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The Dark Crystal
''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. The plot revolves around Characters and races of The Dark Crystal#Jen, Jen and Characters and races of The Dark Crystal#Kira, Kira, two Characters and races of The Dark Crystal#Gelflings, Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Fantasy world, Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal. It was marketed as a family film, but was notably darker than the creators' previous material. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking for the time, with most creatures, like the Gelflings, requiring around four puppeteers to achieve full manipulation. The primary concept artist was fanta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Amsel
Richard Amsel (December 4, 1947 – November 13, 1985) was an American illustrator and graphic designer. His career was brief but prolific, including film posters, album covers, and magazine covers. His portrait of comedian Lily Tomlin for the cover of ''Time (magazine), Time'' is now part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Institution. He was associated with ''TV Guide'' for thirteen years. Early life Richard Amsel was born in Philadelphia. Shortly after graduating from Philadelphia College of Art, his proposed poster art for the Barbra Streisand musical ''Hello, Dolly! (film), Hello, Dolly!'' was selected by 20th Century Fox for the film’s campaign after a nationwide artists’ talent search; the artist was 22 at the time. Career As Amsel came to the attention of New York's art enthusiasts, his illustrations caught the attention of Barry Manilow, "then a young singer/songwriter named who was working with Bette Midler, a newly emerging entertainer in cabaret c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random House
Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the following decades, a series of acquisitions made it into one of the largest publishers in the United States. In 2013, it was merged with Penguin Group to form Penguin Random House, which is owned by the Germany-based media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Penguin Random House uses its brand for Random House Publishing Group and Random House Children's Books, as well as several imprints. Company history 20th century Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random", which suggested the name Random ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fairy
A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic mythology, Celtic, Slavic paganism, Slavic, Germanic folklore, Germanic, and French folklore, French folklore), a form of Supernatural#Spirit, spirit, often with metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural qualities. Myths and stories about fairies do not have a single origin but are rather a collection of folk beliefs from disparate sources. Various folk theories about the origins of fairies include casting them as either demoted angels or demons in a Christian mythology, Christian tradition, as deities in Paganism, Pagan belief systems, as Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits of the dead, as Prehistory, prehistoric precursors to humans, or as spirits of nature. The label of ''fairy'' has at times applied only to specific Magic (su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Froud
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book '' Faeries'' with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films '' The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ''Labyrinth'' (1986). According to '' Wired'', Froud is "one of the most pre-emiminent visualizers of the world of faerie and folktale". Most recently, Froud developed the 2019 streaming television series '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''. Early life Froud was born in Winchester, England in 1947. An only child, he grew up in rural Hampshire before moving to Kent. In 1967 he enrolled as a painter at Maidstone College of Art, where he graduated with a first class honors diploma in Graphic Design in 1971. Career After graduating, Froud spent five years working as a commercial illustrator in Soho, London before moving to Chagford, Devon in 1975. Between 1972 and 1976, he illustrated four books by children's author Margaret M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concept Artist
Concept art is a form of visual art used to convey an idea for use in film, video games, animation, comic books, television shows, or other media before it is put into the final product. The term was used by the Walt Disney Animation Studios as early as the 1930s. Concept art usually refers to world-building artwork used to inspire the development of media products, and is not the same as storyboard, though they are often confused. Concept art is developed through several iterations. Multiple solutions are explored before settling on the final design. Concept art is not only used to develop the work but also to show the project's progress to directors, clients, and investors. Once the development of the work is complete, concept art may be reworked and used for advertising materials. Overview of the Industry A concept artist is an individual who generates a visual design for an item, character, or area that does not yet exist. This includes, but is not limited to, film, animat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animatronics
An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Animatronics are a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy and mechatronics. Animatronic figures can be implemented with both computer and human control, including teleoperation. Motion actuators are often used to imitate muscle movements and create realistic motions. Figures are usually encased in body shells and flexible skins made of hard or soft plastic materials and finished with colors, hair, feathers and other components to make them more lifelike. Animatronics stem from a long tradition of mechanical Automaton, automata powered by hydraulics, pneumatics and clockwork. Before the term "animatronics" became common, they were usually referred to as "robots". Since then, robots have become known as more practical programmable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeksis
