once as a small child i found a VHS of labyrinth at my grandparents house and watched it with my uncles. i became. OBSESSED. so obsessed that my parents got a second copy for our own house. I would watch it over and over all the way through even the "how its made" bit at the end of tape. various quips and quotes became inside jokes amongst my family. i made a friend in highschool when they caught on to the reference i made to the movie. i, too, have the phrase "its only forever, its not long at all" living rent free in my mind.
That's lovely. I think it's interesting how it was critically panned and then actually really loved by a lot of the actual audience - kids. Like gosh, maybe people like Roger Ebert just weren't ready to engage with a kids film on any genuine level. Glad people love it.
앗 저도! 여름방학 때 할머니댁에서 뒹굴거리다 처음 봤어요 TV에서 우연히 본 어린이 영화! 그런데 고블린 왕이 너무 매력적이고 매혹적이고 특별해서 영화를 본 이후로 마음에 오래 남았는데... 나중에 알고 보니 그 왕이 수퍼 록스타 David Bowie였어요!!! OMG!
What a wonderful way to make make friends! ❤ "Labyrinth" has been my favourite film as a child... and later, David Bowie probably became the most important part of the soundtrack of my life!
David Bowie was such a fearless trailblazer. I remember he was also one of the first artists to lend himself to video games. He was also one of the first to dive directly into the internet when it was new. The man knew how to think long term. Brilliant.
I first watched Labyrinth when I was 6, my aunt showed me the movie and I fell head over heels for Jareth. I didn't know he was a real, iconic person named David Bowie so I just called him "Goblin King". The movie crossed my mind and I decided to watch it again as a teenager, and again I fell head over heels. This time I found out David was a singer, but my taste in music was not as open and wide as it is now, so I didn't listen to his stuff. Here I am now, having watched it again with a bunch of friends (who are all crushing on Jareth btw), obsessed with Jareth, Bowie, his music, his characters, his style, all of it. He's so amazing I can't believe I'm barely realizing now, I'm so happy he gave us this iconic piece of history 😭
Tangentially, on the topic of growing up, Toby (the child of the Frouds, the artists who did the design work, who met while working on the Dark Crystal), got into puppetry and fx and has been working in the industry as an adult, having worked on most of the Laika films, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the upcoming Del Toro film, Pinocchio. Turns out you really can be an adult without giving up the magic. :)
I'm so happy someone analyzed this movie, so brilliantly! Also seeing all the various footage you included I couldn't help shedding a tear. Damn I miss Bowie so much.
I heard of this movie while going through a book about the great movies of the century. As soon as I saw Bowie in that costume, I knew I HAD to watch it. My parents gave me the Bowie virus as early as possible and I couldn't believe there was something of him I hadn't seen before. But wouldn't you know it, this movie ain't my parents' cup of tea :( ... Maybe I should show them your video to help them understand? :3
I didn't know I needed a detailed discussion of how Bowie's songs contributed to Labyrinth until you made it, but now you have my appreciation for the movie is even greater 😊
*Excellent* video. And as always, the delivery is as great as the info. Fun fact, my sister used to torture me when I was really little with the chant Jennifer Connelly does at the beginning asking the Goblin King to take me away. I was legitimately terrified because I was a dumb child.
28:57 This shot This scene This might be one of my absolute favourites in all of cinema this is when the movie fucking blew my mind as a kid that's when it just goes past all pre-established boundaries i love it
This whole video was lovely, and the greatest revelation for me was this: "Chilly Down" hecking SLAPS The Soundtrack version with additional verses makes it even more apparent that these guys are essentially Couch-Surfing Stoner-Bros "When the sun goes down And the bats are back to bed The brothers come 'round I get out of my dirty bed I shake my pretty little head Tap my pretty little feet Feelin' brighter than sunlight Louder than thunder Bouncing like a yo-yo" They really are the embodiment of immature hedonism, and remind me a lot of the self-destructive, devil-may-care attitude of teenagers When the future doesn't matter and you feel like you can live off of the comradarie of your friends alone The Fire Gang scene often gets memed-on as Creepy, Random and Pointless, but I appreciate it so much more now
We're glad to hear that. It has gotten a lot of shit for the things you mentioned, and we just really wanted to add a different perspective to that. We love these furballs and their little act - it's really cool. I think a lot of the problem people have is that they only look at the pretty bad greenscreen effect and focus on it to the point where they can't see anything else. Like yeah, it's a really old greenscreen effect, but gosh listen to the song and look at those rad puppets go!
As a new Bowie fan who hadn't seen Labyrinth, or really knows much about Bowie himself beyond his songs, this video was really interesting! I'll definitely have to give the movie a watch, and the broader discussion on how context is manufactured is also really insightful
Welp it's been two years but I finally watched it and yeah Labyrinth is really interesting and good. Surprised to see many critics say the movie is without heart, which is something I pretty strongly disagree with. Unfortunately I couldn't find a UMD so I didn't get the true cinematic experience.@@Transparencyboo
As someone who knew nothing about Labyrinth and little about David Bowie, you still captured my interest the whole time! Your continued ability to shine light on pieces of media that so many are willing to discard makes me excited for every upload, even ones like this where I have no personal relationship to what youre talking about (and ooh boy am i ready for the balan wonderworld vid. gonna be peak transparency, i feel)
Labyrinth's been SO underappreciated. Not a lot of people know about it. But for instance a lot of people in cgi and vfx fields know and adore it. The practical effects in the film are AMAZING. Ludo is my spirit creature. And sir Didymus... oh my.
