-inducing aspect -- one of the worst theme songs in all of 80's film. And that's saying a whole lot!

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.

Everyone has those one or two movies which signify to them that the Christmas season is upon us. You know ... the movie or TV special which opens up your cynical little heart and lets the Christmas spirit charge on in and take control for a while. For some people, it is Miracle on 34th Street, or the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Typically, they are films you watched with your family while you decorated the tree as a child, or something equally nostalgic and appropriate. For me, it is the Muppets. This weekend was tree weekend for my wife and I, and we gathered to us some of our closest friends for a weekend of tree cutting, popcorn stringing, and hot cocoa drinking. The entire weekend was filled with Muppet Christmas shows, and life was good. For the casual Muppet fan -- those of you who are trying to figure out how we had more than one or maybe two movies to watch this weekend -- allow me to enlighten you. 12 Days of Cinematicalmas brings you Christmas with Jim Henson:

1. Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Everybody loves a good version of the Gift of The Magi, especially when it is played out by a cute otter family. Henson's adaptation of the classic children's book is a little campy, a bit rough around the edges and thoroughly packed with adorable. You can tell Henson and company are still operating on a small budget, but they really make it go a long way. And despite the obvious places where the puppetry is a bit weak, the town and the characters in it are completely believable. It features an all woodland creatures jug band, a river creatures rock band, and one of the most soulful songs ever performed by the Muppets, "When the River Meets the Sea."
2. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. If you haven't seen this one hour TV movie, you have a gaping hole in your childhood which you must remedy immediately. This is the Sesame Street special, and it is 100% timeless. Starring Big Bird (yes, remember the days when Sesame Street movies starred people other than Elmo) and prominently featuring Kermit and Grover (remember the days when a cute little monster meant Grover and not Elmo?) discussing the physics of Santa and chimneys with kids, this movie has it all. Bert and Ernie re-enacting the Gift of the Magi (hey, that story again), Cookie Monster trying desperately to write to Santa asking for cookies, and ... and ... Mr. Hooper! Sesame Street today is a depressing place with no Mr. Hooper and tons of Elmo.
3. The Christmas Toy. A rather odd made-for-TV special by the Henson company which didn't feature any of the usual Muppet characters. This one wasn't great; it has pacing issues and a totally creepy girl doll, but the strength of the Muppet performers provides enough entertainment to make it worth watching. The story was Toy Story ten years before Toy Story happened -- toys come to life and interact with each other when humans aren't around, and the "favorite" toy is highly concerned because Christmas is bringing a favorite toy into the playroom. The new toy is an impressive outer-space action figure who has yet to realize what a "toy" is. Together, the rest of the toys teach these two how to deal with the new situation. ...
4. A Muppet Family Christmas. This film is a tour de force for Jim Henson and the Muppet team. Henson has created a very large world at this point, and he uses this special to show it all off. Fozzie and the gang (almost the entire gang) visit Fozzie's mom for Christmas. The Sesame Street gang shows up as a band of roving carolers (with Elmo in the background only, and not actually saying a word), and the Fraggles make a short appearance via a Fraggle hole in Emily Bear's basement. There is no real plot, except for a weird thread about the Swedish Chef cooking Christmas dinner and wanting to baste Big Bird, which ends in a Bird/Chef duet you have to hear to believe. If you like anything the Muppets have done, you simply must watch this special. You can find it on DVD, but you're better off hunting down a friend who recorded it from TV back in the day, because several really amusing scenes got hacked out of the DVD release.
5. Muppet Christmas Carol. This full-length feature film breaks your heart right off the bat, because the opening "in memory of" reminds you that Jim Henson and Richard Hunt have died. This movie begins an era of without Electric Mayhem, Rowlf, or Scooter -- an era which the Muppets are still struggling to emerge from. The Muppet team does a great job crafting a tribute film to Jim Henson, and the Muppet cast is a fantastic fit for the classic Christmas tale. This film was when Muppet writer Jerry Juhl (God rest his soul) found the friendship between Gonzo and Rizzo; a team-up which allowed Kermit to take a non-lead role for a bit while Steve Whitmire got used to bringing him to life. "It Feels Like Christmas" is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and the whole movie aches with Christmas spirit. A great job of pulling together the Muppets and showing the world the characters could go on in a post Jim Henson world (at least, for a while -- we'll not talk about the state of the Muppets right now, as it makes me very sad).
6. A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. This was a brief Christmas special from just a few years back, and the last thing they put together which was even arguably worth watching (although I still hope they can return to some measure of greatness eventually). Yes, it has Whoopi Goldberg in it, but she's not in it much. The special has quick throw-away parodies of a lot of classic Christmas stories, and is obviously an overall parody of It's A Wonderful Life. After a plot set up which puts the future of the Muppet Theater in jeopardy, we're treated to a view of what the world would have been if Kermit the Frog had never been born. Let me tell you, this kid would never want to live in a world without Kermit the Frog. This certainly isn't the Muppets at the top of their game, but it is a solid TV movie Muppet production.
   

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.

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.