The Skeksis are a fictional species that serves as the main antagonists in the 1982 film ''The Dark Crystal'' and its related franchise. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with the singular being pronounced and the plural . They are described by concept artist Brian Froud as, "part reptile, part Bird of prey, predatory bird, part dragon". The Skeksis are represented by Puppet, puppets engineered under the direction of Jim Henson. Jim Henson said that in the development of the Skeksis, the creators drew inspiration from the seven deadly sins. Concept and creation Jim Henson was inspired to design the Skeksis by an illustrated edition of a Lewis Carroll poem showing two elegantly dressed crocodiles in a bathroom. He became intrigued with the idea of a reptilian race assuming control over a formerly splendid past society, and developed the Skeksis with the concept that they represented the darker side of human nature. Numerous names were pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy World
A fantasy world or fictional world is a world created for fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds feature magical abilities. Some worlds may be a parallel world connected to Earth via magical portals or items (like Narnia); an imaginary society hidden within our earth (like the Wizarding World); a fictional Earth set in the remote past (like Middle-earth) or future (like Dying Earth); an alternative version of our History (like Lyra's world); or an entirely independent world set in another part of the universe (like the ''Star Wars'' Galaxy). Many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography, sociology, mythology, and folklore. Plot function The setting of a fantasy work is often of great importance to the plot and characters of the story. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer a calamity, and be restored by the transformation the story brings about. Stories that use the setting as merely a ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Characters And Races Of The Dark Crystal
The characters from the 1982 cult fantasy film ''The Dark Crystal'' series were created by puppeteer Jim Henson and concept artist Brian Froud. Most of the information about specific characters and species names that were not mentioned in the film come from supplementary materials such as Froud's book '' The World of the Dark Crystal''. The series expanded into books, comics, artwork, games, and the 2019 prequel series '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''. Overview * A dark grey cell indicates that the character did not appear or that the character's presence has yet to be announced. * A indicates a role as a younger version of character portrayed by another actor. * A indicates an uncredited role. * A indicates a cameo role. * A indicates a voice-only role. * An indicates an appearance through archival footage or stills. * An indicates the actor was part of the main cast for the season. Major characters Gelfling The Gelfling are the central protagonists of ''Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Dennen
Barry Dennen (February 22, 1938 – September 26, 2017) was an American actor and writer. He is best known for playing Pontius Pilate on the original 1970 recording of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' as well as the subsequent 1971 stage musical and 1973 film adaptation. Life and career Barry Dennen was born in Chicago, Illinois in February 22, 1938. In New York City from 1960 to 1961, he had a platonic relationship with Barbra Streisand. They lived together for a year, during which time he helped her develop the nightclub act that began her successful career as a singer and actress. He moved to London for 15 years and in 1968 landed the starring role of the master of ceremonies in the London West End version of ''Cabaret''. In 1970, he played Pontius Pilate on the album of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', and he played the same role in the Broadway production (1971). In the same year, he played Mendel in Norman Jewison's film of ''Fiddler on the Roof''. According to Dennen's website, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy Film
Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, although the genres do overlap. Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, Wonder (emotion), wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Subgenres Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in fantasy literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are high fantasy and sword and sorcery. Both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, and may also be more character-oriented or thematically complex. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dark Fantasy
Dark fantasy, also called fantasy horror, is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporates disturbing and frightening themes. The term is ambiguously used to describe stories that combine horror fiction, horror elements with one or other of the standard formulas of fantasy. Definition A strict definition for dark fantasy is difficult to pin down. Gertrude Barrows Bennett has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy". Both Charles L. Grant''The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders'', Volume 1, edited by Gary Westfahl, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. and Karl Edward Wagner are credited with having coined the term "dark fantasy"—although both authors were describing different styles of fiction. Brian Stableford argues "dark fantasy" can be usefully defined as subgenre of stories that attempt to "incorporate elements of horror fiction" into the standard formulae of fantasy stories. Stableford a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