Hello, thank you for watching the video! If you enjoy it a lot and want to see more from us in the future please consider supporting us on patreon - www.patreon.com/transparens. By doing so you get access to our Discord, a bunch of fun audio companions for the episodes and more! Check it out! UPDATE! So, we just noticed that four names mysteriously got cut from the credits. Very sorry about that, so the next best thing we can do now is add you all in a comment. Tyler Leto Tyler Likes Cookies Zach Zyfi Your names are however mentioned in the audio companion, together with our uncut panicked realization that they disappeared from the video. Hopefully that bit of slapstick comedy can make up for it.
I LOVE David Bowie. I'm a fan of Labyrinth but I hadn't thought of the themes too much before. Labyrinth definitely stands out as a gem, not just from Bowie's 80's era, but from his whole career. I do believe you're right though about the generational gap, so it seems to get overlooked. Great video!!
I first saw this movie just 2 months ago. I've heard of it but was never interested in watching it until a few months back. I wanted to see why everyone loved this movie and the singer and now I understand
Glad you enjoyed it! And heck yeah, we hope to be able to destroy our opposition when it comes to Balan Wonderworld, haha. No but really, we are hopeful that we can at least bring a different perspective on the matter that treats it with a bit more positivity.
I went to a Labyrinth-themed masque ball this last weekend. They have people who dress up as the characters. I got to dance with Jareth a couple times. I have been three times now, it's so awesome!
I love this video and the movie so much! Thanks for the interesting analysis! I never got how people didn't/don't understand the basic plot and characters of Labyrinth though -- I found it so easy to follow from the first time I rented it from a video store at 7 years old and was hooked. Every time we went back to that store, I'd beg to be able to rent that and something else (previously had been only allowed to rent one at a time). This happened so often that I was gifted DVDs of it from a few different family members a couple Christmases later. It remains my favorite movie and soundtrack to this day.
I think we have come to a conclusion about a lot of misinterpretation and exclamations of things 'not making sense', 'not being about anything' or it simply being 'incomprehensible'. It's pretty straight forward actually. People like Siskel and Ebert didn't pay attention because they didn't actually care enough. It happens all the time - we're not invested enough and suddenly we're not putting enough effort in to engage with a piece of media. It's just then easy to blame the movie or video game for it I suppose.
I remember watching a video about labyrinth from Cracked positing that the film is an allegory for Sarah having a sexual awakening. It took a lot of the same beats of this analysis albeit more entrenched in a “haha dick jokes” sentiment. That said, I appreciate your analysis for taking this sentiment and applying the work in a more mature, wholistic manner
It's a very common reading of the movie, even in less joking ways, and we really didn't want to do that to be quite honest. We think our reading can easily fit those kinds of ideas really neatly if you really want them to, but for ourselves we'd rather not go into anything sexual with this movie at all. We actually talk about it a little bit in the audio companion.
I love your commentary so much! I've Loved this movie for so long and considered it metaphorical and mythological, but you made puzzle pieces fall into place for me I just thank you so much!
The peach is indicative of the fact that you can't eat anything in the Fae realm or there will be consequences. Sometimes it's being trapped there forever, and here it's a way to trap Sarah in a fantasy of her own making in order to divert her from her mission to save Toby, immediately followed by the Junk Lady Agnes trying to divert her by making her think she is literally better off piled with material objects that represent her childhood.
I never actually watched this movie despite looking at countless gifsets of david bowie in his tights on tumblr years ago as a teen... happy to say I will finally watch and enjoy this movie as intended now after your fantastic video, thank you
Great work, so thoughtful and detailed! So nice to see such deserved appreciation for this movie. As a poor kid I internalized "It's all junk" hard. Anyway, I am so glad that it doesn't have a sequel, this story is over. (There is some manga but meh). It could get a remake of course. If made in a video game format, it could be interesting. I mean, it could happen 20 years down the line or so. Another anyway, the MirrorMask movie is pretty similar, though many regard it as bad. They are wrong, obviously, it's pretty nice. I love the visuals.
I'd rather they just let Labyrinth be. It doesn't need a fancy remake or a sequel. I think a lot of what made it special would be lost in the process of trying to make it more 'modern' anyway. I imagine CGI Hoggle and weep.
I don't know much about Bowie or Labyrinth but I wanted to watch this because y'all did it, it was a neat time! (I also thought it was universally loved because I know a bunch of people that love it) (also excited for balan wonderworld my partner loved that game despite issues)
Glad you enjoyed it! It's worth giving a watch for sure if you haven't already. Like we said - it seems to be a generation thing. People didn't like it when it came out, our generation loves it, haha. Give your partner a thumbs up from us, people who enjoy Balan Wonderworld are alright in our book, haha.
My mom and I watch The Labyrinth every now and then. There's a game store in town with 3 storefronts where one of them is a record store. They have a record of the soundtrack there and I'm trying really hard to send a copy to her.
