FILM · 1986 · UK
Labyrinth
27 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (27)
- #001
One reason Hoggle always made groaning sounds between his lines was to keep his mouth open as wide as possible so that the actress inside, Shari Weiser, could see out.
- #002
The various things Jareth does with the crystal spheres — rolling them around his arms, in his hands, and so on — are not camera tricks or any other kind of special effect. They were actually performed by the choreographer Michael Moschen, a skilled juggler. Moschen was crouched behind David Bowie, with his arms standing in for Bowie's. Unlike a typical Muppet performance, however, there was no video monitor for him to watch his performance on. In other words, he carried out the manipulations entirely blind.
- #003
The owl in the title sequence was created on a computer. It was the first attempt at a photo-realistic CGI animal character in a feature film.
- #004
In the scene where Toby (Toby Froud) sits on the lap of the Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie), the baby appears fixed and hypnotized on camera as Jareth whispers wickedly into his ear. In fact, Toby screamed so much during many takes of this scene that something had to be done to quiet him. Fortunately, a crew member had the glove puppet Sooty. Throughout Jareth's speech, David Bowie kept the Sooty puppet (off camera) in one hand, moving it slightly to distract Toby. The child was fascinated, and that is where the hypnotic gaze and perfect silence came from.
- #005
The "Dance Magic" scene consisted of more than 48 puppets, 52 puppeteers and eight people in goblin costumes (as Brian Henson revealed in the Inside the Labyrinth (1986) special feature).
- #006
Because it failed on its initial release, this is the last film directed by Jim Henson. His son explained that the period after Labyrinth's release was very difficult for Henson. It did not take long, however, for the "flop" to gain a large fan base and for him to regain his faith in his work.
- #007
Michael Jackson, Prince and Mick Jagger were considered to play the Goblin King Jareth. Jim Henson preferred Sting until his children convinced him that David Bowie was the most suitable person for the part. Bowie wanted to make a children's film, liked the concept and the script, and agreed to take the role.
- #008
To help the puppeteer inside see, Ludo's right horn held a miniature video camera that fed a small screen placed inside his head.
- #009
David Bowie performed the baby's voice (the babbling) in the song "Magic Dance."
- #010
More than 100 pairs of latex hands were made for the "Helping Hands" scene.
- #011
At the start of the iconic "Magic Dance" scene, Toby is seen crying while surrounded by a large number of goblins. In reality, baby Toby Froud was not in the least bit afraid of any of the puppets used and seemed to enjoy the scene. The take in which one of the goblins made silly noises and faces to make Toby laugh was a genuine reaction, and it was inspired by the many situations in which they wanted him to be quiet and used some of the puppets off camera to silence him. They had to wait for him to get tired and want to nap after shooting his musical number in order to make him cry.
- #012
Monty Python member Terry Jones wrote the first draft of the script. Jim Henson later allowed others to rewrite Jones's draft. At the end of this process, Henson went back to Jones, saying the script had lost its humor, and asked him to put the jokes back in. Jones then tried to return the script to its original version but had to keep some of the different directions the script had taken up to that point. Jones's biggest problem with the final draft was that the center of the labyrinth was shown before Sarah reached it.
- #013
The baby who played Toby was Toby Froud, the son of the film's concept designer Brian Froud.
- #014
Hoggle consisted of Shari Weiser inside the costume and four puppeteers led by Brian Henson, who controlled the 18 motors in the facial rig. Henson, operating a mechanical glove on his right hand, controlled Hoggle's jaw movements and provided the voice. Another puppeteer provided further lip movement with another glove. A third puppeteer used a fingertip control arm to control Hoggle's eyes and eyelids. A fourth used a similar mechanism to move the eyebrows and a foot pedal to control the skin around Hoggle's eyes. The puppeteers had to rehearse together for weeks so they could anticipate each other's movements.
- #015
One Hoggle puppet was lost on a plane. When it finally turned up at the Unclaimed Baggage store in Scottsboro, Alabama, it was not in the best condition, so it was restored and placed in a display case at the store's entrance along with the items it had traveled with.
- #016
The final scene was changed during production. Sarah's communication with Ludo, Hoggle and Sir Didymus was to take place through her bedroom window instead of a makeup mirror. After saying goodbye to Sarah, her friends would disappear. In the film, this scene became a more optimistic resolution.
- #017
In the early drafts of the story, Toby's name was Freddie. The baby's name was changed because baby Toby Froud would only respond to his own name.
- #018
This film was shot right next to Legend (1985), meaning the cast and crew of both films often mixed. Brian Henson met Mia Sara and fell in love with her. Years later the two met again and married.
- #019
When Jim Henson learned that Ludo's rig weighed over 100 pounds, he told the Creature Shop to start over and make it lighter. The weight was brought down to a little over 75 pounds, which was still too heavy for one person to operate continuously. The puppeteers Ron Mueck and Rob Mills shared the performance.
- #020
The original script ended with Sarah punching Jareth and scolding him into surrendering, at which point his appearance reverted to that of a small goblin fleeing.
- #021
Sarah's dog Merlin appears as Sir Didymus's steed Ambrosius. It is a subtle joke, as Ambrosius was another name for the wizard Merlin.
- #022
Sarah's mirror contains pictures of David Bowie, and the makeup table in Sarah's room has pictures of a model figure of King Jareth.
- #023
The small creatures that appear from beneath the tiles in Labyrinth are called "Tilekeepers."
- #024
Ambrosius wears a leather saddle with silver stirrups over a colorful blanket decorated to match Sir Didymus's knightly heraldry: three stray bones, seven black claw marks, a checkered square, a fire hydrant and several trees.
- #025
The DVD features reveal that Henson and Froud stated the three hardest things to work with on a set are animals, babies and puppets, and all three were used in the film. The only scene missing all three is the ballroom dance scene, said to have been the easiest scene to shoot.
- #026
In his audio commentary, Brian Froud states that the colors and numbers on the armored goblin knights were inspired by Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.
- #027
Brian Froud recounts that at the Royal Premiere, the only person who laughed during the Bog of Eternal Stench scene was King Charles III. They met again in 1988 at the opening of the Museum of the Moving Image in London, where the then Prince of Wales recalled to Froud how much he had enjoyed that scene.
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