Did you know that, if he hadn’t got called in to make Sesame Street, Jim Henson planned on opening a series of wild, immersive nightclubs? There were always so many more aspects to him than being a children’s entertainer, and 1982’s The Dark Crystal was in many ways the perfect synthesis of his unbound creativity and dramatic instincts, combined with his mastery of puppetry. This was, after all, the first live-action Hollywood movie with zero onscreen humans: Instead, they were hidden beneath the floor of the soundstage, bringing to life every creature on the world of Thra, where the evil Skeksis seek to destroy the last of the Gelfling, and Aughra, the keeper of secrets, seeks – in her own curmudgeonly way – to heal the world. Henson, longtime collaborator Frank Oz, and fantasy art genius Brian Froud truly create a captivating and complete world that doesn’t need people at all. – Richard Whittaker
