Dust off your contact juggling balls and crotch-hugging jodhpurs, today marks the 30th anniversary of Labyrinth debuting in theaters. While not a commercial success upon its release (earning just half of its reported budget in its U.S. release), the film has become a touchstone for generations who grew up on the VHS and DVD of the Jim Henson phantasmagoria. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, a confused teenager who wishes to stay a young and imaginative child, confronting Jareth The Goblin King (immortally portrayed by David Bowie in full glam excess) after accidentally sending her baby brother, Toby, into his clutches. Written by Monty Python alum Terry Jones, produced by George Lucas, and directed by Jim Henson, the film had a host of talents behind and in front of the camera, complete with some of the most complicated puppetry work The Jim Henson Company had done to that point.
There’s an excellent behind-the-scenes documentary on YouTube called Inside The Labyrinth that features many of the various creatives involved in the project, including Bowie, Connelly, Jones, and Henson. Although it’s an electronic press kit made around the time of the film’s production, it does offer lots of great insight into the making of the film and how all its moving parts came together to create what would become a childhood staple for years to come.
This being the internet and all, there have been many theories about what the film is “actually” about. One of the best, or at least most convincing, comes from a video by Cracked, which features Soren Bowie and Katy Stoll discussing the film as a metaphor for a teen woman’s sexual awakening. It’s a bit icky, but it also seems pretty on point, as the film follows a young woman’s passage into a different aspect of her life, and the sexual imagery is pretty pronounced.