Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, with George Lucas as executive producer, based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud. It revolves around 16-year-old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly)’s quest to reach the center of an enormous otherworldly maze to rescue her infant half-brother Toby (Toby Froud), whom Sarah accidentally wished away to Jareth, The Goblin King (David Bowie). Most of the film’s main characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, apart from Bowie and Connelly.
The film started as a collaboration between Henson and Froud following their previous collaboration The Dark Crystal (1982). Terry Jones of Monty Python wrote the first draft of the film’s script early in 1984, drawing on Froud’s sketches for inspiration. Various other scriptwriters rewrote it and added to it, including Laura Phillips, Lucas, Dennis Lee, and Elaine May—although Jones received the film’s sole screenwriting credit. It was shot from April to September 1985 on location in Upper Nyack, Piermont, and Haverstraw, New York, and at Elstree Studios and West Wycombe Park in the United Kingdom.
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“The Final Countdown” is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made in the early 1980s, with lyrics inspired by David Bowie’s “Space Oddity”.
🌍 Europe •⏳ The Final Countdown • 👸 Jennifer Connelly • 🧸 Labyrinth • 🛩️ Top Gun: Maverick