Your points are correct. I was in high school when I saw Labyrinth in theatre and it was my first exposure to the voice, presence, and handsome face of David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. I Loved It! I went looking for his other songs after. My favourite song from the Labyrinth soundtrack wasn't Magic Dance, it was the heartbreaking, Within You.
Fantastic video! When I was a kid I went on a vacation to Florida with my mom and some family friends. I was really bored and someone picked up the Labyrinth VHS for me. I watched the movie multiple times per day for the rest of that trip, and it became a favourite for life.
Such a great and thoughtful analysis, there’s so much mythologising around David Bowie that most of the stuff that he did that wasn’t highly regarded back then is swept under the carpet- it is a shame that his contributions to Labyrinth is not seen with a much positive light! There’s also another oddity in his catalogue that is completely forgotten, and that’s his score to the David Cage (urgh) video game Omikron- but that score is usually tied together to his album Hours even if it doesn’t include all the songs he did for that video game!
@@Transparencyboo indeed! Especially with the resurgence of an in game cutscene with Bowie in it used as a form of meme I think? Either way there’s so much to Bowie and I thank you for opening up my eyes to the magic that is Labyrinth!💕
I remember when I first discovered this movie. I was (and still am) a big Marilyn Manson fan, and when I started watching interviews for his new album, Mechanical Animals, I heard the name "David Bowie" being meantioned a lot. So I googled him and my phone started recommending videos and songs of his. At first I didn't like his music, but as time went on, I found myself listening to Bowie more and more. Eventually, my phone started recommending clips of The Labyrinth. Then, one night, after a Willy Wonka movie marathon with my sister that ended around 3 am, I grogilly told her about this weird movie I heard of about Bowie and a maze. Without taking in consideration what time it was, we put The Labyrinth on and were blown away. We loved it so much that we rewatched it a few days later, along with the behind the scenes video. I even bought a Labyrinth poster and hung it on my wall, which my mother later commented on it and revealed that she was a big Labyrinth fan too! It's such a great movie, and I'm so glad I discovered it!
Who else was conflicted while watching the movie wheather they wanted Sarah to stay in the labyrinth and Jareth's world or find Toby and get back to the real world? I wouldn't have solved the labyrinth. I wouldn't have wanted to leave the labyrinth. Probably still would stay there probably...
so many fans wish she stayed too. growing up and the real world are overrated. anti depressants, her own babies poopy diapers, sleepless nights, stress, worrying about money, other peoples expectations lol the real world sucks. i dont know any fans who where happy to see her go back to the real world.
I love Bowie a lot, mostly his earlier work though like Diamond Dogs and Ziggy - so I’ve never actually seen Labyrinth actually haha. I learned more about it from Defunctland’s series on Henson so cant wait to watch this!
Is it bad that I keep mixing up this film and Pan's Labyrinth? I'm pretty sure it's the latter that scared me as a kid, and I ended up unfairly associating that fear with this Labyrinth, so clearly I need to watch this film to make amends.
Pan's Labyrinth is the one with the scary monster with eyes in it's palms. Labyrinth has some things that could probably be unsettling for a kid, but I think you should watch it now. Why not. Both are really good movies actually.
Another incredible one! I didn't even know this movie was so maligned. Amazing how you unfailingly make me care about stuff I didn't even think about that much before. Also love the bit with the suitcase. I died irl.
Our generation freaking loves this movie, haha. It's kind of funny how the perspective shifted long after the original release. Also about the suitcase bit (if you mean the one with Hoggle) we actually couldn't stop laughing every time we read it. Like every single time.
Thank you for all of the work and time that you had given this project. I enjoyed watching this video very much. I would, however, like to add a couple of insights into two of the characterizations in the movie. For example, the so called junk lady, Agnes. Sarah is not only carrying the physical stuff that she is hanging onto but also all of her mental and emotional issues. The pain and fear of growing up, of no longer being the baby and only child but also she is in competition with her baby brother for the affection of her dad, she is scared of being abandoned by her dad just like she was abandoned by her mother. The second thing that most people do not understand about the scene in which David sheds his earthly shell to return to the underground. He is in pain and wants to return to the Gobins and only way to do that he needs to let go of his above ground shell.
@@Transparencyboo Just finished it, and I do like it! Very much! It will be in my rotation of vids I re-watch / re-listen to while drawing. Labyrinth is one of the VHS tapes we actually owned an official copy of. Many of our tapes were just movies my parent's friend recorded for us, but my older sister landed a legit copy of Labyrinth and we never looked back. Thanks for all of your hard work on this, and for sticking up for Trevor Jones, I like his work on the film quite a bit!
I can’t wait for the Balan vid! Also I noticed how your final message right before the teaser is kinda ironic considering what happened to both titles reception wise. Also labyrinth is peak fantasy.
Glad you're looking forward to it! One can only hope Balan Wonderworld will one day be looked back at with at least some kind of fondness. And yes, peak fantasy!
I found this while looking up "transparency on illustrator" but I pressed enter too early. I saw labyrinth and bowie and I said "... my assignment can wait a little while". I can't rewatch movies because they just make me bored and I just need to walk away but Labyrinth is one of the very very few that I can rewatch day after day. I grew up watching this in my dad's house and we would jam out. Now, I'm college and still load it up from time to time lol!!
