The Dark Crystal is one of the favorite movies from my childhood. I was kind of traumatized by the Skeksis who are just terrifying characters... well, if you are 6.
So in case you are unaware of it The Dark Crystal has a series being released on Netflix on the 30th of August. This is fantastic news..... or is it.
I have always been a fan of Jim Henson stuff and to be fair it doesn't really matter that dude isn't alive anymore but it is quite obvious from just the trailer that a tremendous amount of CGI is going to be used on this series and I suppose that is to be expected. It is, afterall, nearly 30 years after the original film was released.
We have been reassured that a "great deal of care" has gone into preserving the original art style that Jim Henson created including a vast amount of puppetry and I am happy to hear that this is the case. I know that myself and other fanbois are probably going to crap our pants no matter what they do and for me anyway, I just hope they don't go too crazy with the computer graphics.
You see, a big part of what defined my childhood (and a lot of other people) was the creative use of puppetry in lieu of CGI because Computer Generated Imagery didn't exist when the Dark Crystal flim was made in 1982.
This is not to suggest that they couldn't possibly make it better by incorporating CGI into it but for me at least, I am very happy to hear that director Louis Leterrier made a conscious effort to stick to the old puppet format as much as was possible in the making of this series. He truly has a tough task in front of him: Pleasing old fans who made this a thing in the first place and also appealing to new fans who likely have no idea WTF The Dark Crystal even is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3_owZfYVR8
I am EXTREMELY excited about this series... perhaps moreso than any other that has ever existed. I realize that this has a lot to do with me being exactly the age that I am but I think it might not be a terrible idea for those of you out there that are younger than me to have a look at this because it really has an opportunity to be something great. It would probably help if you dig fantasy to a certain extent.