Labyrinth · reception & legacy

1986 · Jim Henson

How Labyrinth has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

A box-office flop in 1986 that left Jim Henson genuinely heartbroken — it was the last feature he ever directed — Labyrinth slowly grew through home video and midnight screenings into a full-blown cult classic, with the reappraisal going supernova after Bowie's death in 2016.

What's debated

The evergreen fan debate is how to feel about the Goblin King's whole deal — a grown Bowie in those pants menacing/seducing a teenage Sarah — with half of Letterboxd calling it a formative awakening and the other half calling it deeply weird, and most agreeing it's both.

Its footprint

"You remind me of the babe" is a certified meme, 'Magic Dance' is a karaoke staple, and Bowie's Jareth — the hair, the crystal balls, the infamous tights — is one of the most cosplayed and GIF'd figures of 80s cinema.

Where it stands

A 'you must have seen this' rite of passage for a certain generation: the crown jewel of 80s puppet-fantasy cult cinema alongside The Dark Crystal, beloved far beyond its critical standing.

★ Did you know? Jareth's hypnotic crystal-ball juggling wasn't Bowie — contact juggler Michael Moschen crouched behind him and performed the moves blind, reaching his arms around Bowie's body without being able to see his own hands.

Named by the director

Influences Jim Henson has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

Maurice Sendak — The end credits carry a formal acknowledgment of Henson's debt to the works of Maurice Sendak, whose goblin-stolen-baby picture book Outside Over There the premise closely echoes.