Tho my dad isn't a huge bowie fan he showed me this movie when I was about 8. I was immediately awestruck by jareth. I did though end up forgetting about the movie and bowie until I was about 16 when I rediscovered the movie, I then checked out bowies music with a better taste in music then before and know I absolutely adore his career and music. I love him and miss him rip Starman Check out the man who fell from earth as bowie playing an alien :)
I've seen 2 or 3 other films that Bowie was in. One was a complete surprise, because it was just a minute or two of him roller skating to Bowie-esque music in the middle of an obscure vampire film.
As a Bowie fan I think I like this analysis more than some of his 80s albums, nicely done :) I think Starman by Trynka is the only bio endorsed by Bowie himself though I could be misremembering, I wanna say there's a quote along those lines on the backcover or something.
I love how you always use we when referring to your personal conclusions. At first I was thrown off because I didn’t know how the video was made and who exactly was making it, but now that I’ve seen a few videos it always feels like this is a take you’re standing by I feel like when I write I always feel unconfident (not a word) in my takes, but to have your partner who is also passionate about the subject and the analysis to stand by statements with you and I assume have bounced ideas off of each other feels like, “yeah we’re pretty confident in this statement and its easy to stand by” when it was made together.
Labyrinth is a f**ing awesome movie!
Agreed
HELL YEAH!
Ou yes, just saw it due to my aunt and grandmother, and still rewatch it
@@neyt That's nice!
Indeed. It is!!!
once as a small child i found a VHS of labyrinth at my grandparents house and watched it with my uncles. i became. OBSESSED. so obsessed that my parents got a second copy for our own house. I would watch it over and over all the way through even the "how its made" bit at the end of tape. various quips and quotes became inside jokes amongst my family. i made a friend in highschool when they caught on to the reference i made to the movie. i, too, have the phrase "its only forever, its not long at all" living rent free in my mind.
That's lovely. I think it's interesting how it was critically panned and then actually really loved by a lot of the actual audience - kids. Like gosh, maybe people like Roger Ebert just weren't ready to engage with a kids film on any genuine level. Glad people love it.
앗 저도! 여름방학 때 할머니댁에서 뒹굴거리다 처음 봤어요 TV에서 우연히 본 어린이 영화! 그런데 고블린 왕이 너무 매력적이고 매혹적이고 특별해서 영화를 본 이후로 마음에 오래 남았는데... 나중에 알고 보니 그 왕이 수퍼 록스타 David Bowie였어요!!! OMG!
What a wonderful way to make make friends! ❤
"Labyrinth" has been my favourite film as a child... and later, David Bowie probably became the most important part of the soundtrack of my life!
David Bowie was such a fearless trailblazer. I remember he was also one of the first artists to lend himself to video games. He was also one of the first to dive directly into the internet when it was new. The man knew how to think long term. Brilliant.
I first watched Labyrinth when I was 6, my aunt showed me the movie and I fell head over heels for Jareth. I didn't know he was a real, iconic person named David Bowie so I just called him "Goblin King". The movie crossed my mind and I decided to watch it again as a teenager, and again I fell head over heels. This time I found out David was a singer, but my taste in music was not as open and wide as it is now, so I didn't listen to his stuff. Here I am now, having watched it again with a bunch of friends (who are all crushing on Jareth btw), obsessed with Jareth, Bowie, his music, his characters, his style, all of it. He's so amazing I can't believe I'm barely realizing now, I'm so happy he gave us this iconic piece of history 😭
🧡
Tangentially, on the topic of growing up, Toby (the child of the Frouds, the artists who did the design work, who met while working on the Dark Crystal), got into puppetry and fx and has been working in the industry as an adult, having worked on most of the Laika films, Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the upcoming Del Toro film, Pinocchio.
Turns out you really can be an adult without giving up the magic. :)
That's very nice, and cool!
So... Toby stayed in the world of labyrinth after all 😱
@@Pippis78 Just in his heart~
I read some time ago that his daughter, Lexi, used to play that she was Jareth and a friend of hers was Sarah. That made me smile.
That is very precious, yeah!
That's adorable. I used to do that when I was younger. That movie changed my life forever.
she has the jareth genes!!
Thanks for sharing this! 😃 Wonderful!
can confirm, mom showed me labyrinth as a kid and it spiraled me into a bowie obsession
Kids knows what's up.
That junk lady scene haunted me as a child.
She is pretty scary, haha.
I'm so happy someone analyzed this movie, so brilliantly! Also seeing all the various footage you included I couldn't help shedding a tear. Damn I miss Bowie so much.
Aw, thanks! Glad you liked it, we put a lot of time and effort into it
I heard of this movie while going through a book about the great movies of the century. As soon as I saw Bowie in that costume, I knew I HAD to watch it. My parents gave me the Bowie virus as early as possible and I couldn't believe there was something of him I hadn't seen before. But wouldn't you know it, this movie ain't my parents' cup of tea :( ... Maybe I should show them your video to help them understand? :3
Haha, maybe? Depends on how open they are to us rambling for a bit
My mom was obsessed with Labyrinth when it came out. As such, I saw it a lot growing up and I'm glad for it.
I didn't know I needed a detailed discussion of how Bowie's songs contributed to Labyrinth until you made it, but now you have my appreciation for the movie is even greater 😊
Glad we could provide
Dropping the title credit at the 13 minute mark absolute legends.
