Nerdy Owl Books: Labyrinth (1986)

***SPOILER ALERT*** this post will contain some spoilers so beware

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of my favorite movie of all time. Labyrinth (1986) starring Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie and Toby Froud (which coincidentally today is his 32nd birthday as well), created from the mind of Monty Python's Terry Jones, Jim Henson, George Lucas, and Brian and Wendy Froud. So in celebration of this exciting event I am going to review Labyrinth!

The movie starts out with a really cool title sequence featuring the first ever completely CGI animal, a barn owl to the music of David Bowie (Underground from the Labyrinth soundtrack). Then we are taken to a fantastical land where a maiden in a dress runs up to face her adversary and announces that "through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen..." she goes on to say the her "...will is a strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great" only to be interrupted by a flash of lightening and responding clash of thunder. Then in a strange turn of events she mumbles what she just say, while still facing her adversary, only to proclaim "damn I can never remember that line!" and pulls a red book titled The Labyrinth out of her sleeve to recall her next line. But it's too late the enchantment has been broken, we discover the maiden is an ordinary teenage girl, her adversary is her faithful dog companion, and the fantastical land is merely a local park. A bell tolls and the girl runs from the park with her dog Merlin through the rain down suburban streets before arriving home to the disappointment of her stepmother (who through the release of the Return to Labyrinth manga is named Irene but fans had previously dubbed her Karen). We discover the girl, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) was supposed to be home an hour ago to babysit her half-brother Toby (Toby Froud). Through this interaction and the discovery of her room we learn Sarah is a fifteen year old girl stuck between her fantasy filled childhood, and growing up into a young lady. (Don't do it it's a trap!)

As the night progresses Sarah unwittingly summons the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie) to come and take her baby brother. In order to right her wrong she must solve the Labyrinth and defeat the Goblin King in 13 hours or Toby will be (allegedly) turned into a Goblin. Sarah proves to be impatient and inept at solving the mysteries of the Labyrinth, however thanks to some friends she makes along the way

The Worm

Pictured left to right: Sir Didymus, Hoggle, and Ludo

she manages to solve the Labyrinth, defeat Jareth, and rescue Toby. Through all this Sarah finds a happy medium between her fantasies and growing up (Peter Pan is displeased with you Sarah!)

I "discovered" this movie when I was a very young child (so young I don't remember a life without Labyrinth), my cousin Kasi loved the movie so most every time when all of The Cousins™ stayed at our Grandma's we would watch Labyrinth among others like, Magic Island, Princess Bride, Legend, and Ketchup Vampires to name a few.

30 years ago today Labyrinth premiered in theaters in the United States.

and to celebrate that they are releasing a special 30th Anniversary Edition!

As well as several books. They are all available for pre-order on Amazon as most of the anniversary items will be released this fall. Until then you can fill the void with lots of Labyrinth swag already available on Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy! Like this really awesome phone case and wallet combo I purchased (again) when I got my new phone last year. (I own like three of them because it's my case of choice for all the smartphones I have owned).

Picture is taken from Etsy and is not my image

I would give this movie a higher rating than 5 out of 5 if I could (and thus ignoring the scale we have set here at Nerdy Owl Books and rendering it pointless).