The Dark Crystal Prequel Series Coming To Netflix

[Christopher]

Netflix also likely gave the show a comparatively larger budget than the original movie ever got (in adjusted dollars).

Hmm. I just rewatched the movie today, and I noticed that while it had amazing practical and creature effects and impressive matte paintings, it had some pretty iffy bluescreen work and animated light effects here and there.

Then again, one advantage of the original having no human characters onscreen (or famous voice actors, as far as I know) is that they didn't have to spend as much on actor salaries and could put more of the budget into the production. The series presumably has a much higher actor budget, given all the celebs in the cast.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I also rewatched the movie today and noticed the same weak animated effects. I wasn't surprised because that's about par for that time period with a lower budget (not much worse than say Labyrinth), especially since they obviously wanted to focus on the puppets and sets than any animated effects (which was mostly for flight).

 

[Christopher]

I also rewatched the movie today and noticed the same weak animated effects. I wasn't surprised because that's about par for that time period with a lower budget (not much worse than say Labyrinth), especially since they obviously wanted to focus on the puppets and sets than any animated effects (which was mostly for flight).

If you mean the animation of things like the crystal bats in flight or the bugs that the swamp critter was chasing, I guess so. I was thinking more of the animated glow effects, especially in the climax when

Spoiler: spoilers for 37-year-old movie just in case

the Skeksis and Mystics merge into the UrSkeks. The animation and dissolve effects there are clumsy and disappointingly unimaginative compared to all the neat practical FX tricks.

 

[Anwar]

So I stayed up till midnight last night to watch some of it, but it wasn't up. Phooey.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

If you mean the animation of things like the crystal bats in flight or the bugs that the swamp critter was chasing, I guess so. I was thinking more of the animated glow effects, especially in the climax when

Spoiler: spoilers for 37-year-old movie just in case

the Skeksis and Mystics merge into the UrSkeks. The animation and dissolve effects there are clumsy and disappointingly unimaginative compared to all the neat practical FX tricks.

Yeah, that was a little annoying but my defense is still the same. Either way, not a big deal, just a product of the times.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Season 1 is up! 10 episodes now online.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, that was a little annoying but my defense is still the same. Either way, not a big deal, just a product of the times.

It's not something that needs to be "defended," it's just an observation. It was remarked that the film had a relatively low budget, something that I hadn't realized, and I'm saying yeah, okay, I guess the middle-of-the-road matte and animation work is evidence of that.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I've watched the first episode and I'm already confused about the history of Thra.

In the film, it's clearly stated that the Skesis and the Mystics were originally derived from an early species and that the shattering of the Crystal is what caused the split of the two separate species.

However, in the prologue of the first episode,

Spoiler: Episode 1 prologue

after a thousand years of prosperity in Thra, the Skesis are depicted as arriving to the world as we see them in the film and convinces Aughra with clever lies and the construction of her giant orrery in order take control of the Crystal. This seems like a major contradiction to the film.

Note: I haven't read any of the books, comics, or The World of the Dark Crystal (although I don't know if this mini-series is following any of those stories aside from the recent books).

 

[JD]

My mom, who is a big fan of the movie said the same thing.

Spoiler: Season 1 prologue

My thought would be that they decided since this was a prequel that they didn't want to reveal that right away since we aren't supposed to know that yet.

My mom and I watched it this morning and we both enjoyed it.
I've always loved the art design from the movie, and this really just took that to a whole other level.
Most of the characters were pretty likeable and interesting, with good performances from the whole cast. It was a little weird at first hearing Mark Hamill do a voice so close to Joker for the scientist, but once I got used to it pretty quickly.
The story was pretty good, even though we know how all of this ends, they still managed to build enough other aspects into the story to keep things interesting. I think it also helps that, unlike the Star Wars prequels, we don't know exactly what is going to happen to these specific specific characters.

 

[137th Gebirg]

A lot going on here...

I agree that they probably don’t want to over-complicate the story with the origins of the Skekses at present. In episode 2, the Gelflings did notice the cracked crystal and Aughra did mention the Mystics briefly, so they are still out there and the show runners haven’t retconned what came before; just not talking about something that isn’t directly impacting the story right now, which makes sense. What I find curious is the timeline. There are several mentions in-dialog of the Skekses having ruled for a thousand trine (years - actually they say the more archaic 999 trine and one trine), when the events of the movie were supposed to have taken place a thousand trine after the crystal cracked, but by that time all the Gelflings were pretty much gone. So I’m kind of wondering how far back in time this prequel takes place.