We don't give a shiiiit baaaabey! It's unintentional though, mostly just a fact of where is happened to ens up. We think it is fine, haha.
As someone who traveled through the Labyrinth into Bowie's full discography - thank you! This was so fun to listen to.
Glad you liked it! ♥️
*Excellent* video. And as always, the delivery is as great as the info.
Fun fact, my sister used to torture me when I was really little with the chant Jennifer Connelly does at the beginning asking the Goblin King to take me away. I was legitimately terrified because I was a dumb child.
Aw, that's mean. I suppose she did not learn from Sarah's mistake ;)
28:57
This shot
This scene
This might be one of my absolute favourites in all of cinema
this is when the movie fucking blew my mind as a kid
that's when it just goes past all pre-established boundaries
i love it
We're glad you love it so much
This whole video was lovely, and the greatest revelation for me was this:
"Chilly Down" hecking SLAPS
The Soundtrack version with additional verses makes it even more apparent that these guys are essentially Couch-Surfing Stoner-Bros
"When the sun goes down
And the bats are back to bed
The brothers come 'round
I get out of my dirty bed
I shake my pretty little head
Tap my pretty little feet
Feelin' brighter than sunlight
Louder than thunder
Bouncing like a yo-yo"
They really are the embodiment of immature hedonism, and remind me a lot of the self-destructive, devil-may-care attitude of teenagers
When the future doesn't matter and you feel like you can live off of the comradarie of your friends alone
The Fire Gang scene often gets memed-on as Creepy, Random and Pointless, but I appreciate it so much more now
We're glad to hear that. It has gotten a lot of shit for the things you mentioned, and we just really wanted to add a different perspective to that. We love these furballs and their little act - it's really cool. I think a lot of the problem people have is that they only look at the pretty bad greenscreen effect and focus on it to the point where they can't see anything else. Like yeah, it's a really old greenscreen effect, but gosh listen to the song and look at those rad puppets go!
As a new Bowie fan who hadn't seen Labyrinth, or really knows much about Bowie himself beyond his songs, this video was really interesting! I'll definitely have to give the movie a watch, and the broader discussion on how context is manufactured is also really insightful
Totally a movie worth watching, whether it is on your PSP or not!
It's one of the best movies 💙💜 Bowie did some truly fantastic movies, the Man Who Fell to Earth is my second favorite Bowie movie
Welp it's been two years but I finally watched it and yeah Labyrinth is really interesting and good. Surprised to see many critics say the movie is without heart, which is something I pretty strongly disagree with. Unfortunately I couldn't find a UMD so I didn't get the true cinematic experience.@@Transparencyboo
@@TheGlooga Glad you got to watch it and enjoyed it too. Sorry about the lack of UMD experience though, that's rough.
An excellent analysis. I would love to see Jarreth and Hoggle run a bar together.
It's the dream, after all.
🤩🤩🤩
As someone who knew nothing about Labyrinth and little about David Bowie, you still captured my interest the whole time! Your continued ability to shine light on pieces of media that so many are willing to discard makes me excited for every upload, even ones like this where I have no personal relationship to what youre talking about (and ooh boy am i ready for the balan wonderworld vid. gonna be peak transparency, i feel)
Thanks! Glad that we can keep people interested even as we jump around a lot with themes and subjects :)
Thank you for this lovely analysis. Labyrinth and its soundtrack have been favorites since the movie came out and this was a wonderful watch.
Labyrinth's been SO underappreciated. Not a lot of people know about it. But for instance a lot of people in cgi and vfx fields know and adore it. The practical effects in the film are AMAZING.
Ludo is my spirit creature. And sir Didymus... oh my.
Ever since I watched this movie on a roadtrip as a kid I've been in love with it!
It's a banger!
So basically Bowie in this movie is a Sarah's childhood crush she stumbled upon and in her mind became something she needs to leave behind? XD
I mean maybe?
6:07 just tagging the time here to remind people to watch this part again because it's great
A rare Kiki cameo too!
Hello, thank you for watching the video! If you enjoy it a lot and want to see more from us in the future please consider supporting us on patreon - www.patreon.com/transparens. By doing so you get access to our Discord, a bunch of fun audio companions for the episodes and more! Check it out!
UPDATE!
So, we just noticed that four names mysteriously got cut from the credits. Very sorry about that, so the next best thing we can do now is add you all in a comment.
Tyler Leto
Tyler Likes Cookies
Zach
Zyfi
Your names are however mentioned in the audio companion, together with our uncut panicked realization that they disappeared from the video. Hopefully that bit of slapstick comedy can make up for it.
I LOVE David Bowie. I'm a fan of Labyrinth but I hadn't thought of the themes too much before. Labyrinth definitely stands out as a gem, not just from Bowie's 80's era, but from his whole career. I do believe you're right though about the generational gap, so it seems to get overlooked. Great video!!
How does it feel to have made the best video about Labyrinth on the whole Internet?
There are like 5 in total, Pim. One of which is made by Doug Walker.
I love Labyrinth! It's such a great movie and Chilly Down is is so underrated
54:24 i know i'm definitely a big baby, because i just accidentally _felt_ too hard and started crying
You're not a big baby for that
Great video, as always ❤
Thank you 🤗
I remember watching this movie on tv and being charmed by it!
