A Nice Cuppa Tea

Introduction:

Hello! My name is Lydia and my pronouns are she/her/hers/herself. I am a medically diagnosed autistic and I was born at the tail end of the 1900's. I enjoy reading, writing, cosplaying, video gaming, singing, drawing cartoons and doll collecting. My favorite film is Edward Scissorhands but I'm usually game for just about any fantasy film with darker themes. Horror films and comedy films as well. As far as music, I enjoy pretty much anything that makes me just wanna dance or sing a little. I'm not picky.

About my autism, I go through phases or bursts of hyperfixation that can range from a few days to a few months or even a year and although I am lucky enough to have a mother who has always worked with me on social skills, I do still struggle with trying to understand people's meanings or intentions, especially through written text. At the moment, you can probably guess that I am having a Labyrinth phase and thus, this blog was created. However, the interest in Labyrinth, for me, is not something new. About seventeen years ago this year, when I was still barely a teenager, my mother took me to a Blockbuster Video store, where I spotted Labyrinth and immediately grabbed it. I'd recently seen The Dark Crystal for the first time and absolutely adored the puppetry, so I was on the lookout for anything by Jim Henson. My mother could have shaken her head and told me no. Instead, she lit up and said she thought I would love it as much as she had when it first released in theaters. So, she bought me a copy right then and there. We went home, I put the movie on in the kitchen with my PlayStation 2 and I was never the same again. The entire soundtrack was so catchy, the sets, puppets and practical effects were nothing short of awesome, Sarah was so relatable and the entire cast was so enthralling... But, admittedly, the thing that snagged me the most was this deliciously glammed out fae king.

Oh, goodness. My brain chemistry was forever altered. I often joke and say that I don't think I survived the ballroom scene. If you've seen Labyrinth, you know the part. That was dangerous, absolutely, and I suppose, it was meant to be so. Jim Henson's Labyrinth is a fantasy and it is also a cautionary tale that features themes of not just fantasy, but also changing social norms and expectations, what the experience of coming of age can be like (especially for girls) and inner strength versus power imbalance. I have been doing a lot of thinking about it lately, so I figured this blog might be a good place to put some of those thoughts, along with my screenshots from rewatching the film. Today (August 11th, 2026), I also finally ordered copies of the Coronation comics and the Bestiary to go with my copies of the Ultimate Visual History and the novelization, so here soon, I will likely also be posting my first reactions to those works.

Additionally, I also reserved a Maestro line Jareth doll (they say "figure", I say doll because his clothes can be changed), so be prepared to sometimes see some photos of him in the future as well!

I ordered the edition from these photos, so there will eventually be posts featuring Jareth (from the M. C. Escher scene), the little Goblin Warrior and baby Toby for sure! I am also hoping to eventually get Hoggle, even if I am a little on the fence about his posability for photography. And, whether or not KausticPlastic and Infinite make more of the Labyrinth series, I do also plan on getting Sarah at some point. For now though, I almost cannot put into words how hyped I am over Jareth and I will probably make a few separate posts about that.

Anyway... There are some rules for this blog, so please read under the cut.