Other interesting things - there are many Fizzgig-like creatures out there. Thra also has three moons, in addition to the three suns (don’t remember them from the movie). The suns are referred to as “brothers” and the moons as “sisters” (I think) and we see a brief glimpse at what the planet looks like in the prologue. The “spitter” creature is referred to once as an “arathim” - very similar name to “garthim” from the movie, which were Skekses constructs, according to the Book of Habidibad (Aughra’s Story), crustacean-like creatures that the Skekses (likely the Scientist) created to remind them of their home world when they were unified UrSkeks. It stands to reason the “spitter” was an earlier experiment at building a new protective army once the Gelflings are all wiped out. The names are preserved - skekTek, skekSil, and so on. The episode title names are all taken from dialogue heard in the original film.

Beautiful cinematography and seamless integration between practical puppetry and CG modeling. Very rich world-building going on. Just finished episode 2 and looking forward to seeing more.

 

[JD]

I have seen a Mystic in either pictures or the cast list, so we will see at least one before the end of the season.
A couple things I forgot to mention in my other post, is the worldbuilding and cinematography.
The cinematography is just gorgeous, some of it is just jaw droppingly beautiful.
There was also a lot of really interesting world building in the first episode. It was fascinating getting to see the different Gelfling clans, and their relationship to the Skesis. With so much of their society seeming to be based around the Skesis, it will be interesting to see what happens when they realize just how bad they really are.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

My mom, who is a big fan of the movie said the same thing.

Spoiler: Season 1 prologue

My thought would be that they decided since this was a prequel that they didn't want to reveal that right away since we aren't supposed to know that yet.

A lot going on here...

I agree that they probably don’t want to over-complicate the story with the origins of the Skekses at present. In episode 2, the Gelflings did notice the cracked crystal and Aughra did mention the Mystics briefly, so they are still out there and the show runners haven’t retconned what came before; just not talking about something that isn’t directly impacting the story right now, which makes sense.

But the problem I'm still seeing here is that the prologue depicts Aughra as the Crystal keeper, the embodiment of Thra, meaning she was always with the Crystal. I wouldn't have a problem if she had given the Crystal to the beings before their sundering into the Skekses and the Mystics. Instead we see Aughra give the Crystal to the Skekses, which indicates that the sundering has already happened, but wouldn't she already know about them and know she couldn't trust them?

The only explanation I can see is an unreliable narrator and that doesn't seem likely considering how the prologue is presented as omniscient.

What I find curious is the timeline. There are several mentions in-dialog of the Skekses having ruled for a thousand trine (years), when the events of the movie were supposed to have taken place a thousand trine after the crystal cracked, but by that time all the Gelflings were pretty much gone. So I’m kind of wondering how far back in time this prequel takes place.

I thought that was curious as well, which further complicates my issue with the prologue.

Putting aside those issues, I'm otherwise loving the series so far (three episodes in). Thra is beautifully realized and each character creation (active characters and the plethora of background creatures) are wonderfully distinctive that makes Thra feel truly alien and unique. My favorite background creature thus far is the small Stegosaurus-like creature with crystal spines we saw in the Chamberlain's lair.

 

[Takachulo]

So I stayed up till midnight last night to watch some of it, but it wasn't up. Phooey.

It was posted at midnight Pacific time, same as every other Netflix show.

 

[JD]

But the problem I'm still seeing here is that the prologue depicts Aughra as the Crystal keeper, the embodiment of Thra, meaning she was always with the Crystal. I wouldn't have a problem if she had given the Crystal to the beings before their sundering into the Skekses and the Mystics. Instead we see Aughra give the Crystal to the Skekses, which indicates that the sundering has already happened, but wouldn't she already know about them and know she couldn't trust them?

I'm only on episode one, but my guess would be that we are seeing what the Skesis told the Gelflings about their history, and by the end of the season Rian, Brea, or Deet will discover the truth. I think pretty much everything else that has covered the history of Thra has depicted it the way the movie talked about it, and I just can't see them suddenly doing such a massive retcon at this point.
One of the other things that I love is the little details in the background, like the fact that the spiral staircase in the library in Ha'Rar is held up by a stack of books.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Ok some things about the timeline are starting to come back to me. The UrSkeks used the crystal in an attempt to purge their evil (Skeksis) half but instead got split into the two beings in what amounted to a celestial transporter accident. The crystal wasn’t cracked until much later, long after the Skekses exiled the UrRu and had taken over the castle for themselves. They had “trials by stone” (called “Haakskeekah”, or something like that), where they proved their worth in “combat” by hitting the crystal as hard as they could. I believe this was a ceremony used to determine who the new emperor would be after the previous one died. The crystal cracked from one of these ceremonies, shooting the shard up and out of the castle. Fearing further destruction of the crystal, they found a “lesser crystal” to perform the same function - the one we saw in the film that the Garthim Master destroyed during a duel with the Chamberlain. So Aughra would not have been around when this happened, explaining why she was shocked to see it damaged in episode 3, when she’s fully in play. That doesn’t explain why she left the Skekses to be the “guardians of the crystal” after evicting the Mystics and clearly not being the most savory of characters. After all, the UrSkeks were trying to purge that half of their being and Aughra knew them before the Sundering. In fact, I believe it was the UrSkeks who built the orrery for Aughra and taught her elevated sight and not the Skekses. I want to let this play out, but it seems that some of the elements explained in the Habidibad were overlooked, or possibly actively ignored.

