Labyrinth is a musical fantasy film directed and produced by Jim Henson and George Lucas, and was distributed by Tri-Star Pictures in 1986.
The film follows highlights many themes of loss, regret, friendship, love and gratuity. In the beginning, Sarah wishes for her brother to be taken away by goblins. However, by the end, she realizes how important Toby is to her and appreciates him more, Additionally, Sarah is implied to be a lonely girl who has her head stuck in fantasy books. However, when she is actually stuck in the fantasy she reads about, she ends up making a horde of friends. Throughout her journey, she also develops courage and strength, such is her vigor to save her brother. She even gives up her own dreams in favor of rescuing Toby from Jareth.
Nina Darnton of The New York Times praised the movie, "As he did with less success in The Dark Crystal, Mr. Henson uses the art of puppetry to create visual effects that until very recently were possible to attain only with animation. The result is really quite startling. It removes storyboard creations from the flat celluloid cartoon image and makes them three-dimensional, so that they actually come alive and interact with living people”. The movie holds a 72% positive rating from 46 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Moreover, despite not preforming as well at the box office, the movie has since become a cult classic with a sequel in development.