But when I was reading the novel with my friend, we both realized something. Labyrinth plays with the concepts of belief, perception and preconception and this was something that we already knew. So many creatures throughout the tale remind Sarah that things are not always what they seem and that she cannot take anything for granted. The viewer is also invited to try to open up their mind along with Sarah. Generally, it works to great effect, too. We feel as though we are overcoming each challenge alongside her. However, that friend and I then realized that we all probably failed one challenge, one that no one seems to know may have been a challenge- the Bog of Eternal Stench has no specific type of smell, good or bad. (Also, and this is a whole other post topic entirely, it IS possible to fail, as a viewer, the challenges that we are aware of Sarah facing.) We think it must smell bad and that is a preconception that is set up for us by characters whose choices and ideas we have come to trust, perhaps too much. Not to mention the fact that the bog is set up to look and sound gross overall. The water is a dark greenish gray with some brown mixed in, the area looks slimy and the geysers make farting noises. But there are also visual clues that contradict those- Sir Didymus and Ambrosious, who may have been relying on that water, both appear to be healthy, grass, bushes, trees and moss surround the area even if they are not as green as the forest scene (in nature, the look of the area does not actually signify that anything is wrong and the area could just be undergoing natural renewal which is evidenced by the presence of organisms that thrive on decaying matter), and the most telling evidence, the rocks. Obviously, a rock has no sense of smell, no olfactory system in place. But through Ludo, we are meant to assume that there is still somehow something possibly alive about them. When Sir Didymus asks, “Brother Ludo, canst though summon the very rocks?”, Ludo responds, “Hmm? Sure! Rocks friends.”. This implies that there must be some sort of deal existing between Ludo and the rocks somehow. The term “friends” implies a relationship, an agreement, and that perhaps, there could be times at which the rocks could possibly refuse to help. If the bog’s waters always make a creature smell bad for life, these rocks obviously would not consider the outcome as a threat to themselves individually but what if they are able to consider how the smell might affect creatures that come near them? What if that is the case and they still did not hesitate to assist, allowing themselves to get drenched so that Ludo, Sarah, Sir Didymus and Ambrosious could cross the water? So, you see, there are some subtle events going on in the scene that could point to the smell as an illusion that is controlled by each individual somehow. This was a thought process that took place within the span of a few seconds between my friend and I. We immediately went from thinking the Bog of Eternal Stench must smell terrible to the realization that maybe we and the characters were wrong.

I found that to be pretty intriguing, so after I parted ways with my friend for the night, I found myself wondering what exactly controls each character’s perception of the smell. It was not difficult to find a possible common thread between them that might be the answer to the question. Sarah is struggling with confidence, escapism, responsibility, change, expectation, parental distance and identity from the first moment that we meet her in the story. When we are introduced to Hoggle, he is grappling with fear, power imbalance, bullying and social connection. Our first meeting with Ludo shows us a seemingly powerful giant of a creature whose gentle nature has gotten him into the predicament of being trapped and physically abused, apparently because he may have believed things were fine until they were not, which gives him anxiety. In contrast, Sir Didymus and Ambrosious appear to have far fewer issues, sans the fact that Ambrosious always hides when sensing a fight. They are not in any immediate trouble and Sir Didymus himself is quite calm, confident, responsible and personable for the most part.

In real life, people who are experiencing things similar to Sarah, Hoggle and Ludo can fall into a trap of negative perceptions or outlooks and people who are more confident, relaxed, comfortable, responsible, etc. tend to lean more toward having an improved view of things. Again, a matter of perception. It was this psychological thread that caused me to start thinking that perhaps, for people or creatures who are at risk of having a darker view, the Bog of Eternal Stench smells terrible and for those with a brighter one, perhaps it does indeed smell sweet and fragrant.

Additionally, this line of thought also supports theories about Jareth as well! I did not mention this in the body of the text above but I will now: Jareth’s behavior of using the Bog as a threat to Hoggle implies that he is aware that it smells terribly, either to Hoggle or to both Hoggle and himself. Personally, I think it’s the latter, because Jareth seems to show some brief disgust when mentioning it and also, it is an obstacle near which no trace of him can be found even in the background, as far as I am aware. I am in the process of rewatching and rereading Labyrinth though, so I could be wrong.

What do you all think about this though?

Oh, where to begin with this part of the cinematography? The implication that the owl is, for some reason yet unknown to the first time viewer, watching Sarah as she cuts her evening plans to run home in the rain is so subtle and unsettling (even though the actual owl is, if I may gush, so adorable in my opinion). Also, Sarah wearing jeans under her dress is practical and yet also a reminder that reality and fantasy are often matters of perception. On the outside, a flowing, fairytale ensemble but underneath, a grounded and practical outfit that could imply that sometimes, the world is whatever a person makes of it, which is in line with how the Labyrinth can function. You can't take anything for granted. On that thought, it's a good way to point out early on that Sarah has a sense of reality, stability, logic and reason somewhere inside of her that will eventually help get her through her upcoming quest.

