For any lover of 80s based movie figures, Weta Workshop have been knocking it out of the park with the Mini Epics collection. Having incorporatedGhostbusters,Aliens,PredatorandGremlins, as well as a huge non-80sLord of The Rings Collection, this year’s San DiegoComic-Con@Homesaw the unveiling of their next franchise to get the treatment and it is a true 80s classic for kids of the era;Labyrinth.
The line ofLabyrinthMini-epics has worked with some amazing artists, a lot of which have links to the original movies, to create some brilliant interpretations of characters such as Ellen Ripley, Peter Venkman, and mogwai Gizmo to life in a whole new way, and now three of the mainLabyrinthcharacters are joining the fold. The set comprises of Goblin King Jareth, protagonist Sarah and monstrous but lovable Ludo as can be seen in Weta’s tweet below.
Jim Hensonexpanded out of the world ofMuppetswith his movieThe Dark Crystal, and while it was not the most successful of Henson’s movies, it paved the way to the 1986 movieLabyrinth.Labyrinthtold the story of Sarah, a teenager who inadvertently wishes away her little brother to theworld of Jareth, The Goblin King. Sarah must fight her way through Jareth’s labyrinth, making friends along the way, to save her brother from being turned into a goblin.
The movie featured then unknown Jennifer Connolly in the lead role of Sarah, and music icon David Bowie in the role ofthe Goblin King. Featuring some of the best practical effects of the time, many of which stand up reasonably well even by today’s standard, the movie wasn’t received too well at the time, barely scraping back its $25 million budget and marking a dark patch in Henson’s career. It was therefore unfortunate that while Henson was aware thatLabyrinth, and theDark Crystal, which also has Mini Epic figures in production as part of Weta’s Henson range, had small cult followings, he would not live long enough to see just how iconic and loved they would go on to become.
Netflix were recently responsible for revivingThe Dark Crystal, with a new prequel series,Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which was unfortunately cancelled after one season due reportedly to costing too much to make, and a sequel toLabyrinth, which has been in the works for years, seems to finally be moving ahead, leaving fans with a strange sense of joy and trepidation over whether the original magic can be recaptured without Henson or Bowie around to be part of it.
The Mini EpicsLabyrinthfigures were sculpted by Mauro Santini and Jorgelina Yeme and measure around 15cm tall, are made from vinyl and limited to 1000 pieces worldwide. Many of the previous Mini Epics based on the biggest franchises have sold out, and there is no reason to believe that these will be any different, as of all of Jim Henson’s projects outsideThe Muppets, Labyrinthis one of themost fondly remembered and loved. Pre-orders on the items are available now, with delivery expected around April 2022, and further figures from the movie are already in production.
