![]() ![]() The indie film sees a young Storm Reid shortly before rocketing to fame thanks to Euphoria and was able to amass $4 million at the box office against a $250,000 budget. Sleight is quite a unique entry into the action-drama genre and is arguably one of the best movies about magic. While it received mixed reviews upon its release, The Dark Crystal has amassed a large cult following and the film has spawned the aforementioned TV series, books, and comics. Jen goes on a long winding journey full of extraordinary creatures and spell-binding magic. Jen is burdened with healing a long-shattered crystal in order to fulfill a prophecy that will see order to their homeland restored after the evil Skeksis race has wreaked havoc. The Dark Crystal has deep lore surrounding the story, but the basics see a young Gelfling named Jen who is tasked with a large quest. The Dark Crystal turned out to be such a classic that a prequel series was made for Netflix in 2019 and won an Emmy. The animatronics used in the movie were considered groundbreaking technology for the time period, and fantasy illustrator Brian Froud used his work with Henson in this film to grease the wheels for Labyrinth. Drawing away from his typical happy-go-lucky muppets, Dark Crystal is a much darker fantasy film than Henson's previous family-friendly entries. The film adapts four of Mary Hope Osborne’s books ( Dinosaurs Before Dark, the first in the series The Knight At Dawn, number two Pirates Past Noon, number four, and Vacation Under The Volcano, number 13), and while the animation may be simplistic (especially the character work) the story moves at an engagingly fast pace and is packed with well-meaning messages about supporting your friends, reading books and family loyalty.Jim Henson is one of the greatest creative forces of the 20th century and his film The Dark Crystal is one of the best movies about magic. Finally gathering the medallions they manage to free Morgan, and also meet Merlin (or ‘Marlin’ as the subtitles amusingly wrongly translated), who had trapped Morgan with a spell in order to teach her a lesson They find themselves in the late Cretaceous period in the land of dinosaurs and threatened by a T-Rex transported to England during the Middle Ages where they have to explore a castle sent to Pompeii on the eve of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and finally up against pirates of the Caribbean. While reading a certain book, when the children say ‘I wish I was there’ they find themselves transported into the world the book describes, and once there have a series of adventures as they try and track down a magical medallion that will help free Morgan. ![]() For some reason sorceress Morgan le Fay (Miki Maya) has been turned into a mouse (a mouse sporting the same hairstyle as Morgan), and through the Magic Tree House she recruits Jack and Annie to help her become normal. The Japanese illustrations show the children as a bit younger than the US version, and in the film Jack (voiced by Keiko Kitagawa) is a somewhat timid book with a love of books, constantly egged on by his brave and adventurous younger sister Annie (Mana Ashida). The first series of 28 books – on which the film is based – involve Morgan, while subsequent books – subtitled the Merlin Missions – take place in fantasy realms. They have to solve a series of riddles and recover mystical medallions to help free sorceress Morgan le Fay. The books tell the stories of brother and sister Jack and Annie, who live in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, and who embark on a series fantastical adventures from a magical tree house they discover in a nearby woods. The film version had its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and opens in Japan on January 7, 2012. ![]() Some 92 million copies of the books have been published in 33 countries, with 3.3 million sold in Japan alone. The original US books are illustrated by Sal Murdocca, but the Japanese versions are handled by Ayana Amako and it is this style that forms the basis for the film adaptation. The story moves at an engagingly fast pace and is packed with well-meaning messages. Perhaps too unsophisticated to work as a theatrical offering outside Japan, it could appeal to DVD distributors – and possibly broadcasters – in territories where the award-winning original books are popular. Magic Tree House ( Majikku tsurî hausu) is a joyfully broad bit of anime, and while lacking the layered animation detail of a Studio Ghibli film it is still a fun-packed adventure aimed very much at the young ones.
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