It's the best! :)
Rewatching this video because it's 🤌
I really do love the Labyrinth.
Thank you!
Watched it for the first time this year. What an amazing experience it was.
I first saw this movie just 2 months ago. I've heard of it but was never interested in watching it until a few months back. I wanted to see why everyone loved this movie and the singer and now I understand
Welcome to the club, haha :)
LESSSS GOOO NEW TRANSPARENCY VID!!!!
YEEEEESS!!
I loved this video so much, thank you, and I'm SO PUMPED for the Balan Wonderworld video because the lore of that game is FASCINATING. Y'all rock!
Glad you enjoyed it! And heck yeah, we hope to be able to destroy our opposition when it comes to Balan Wonderworld, haha. No but really, we are hopeful that we can at least bring a different perspective on the matter that treats it with a bit more positivity.
I went to a Labyrinth-themed masque ball this last weekend. They have people who dress up as the characters. I got to dance with Jareth a couple times. I have been three times now, it's so awesome!
Sounds neat! :)
@@Transparencyboo it’s always like a dream come true for a few hours
Labyrinth's masterpiece status has never been a secret here -- it's a fabulous movie! (And excellently parodied in an episode of Regular Show!)
It sure is fabulous!
I love this video and the movie so much! Thanks for the interesting analysis!
I never got how people didn't/don't understand the basic plot and characters of Labyrinth though -- I found it so easy to follow from the first time I rented it from a video store at 7 years old and was hooked. Every time we went back to that store, I'd beg to be able to rent that and something else (previously had been only allowed to rent one at a time). This happened so often that I was gifted DVDs of it from a few different family members a couple Christmases later. It remains my favorite movie and soundtrack to this day.
I think we have come to a conclusion about a lot of misinterpretation and exclamations of things 'not making sense', 'not being about anything' or it simply being 'incomprehensible'. It's pretty straight forward actually. People like Siskel and Ebert didn't pay attention because they didn't actually care enough. It happens all the time - we're not invested enough and suddenly we're not putting enough effort in to engage with a piece of media. It's just then easy to blame the movie or video game for it I suppose.
Labyrinth is awesome and the game is fun, also excited for the Majin Balan arc in Transparency ball Z.
We are charging our spirit bomb as we speak!
I remember watching a video about labyrinth from Cracked positing that the film is an allegory for Sarah having a sexual awakening. It took a lot of the same beats of this analysis albeit more entrenched in a “haha dick jokes” sentiment.
That said, I appreciate your analysis for taking this sentiment and applying the work in a more mature, wholistic manner
It's a very common reading of the movie, even in less joking ways, and we really didn't want to do that to be quite honest. We think our reading can easily fit those kinds of ideas really neatly if you really want them to, but for ourselves we'd rather not go into anything sexual with this movie at all. We actually talk about it a little bit in the audio companion.
I love your commentary so much! I've Loved this movie for so long and considered it metaphorical and mythological, but you made puzzle pieces fall into place for me I just thank you so much!
The peach is indicative of the fact that you can't eat anything in the Fae realm or there will be consequences. Sometimes it's being trapped there forever, and here it's a way to trap Sarah in a fantasy of her own making in order to divert her from her mission to save Toby, immediately followed by the Junk Lady Agnes trying to divert her by making her think she is literally better off piled with material objects that represent her childhood.
Wait, how did I not know there was a UMD Movie version of Labyrinth, I need this immediately!
You're welcome!
I never actually watched this movie despite looking at countless gifsets of david bowie in his tights on tumblr years ago as a teen... happy to say I will finally watch and enjoy this movie as intended now after your fantastic video, thank you
And thank you too for watching and enjoying yourself!
Great work, so thoughtful and detailed! So nice to see such deserved appreciation for this movie.
As a poor kid I internalized "It's all junk" hard.
Anyway, I am so glad that it doesn't have a sequel, this story is over. (There is some manga but meh). It could get a remake of course. If made in a video game format, it could be interesting. I mean, it could happen 20 years down the line or so.
Another anyway, the MirrorMask movie is pretty similar, though many regard it as bad. They are wrong, obviously, it's pretty nice. I love the visuals.
I'd rather they just let Labyrinth be. It doesn't need a fancy remake or a sequel. I think a lot of what made it special would be lost in the process of trying to make it more 'modern' anyway. I imagine CGI Hoggle and weep.
Now hang on a sec. The manga is a fun read if you happen to be hanging out at Barnes and Noble and run across it while browsing for something else.
Labyrinth is my favorite David Bowie movie 😊
Instant classic
This is gonna be a banger I know it
Gosh, we'd hope so. But as usual no guarantee for that sadly. Hopefully people will like it though.
man i was so in love with jareth
We don't really blame you.
I don't know much about Bowie or Labyrinth but I wanted to watch this because y'all did it, it was a neat time! (I also thought it was universally loved because I know a bunch of people that love it) (also excited for balan wonderworld my partner loved that game despite issues)
Glad you enjoyed it! It's worth giving a watch for sure if you haven't already. Like we said - it seems to be a generation thing. People didn't like it when it came out, our generation loves it, haha. Give your partner a thumbs up from us, people who enjoy Balan Wonderworld are alright in our book, haha.