Here, just as the peace is disturbed, for the first time, by rain, there appears another of the most obvious connections (aside from the owl, so far) between the realm of the Labyrinth and real life within the film- Merlin, the sheepdog. This is also where the film really starts to show some inspiration from 1939's The Wizard of Oz, in that people and animals in the main character's daily life become the cast of characters in the fantasy realm. The visuals were already fantasy-like and now the line between fantasy and reality starts to blur in a dreamlike fashion for the duration of the story.

Alright, this is where this might start getting a little meta. Of course, a first time viewer might not realize that the story inside this book will mirror Sarah's story as much as it does by the end. The only glimpse we get into what's written in this book is Sarah's speech here: Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,

I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City

To take back the child you have stolen.

For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great.

You have no power over me.

Which is enough to beautifully foreshadow the message regarding empowerment! But cannot reliably be used to make an argument about most of the possible parallels, especially since it's never stated, even later when she begins telling a story to her baby brother, being connected to the experience that she is about to have. At least, not at a first glance. I know though, many of you here reading my posts have probably already seen the film and are possibly thinking of jumping into the comments on this post now to say, "It IS the story that happened to Sarah though!" and you would be correct. I'm just simply saying that on a first viewing, however, these first few minutes of the film likely aren't enough to give that knowledge away to the viewer and the subtle hints to that which are already starting to drop made for an excellent hook. It also does a wonderful job of setting up some of the lore, as well, especially once the film comes to an end. Was it all a dream? Or has someone else before Sarah had a similar experience and chosen to publish their story to warn others? It's certainly a topic to grapple with!

You know, there is something to be said about being able to act acting itself. Jennifer Connelly pulled that off so well in this scene, people still discuss whether or not Sarah was rehearsing for a play or simply roleplaying in costume and the only way to get a fixed, "canon" answer for this at all is reading the novelization, in which it's stated that she was simply playing with her own imagination. It was something that she was doing just for fun and escape. Without that clarification though, I highly doubt I personally ever would have figured that she wasn't rehearsing for a play.

This is also one of the first scenes that can get the viewer started with processing subtle messages and visual cues. Flowers, birds, calm waters, gold, pale green, dark green, white, offwhite, cream colors, obelisks, a decaying stone bridge, a dark forest, the style of the dress... They all lean early into themes of youth, inexperience, fantasy, growth, beauty, age, the unknown and peace. Though that last one is contrasted considerably by the overcast skies getting ready to unleash rain which will both disturb the serene surface of that pond and disrupt Sarah's evening plans at the park. The concept of disruption and disturbance of something "whole" or "complete" repeats throughout this film several times.

The transition from the opening credits to this opening scene in 'real life' was so seamless. You just blink and, suddenly, the barn owl is a real owl, perched on an obelisk in a beautifully peaceful little park that feels almost like a pocket of fantasy lingering on the outskirts of daily life. I won't lie- I have kind of wanted to visit this park in person ever since I first saw the film. It just always looked like a place where I could breathe a little easier. Did this actually exist or was this a set, does anyone know?

Sometimes, I sit and think for a bit about just how groundbreaking this opening must have been in 1986. We were still nearly a decade away from Toy Story, Pixar was just forming and we did not yet have anyone who'd likely mastered the art of this type of more realistic animation. For this barn owl to look as good as it does was certainly an achievement! I mean, just think, these are near-PlayStation 2 level graphics but roughly twenty years before PlayStation 2 even existed. Wild, right? While I personally am not a fan of CGI overall, there are a few exceptions, such as this, for which I am always forced, for a moment, to think again about my opinions... It's moments like this that make me realize that maybe it isn't that I don't like CGI overall but instead that I just don't like how little it has been pushed as an art form. At the outset, it seemed like it was intended to make animation look as realistic as possible and in concept, I actually think that's pretty cool. If only that had not been tampered with over the years by studios cutting budgets... That said though, no matter how far it could get, I'm not certain that it would every truly rival actual puppetry. This owl is magnificent but comparing it to a creature from later in the film, say, Ludo, even if the owl looked realistic by today's technological standards, I am not sure it would still hold up quite so much.

I don't know... What do you think?