Monday, January 07, 2008

Power of the Dark Crystal update

Wizard has posted a story about a few upcoming animated features and one of their segments concerns none other than The Power of the Dark Crystal film. While I did post about this film once or twice before, a little refresher is probably in order.

Set to come out this winter (that's '08 people) the film, a sequel to the original Dark Crystal will feature a mix of puppets and CGI backgrounds. It is being directed by cartooning mastermind Genndy Tartakovsky of Samurai Jack / Clone Wars fame. The plot according to Wizard is "Set on the mythical planet Thra, the follow-up takes place years after the ending of the original and begins with Jen and Kira welcoming to their castle a guest from the center of the planet, Thurma the fire girl, who, in a desperate attempt to save her people, re-shatters the Crystal. "

The article also mentions how Genndy, Lisa Henson, and the rest of the creative team really tried to find the original puppeteers to reprise their roles and even hired on original screenwriter David Odell. It seems they are really treating this with the reverence it deserves, and for that I think we can all be happy.

On a side note, I got the Legends of the Dark Crystal vol 1 manga for Christmas and really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the Dark Crystal world. its an original story taking place before the events of the first film, And is an adventure tale concerning a young gelfling trying to survive after his entire village was slaughtered by the vile Skeksis. Check it out if you can.

We'll keep our eyes out for more on the Power of the Dark Crystal film as it comes out I'm VERY interested to see what the puppetry / CG mix finally looks like.
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