Never noticed Sarah taking the “right way” in each option. A movie that certainly delivers more with each rewatch. A very enjoyable deep dive!
One of my favorite movies.
My mom and I watch The Labyrinth every now and then. There's a game store in town with 3 storefronts where one of them is a record store. They have a record of the soundtrack there and I'm trying really hard to send a copy to her.
Aw, that's great! Love to hear that!
Your points are correct. I was in high school when I saw Labyrinth in theatre and it was my first exposure to the voice, presence, and handsome face of David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. I Loved It! I went looking for his other songs after. My favourite song from the Labyrinth soundtrack wasn't Magic Dance, it was the heartbreaking, Within You.
Come for the Bowie analysis, stay for the rest of the Bowie analysis.
Bowiemania!
Fantastic video! When I was a kid I went on a vacation to Florida with my mom and some family friends. I was really bored and someone picked up the Labyrinth VHS for me. I watched the movie multiple times per day for the rest of that trip, and it became a favourite for life.
Such a great and thoughtful analysis, there’s so much mythologising around David Bowie that most of the stuff that he did that wasn’t highly regarded back then is swept under the carpet- it is a shame that his contributions to Labyrinth is not seen with a much positive light! There’s also another oddity in his catalogue that is completely forgotten, and that’s his score to the David Cage (urgh) video game Omikron- but that score is usually tied together to his album Hours even if it doesn’t include all the songs he did for that video game!
Glad you liked it!
I think we talked about Omikron while making this actually, although it wasn't relevant, but it's an interesting tidbit for sure!
@@Transparencyboo indeed! Especially with the resurgence of an in game cutscene with Bowie in it used as a form of meme I think? Either way there’s so much to Bowie and I thank you for opening up my eyes to the magic that is Labyrinth!💕
I remember when I first discovered this movie. I was (and still am) a big Marilyn Manson fan, and when I started watching interviews for his new album, Mechanical Animals, I heard the name "David Bowie" being meantioned a lot. So I googled him and my phone started recommending videos and songs of his. At first I didn't like his music, but as time went on, I found myself listening to Bowie more and more. Eventually, my phone started recommending clips of The Labyrinth. Then, one night, after a Willy Wonka movie marathon with my sister that ended around 3 am, I grogilly told her about this weird movie I heard of about Bowie and a maze. Without taking in consideration what time it was, we put The Labyrinth on and were blown away. We loved it so much that we rewatched it a few days later, along with the behind the scenes video. I even bought a Labyrinth poster and hung it on my wall, which my mother later commented on it and revealed that she was a big Labyrinth fan too! It's such a great movie, and I'm so glad I discovered it!
Thank you for this video.
And thank you for watching!
@@Transparencyboo hmm... And thank you for thanking me!
I remember watching the Labyrinth and just wishing I could wear ALL of his outfits
That is a pretty great goal, I think!
Thank you for making such a thoughtful commentary. I enjoyed it very much. 🦋🦉
this is such a well made video!!!
Thank you :)
@@Transparencyboo you’re very welcome :)
Umd video was a truly underrated format. Had league of extraordinary gentlemen, and watched it more than I care to admit on my Psp
UMD was really rad and before its time. It's really cool when you think about it!
Good essay. Clearly a lot of effort put into this. Hope your channel gets more attention soon.
This movie is 100% what got me to start listening to Bowie in the first place and I'm really grateful for it.
♥
Who else was conflicted while watching the movie wheather they wanted Sarah to stay in the labyrinth and Jareth's world or find Toby and get back to the real world?
I wouldn't have solved the labyrinth. I wouldn't have wanted to leave the labyrinth. Probably still would stay there probably...
so many fans wish she stayed too. growing up and the real world are overrated. anti depressants, her own babies poopy diapers, sleepless nights, stress, worrying about money, other peoples expectations lol the real world sucks. i dont know any fans who where happy to see her go back to the real world.
i hate kids, if the spell worked i and found toby gone from his crib id just go back to bed lol
I love Bowie a lot, mostly his earlier work though like Diamond Dogs and Ziggy - so I’ve never actually seen Labyrinth actually haha. I learned more about it from Defunctland’s series on Henson so cant wait to watch this!
Hope you'll like it, totally worth a watch!
Is it bad that I keep mixing up this film and Pan's Labyrinth? I'm pretty sure it's the latter that scared me as a kid, and I ended up unfairly associating that fear with this Labyrinth, so clearly I need to watch this film to make amends.
Pan's Labyrinth is the one with the scary monster with eyes in it's palms. Labyrinth has some things that could probably be unsettling for a kid, but I think you should watch it now. Why not. Both are really good movies actually.
Pan's Labyrinth still scares me. That's why it took me forever to watch this movie. So glad I finally did!
Another incredible one! I didn't even know this movie was so maligned. Amazing how you unfailingly make me care about stuff I didn't even think about that much before.
Also love the bit with the suitcase. I died irl.
Our generation freaking loves this movie, haha. It's kind of funny how the perspective shifted long after the original release. Also about the suitcase bit (if you mean the one with Hoggle) we actually couldn't stop laughing every time we read it. Like every single time.
