Yahoo Movies The puppet designer on Netflix's new 'Dark Crystal' series was the baby in 'Labyrinth'
A 'fun fact' from the Netflix about the new Dark Crystal series has blown our minds.
It turns out that Toby Froud, the design supervisor on the lavishly rebooted series Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance, is none other than the baby from Labyrinth.
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Yep, young Toby, who was stolen from his big sister Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) by the evil goblin king Jareth (David Bowie) in the 1986 fantasy classic, is now bringing puppets to life himself.
Fun Fact — Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance design supervisor Toby Froud is no stranger to the fantastical world of Jim Henson … he was also the baby in the truly iconic 1986 movie Labyrinth! pic.twitter.com/un7E4H379B
— Netflix US (@netflix) September 4, 2019
Better still is that there's a further familial connection.
Toby Froud's father Brian Froud was the conceptual designer of both the original movie The Dark Crystal in 1982 and Labyrinth.
Froud met his future wife Wendy Froud on the set of The Dark Crystal – she was the designer of the Gelflings, the elf-like creatures from the movie.
They fell in love and had a baby together, Toby, who would become the infant star of Labyrinth, and who is now an accomplished designer and puppeteer himself.
Lisa Henson, daughter of the legendary Jim Henson and the executive producer of Age of Resistance, told Entertainment Weekly: “When we were going into production on Age of Resistance, [Toby] was sculpting at Laika [ParaNorman, Kubo and the Two Strings], doing stop-motion animation.
“We loved his work, we asked him to come to L.A. and work in the creature shop on the initial build of characters for the show.
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“He did the sculpted maquettes of the lead characters. As weeks went by, we realized he was providing an invaluable role helping to translate his parents’ designs into the concrete build of the puppets and the costumes.
“Toby was really in charge of translating all of the designs into the actual build and the look of the puppets.”
Age of Resistance, with its stunning voice cast featuring the likes of Taron Egerton, Mark Hamill, Nathalie Emmanuel, Eddie Izzard, Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Heady, Simon Pegg and Mark Strong, is currently streaming on Netflix.