I think I need to go back and re-read it to see if I’m remembering things correctly, which is not a foregone conclusion, at present.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'm only on episode one, but my guess would be that we are seeing what the Skesis told the Gelflings about their history, and by the end of the season Rian, Brea, or Deet will discover the truth. I think pretty much everything else that has covered the history of Thra has depicted it the way the movie talked about it, and I just can't see them suddenly doing such a massive retcon at this point.

But again, the prologue wasn't presented in such a manner. It wasn't even hinted as Skeksis story. It's presented as an omniscient narrative, one that should be trusted. I would accept that premise if the prologue ended with a Skeksis telling that story to a Gelfling or if Sigourney Weaver turned out to be one (halfway through, that's not the case). Instead, her closing statement was about the beginning of a new age (insert title).

One of the other things that I love is the little details in the background, like the fact that the spiral staircase in the library in Ha'Rar is held up by a stack of books.

I loved that detail and everything else about that library. I could spend ten lifetimes there.

Ok some things about the timeline are starting to come back to me. The UrSkeks used the crystal in an attempt to purge their evil (Skeksis) half but instead got split into the two beings in what amounted to a celestial transporter accident. The crystal wasn’t cracked until much later, long after the Skekses exiled the UrRu and had taken over the castle for themselves. They had “trials by stone” (called “Haakskeekah”, or something like that), where they proved their worth in “combat” by hitting the crystal as hard as they could. I believe this was a ceremony used to determine who the new emperor would be after the previous one died. The crystal cracked from one of these ceremonies, shooting the shard up and out of the castle. Fearing further destruction of the crystal, they found a “lesser crystal” to perform the same function - the one we saw in the film that the Garthim Master destroyed during a duel with the Chamberlain. So Aughra would not have been around when this happened, explaining why she was shocked to see it damaged in episode 3, when she’s fully in play. That doesn’t explain why she left the Skekses to be the “guardians of the crystal” after evicting the Mystics and clearly not being the most savory of characters. After all, the UrSkeks were trying to purge that half of their being and Aughra knew them before the Sundering. In fact, I believe it was the UrSkeks who built the orrery for Aughra and taught her elevated sight and not the Skekses. I want to let this play out, but it seems that some of the elements explained in the Habidibad were overlooked, or possibly actively ignored.

I think I need to go back and re-read it to see if I’m remembering things correctly, which is not a foregone conclusion, at present.

Ah, thanks for reciting all of that. Like I said before, I haven't read any of the books, but from a solely film and show perspective, it remains a confusing point. Hopefully it's something that is clarified later on. I just wish the prologue was clearer regarding all of this.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I found the complete text on the internet archive, that appeared in “The World of the Dark Crystal” by Brian Froud and his wife Wendy, both of whom were heavily involved in both the movie. It is considered the definitive work on Thra and its characters. Unfortunately, the website that hosted it went away back in 2017, but everything is still out there. I’ll be posting it soon, when I’m not relegated to an iPad. I find controlling its virtual keyboard exceptionally ponderous.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I'll probably look into buying World after watching this series...or at least checking to see if my local library has it so I can do a thorough pursuing of it. I had forgotten that the Frouds wrote it, so that's a good sign.

 

[JD]

I think the cracking of the crystal played out differently in Creation Myths.
Yeah, I just double checked on the Dark Crystal Wiki, and it says that the shard was broken off during "The Great Division" when the UrSkeks split. It says that during the confusion of the split one of the Skesis attacked the crystal and broke off the shard.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Which doesn’t really make sense if Aughra gave them control of the crystal. It makes more sense that the Skekses kicked everyone out, the Mystics, Aughra and everyone and went full-on despot of the entire planet.

Also, the crystal was inside a mountain of lesser crystal, out of which the castle was originally carved by the UrSkeks. The castle was not built around it, like the one scene implied by the lone, floating crystal hovering over the open hole in the middle of that open area. Cool scene, if not entirely accurate to the established lore.