Thank you for all of the work and time that you had given this project. I enjoyed watching this video very much. I would, however, like to add a couple of insights into two of the characterizations in the movie. For example, the so called junk lady, Agnes. Sarah is not only carrying the physical stuff that she is hanging onto but also all of her mental and emotional issues. The pain and fear of growing up, of no longer being the baby and only child but also she is in competition with her baby brother for the affection of her dad, she is scared of being abandoned by her dad just like she was abandoned by her mother.
The second thing that most people do not understand about the scene in which David sheds his earthly shell to return to the underground. He is in pain and wants to return to the Gobins and only way to do that he needs to let go of his above ground shell.
Wow just the title alone on this vid.... Today will be the greatest day of this month.
Hope you like it
@@Transparencyboo Just finished it, and I do like it! Very much! It will be in my rotation of vids I re-watch / re-listen to while drawing. Labyrinth is one of the VHS tapes we actually owned an official copy of. Many of our tapes were just movies my parent's friend recorded for us, but my older sister landed a legit copy of Labyrinth and we never looked back. Thanks for all of your hard work on this, and for sticking up for Trevor Jones, I like his work on the film quite a bit!
@@JPHarringtonJr glad to provide! Thank you! ♥️
I am waiting for someone to finally create a musical or opera based on the film and score. I want to direct it!!
Would be pretty rad, not gonna lie.
I can’t wait for the Balan vid! Also I noticed how your final message right before the teaser is kinda ironic considering what happened to both titles reception wise. Also labyrinth is peak fantasy.
Glad you're looking forward to it! One can only hope Balan Wonderworld will one day be looked back at with at least some kind of fondness. And yes, peak fantasy!
This was so amazing, omg!!!!!
Thank you!
Good work.
Thenk!
I found this while looking up "transparency on illustrator" but I pressed enter too early. I saw labyrinth and bowie and I said "... my assignment can wait a little while". I can't rewatch movies because they just make me bored and I just need to walk away but Labyrinth is one of the very very few that I can rewatch day after day. I grew up watching this in my dad's house and we would jam out. Now, I'm college and still load it up from time to time lol!!
Nice, and quite a fun way to find our video I must say
Yaaay, I watched Labyrinth with my mum a couple of times in the late 90s or early 2000s and yes, she loved Bowie 😂
That's lovely~
I forget how I first learned of this movie, it may have been a parent, but I definitely watched it with family first time and it was a very fun time
Excellent vid! Here’s a sub
Thank you, thank you :)
Very nice
You're nice!
I knew it was a masterpiece since I was little. This movie presented me to David Bowie, and I wanted so bad to tell him how much it meant to me!
It's a special movie for sure!
i wanted to as well
Great stuff, keep it up!
the ending gig 💜
"Underground" was on the Best of Bowie 80-87
Movie and the music was awesome
Totally!
Theres no "secret" here, it was always a masterpiece, and everyone knows it.
Clearly not everyone, but the fans certainly know. Plenty of people who don't recognize it, let's be real.
I actually choked, laughing at 8:47
Yes!
Tho my dad isn't a huge bowie fan he showed me this movie when I was about 8. I was immediately awestruck by jareth. I did though end up forgetting about the movie and bowie until I was about 16 when I rediscovered the movie, I then checked out bowies music with a better taste in music then before and know I absolutely adore his career and music. I love him and miss him rip Starman
Check out the man who fell from earth as bowie playing an alien :)
Thisv deserves more likes
We'll just agree, haha
i'm still watching the video but i wonder what those biographies say about merry christmas mr lawrence
I fucking love this movie. is my hyper fixation, I actually cried when I found out he died in 2016.
Notice all the David bowie stone faces following Sarah
They are really cool, we love them, haha.
I've seen 2 or 3 other films that Bowie was in. One was a complete surprise, because it was just a minute or two of him roller skating to Bowie-esque music in the middle of an obscure vampire film.
As a Bowie fan I think I like this analysis more than some of his 80s albums, nicely done :)
I think Starman by Trynka is the only bio endorsed by Bowie himself though I could be misremembering, I wanna say there's a quote along those lines on the backcover or something.
Thanks! We should check it out at some point!
Most people discount or feel the Fireys could of been left out, but I feel they were significant as outlined here and were important.
Also, their song slaps. Why wouldn't you want them?
I love how you always use we when referring to your personal conclusions. At first I was thrown off because I didn’t know how the video was made and who exactly was making it, but now that I’ve seen a few videos it always feels like this is a take you’re standing by
I feel like when I write I always feel unconfident (not a word) in my takes, but to have your partner who is also passionate about the subject and the analysis to stand by statements with you and I assume have bounced ideas off of each other feels like, “yeah we’re pretty confident in this statement and its easy to stand by” when it was made together.
I just realized that might be a preferred pronoun so sorry if I was way off about that.
I bought the soundtrack with my first paycheck and cherished it.
That Dragon Ball reference at 12:15 was perfect it had me cackling
We laughed a bit more than we should have about our own joke too, haha.
What I'm getting from this video: Maybe I should actually watch "Labyrinth" and I maybe it is a cultural touchstone that I missed.
It's absolutely worth giving a watch at the very least. It's a really enjoyable movie :)
@@Transparencyboo it is not the first cultural touchstone that I have missed