50 Fun Facts About Labyrinth

Who directed Labyrinth?

It was the last feature film he directed; George Lucas served as executive producer.

Which member of Monty Python wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth?

Several others revised it, including Elaine May and Lucas, but he received sole credit.

Who plays Jareth the Goblin King?

All three of the others were considered before Bowie got the part.

Which musicians were considered for the Goblin King before Bowie was chosen?

He had first thought of actors Simon MacCorkindale and Kevin Kline before deciding on a musician.

How old is Sarah Williams at the start of the film?

She is late to babysit her half-brother Toby after reciting from a book in the park with her dog Merlin.

How long does Jareth give Sarah to solve the labyrinth?

The clock in his castle has thirteen numbers on its face.

What is the name of Sarah's treasured teddy bear that Toby is given?

She gives it to Toby for keeps at the end of the film.

What kind of creature is Hoggle?

He is the first character Sarah meets and helps her into the labyrinth.

What does Jareth order Hoggle to give Sarah?

It sends her into a dream of a masquerade ball.

What is the name of the flatulent swamp Sarah and Hoggle fall into?

It is guarded by Sir Didymus and his sheepdog steed.

Sir Didymus is what kind of animal?

His steed Ambrosius is an Old English Sheepdog, voiced by the man who did Fizzgig in The Dark Crystal.

What is Ludo's special ability?

He calls the rocks to save Sarah at the bog and again to rout the goblin army.

Which artist's work inspired the staircase set in the film's climax?

A print of his lithograph Relativity hangs on Sarah's bedroom wall.

What is the final line Sarah must remember to defeat Jareth?

His power comes from her fear, and he shrinks into a barn owl.

Into which animal does Jareth transform?

He watches the celebration from outside and flies off into the moonlight.

Who designed the film's creatures?

The idea began with him picturing a baby surrounded by goblins; Jim Henson's Creature Shop built them.

Who played baby Toby?

Toby Froud grew up to be a puppeteer and effects designer himself.

Which previous film by the same director and designer led to Labyrinth?

They wanted something lighter and funnier after that film's heaviness.

Which of these actresses auditioned for the lead but lost out to Jennifer Connelly?

Laura Dern, Ally Sheedy, Marisa Tomei and Jane Krakowski also tried out; Helena Bonham Carter was passed over for an American.

Roughly what was Labyrinth's budget?

It underperformed in the US but passed $34 million worldwide.

How much did Labyrinth gross in its US theatrical run?

The flop contributed to a difficult period in Henson's career, according to his son Brian.

How many puppeteers did it take to operate Hoggle?

Shari Weiser was inside the suit while Brian Henson radio-controlled the face and supplied the voice.

Which two performers took turns inside the Ludo suit?

The suit weighed 75 pounds; the two men had matching builds.

Which Sesame Street puppeteer, later famous as Elmo, worked on Labyrinth?

Frank Oz played the Wiseman while directing Little Shop of Horrors.

Which Star Wars performers appear among the Goblin Corps?

R2-D2 and Wicket the Ewok, in other words.

Who performed Jareth's crystal-ball manipulation?

The technique he invented is now called contact juggling.

How many songs did Bowie record for the film?

Underground, Magic Dance, Chilly Down, As the World Falls Down and Within You.

Which song does Bowie not sing lead vocals on?

The Firey creatures' voice actors, including Danny John-Jules, sang it.

Who composed the film's score?

The soundtrack splits it into six tracks, from Into the Labyrinth to Home at Last.

Which children's author's lawyers nearly stopped production because of similarities to his books?

An end credit acknowledging Henson's debt to him settled the matter; his books appear in Sarah's room.

The 'you remind me of the babe' exchange in Magic Dance references a 1947 film starring whom?

The film was The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.

Where was Labyrinth shot in Britain?

American locations included Upper Nyack and Piermont in New York.

Which royals attended Labyrinth's charity premiere at the London Film Festival?

The animatronic Ludo was also there to support the film.

Which publisher released the four-volume comic sequel Return to Labyrinth?

Archaia later published the prequel Labyrinth: Coronation.

Jennifer Connelly later won an Oscar for playing whom?

She had made her debut in Once Upon a Time in America two years before Labyrinth.

The film's concept designer said Jareth was partly inspired by which brooding literary figures?

The Scarlet Pimpernel, Marlon Brando's leather jacket and Kabuki theatre went into the mix too.

In Greek myth, who built the original Labyrinth for King Minos?

It housed the Minotaur at Knossos on Crete.

What did the Minotaur have the head of?

Its name means Bull of Minos; on Crete it was called Asterion.

Who gave Theseus the thread that let him escape the Labyrinth?

She was King Minos's daughter; he later abandoned her on Naxos.

How often did Athens have to send fourteen young people to the Minotaur?

Seven men and seven women, in payment for the death of Minos's son.

In specialist usage, what distinguishes a unicursal design from a multicursal one?

The Classical seven-course design on Cretan coins from 430 BC has no dead ends.

Which French cathedral has a famous walkable labyrinth in the floor of its nave?

It dates from the early 1200s and the chairs are cleared on certain days for pilgrims to walk it.

Hampton Court Maze, Britain's oldest surviving hedge maze, was commissioned by which king?

Planted between 1689 and 1695, it takes about 20 minutes to reach the middle.

Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth is set in which country and year?

Ofelia's stepfather hunts the anti-Franco Maquis while she meets the faun.

Who served as executive producer of Labyrinth, a co-production with his company Lucasfilm?

Lucas was also heavily involved in bringing Henson's first cut of the film to its final edit.

What is the name of Sarah's dog, seen with her in the park at the start of the film?

She is reciting from a book titled The Labyrinth but cannot remember its last line.

Which son of the director voiced Hoggle and radio-controlled the puppet's face?

Shari Weiser was inside the costume doing the body movement.

Which British actress auditioned for Sarah but was passed over in favour of an American?

Auditions for the lead began in England in April 1984 and continued monthly in the US until January 1985.

Which Star Trek actress choreographed the film, credited under her first name Cheryl?

She had been offered the role of Sarah's mother too, but union rules stopped her acting in the film.

Which comedy writer polished the script shortly before filming, 'humanising' the characters?

At least 25 treatments and scripts were drafted between 1983 and 1985.