The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance NETFLIX Series

[Optimus Prime]

I find the timeline a bit odd. This series is allegedly set only 50 years before the movie? The Skesis wipe out seven tribes of Gelfling, consisting of, in some cases, many thousands as shown in the series, in that timeframe? Yet when Kira and Jen discover Gelfling ruins in the movie, they are clearly ancient.

From what I've seen and read, the UrSkeks didn't arrive on Thra until after the First Great Conjunction. Between the First and Second Great Conjunctions, the UrSkeks, accidently blind and then heal Aughra, build the Castle of the Crystal, bring knowledge and culture to the Gelfling, and then built Aughra the Observatory. Yet the show seems to imply that the Skesis did the work of the observatory, which would have been before the Second Great Conjunction and the division of the UrSkeks into the UrRu and the Skesis. http://www.darkcrystal.com/mythology.php

[wyldman11]

Haven't watched it yet, we are finishing up the last season of Izombie than moving on to this.

The timeline, was always going to be a problem after I thought about it. A genocide level event with one male and one female left (as implied anyways), would suggest it had happened fairly recently.

[IceyCat]

I find the timeline a bit odd. This series is allegedly set only 50 years before the movie? The Skesis wipe out seven tribes of Gelfling, consisting of, in some cases, many thousands as shown in the series, in that timeframe? Yet when Kira and Jen discover Gelfling ruins in the movie, they are clearly ancient.

From what I've seen and read, the UrSkeks didn't arrive on Thra until after the First Great Conjunction. Between the First and Second Great Conjunctions, the UrSkeks, accidently blind and then heal Aughra, build the Castle of the Crystal, bring knowledge and culture to the Gelfling, and then built Aughra the Observatory. Yet the show seems to imply that the Skesis did the work of the observatory, which would have been before the Second Great Conjunction and the division of the UrSkeks into the UrRu and the Skesis. http://www.darkcrystal.com/mythology.php

Yeah I did not know or remember any of that - LOL!

[Lokus]

Augrah said she saw many futures . The creators could be hinting this timeline won't connect with the movie .
We should also not expect this series to end off exactly where the movie begins assuming it does connect .

If Henson and Co want to merchandise Dark Crystal content , its probably a good idea to avoid Gelfling final solution episodes .

[wyldman11]

Augrah said she saw many futures . The creators could be hinting this timeline won't connect with the movie .
We should also not expect this series to end off exactly where the movie begins assuming it does connect .

If Henson and Co want to merchandise Dark Crystal content , its probably a good idea to avoid Gelfling final solution episodes .

Well after season three is going to depend if it wins any acclaim. Getting 1-3 seasons on netflix isn't the difficult part, it's after that. If a show doesn't get awards and maintain them they tend to drop the shows.

[Asher Tye]

I'm kind of on the fence about watching this. Dark Crystal is an old fav, yes, but I'm not a fan of getting attached to characters in a prequel when I know what their ultimate face is likely to be.

[HarryCanyon]

I find the timeline a bit odd. This series is allegedly set only 50 years before the movie? The Skesis wipe out seven tribes of Gelfling, consisting of, in some cases, many thousands as shown in the series, in that timeframe? Yet when Kira and Jen discover Gelfling ruins in the movie, they are clearly ancient.

From what I've seen and read, the UrSkeks didn't arrive on Thra until after the First Great Conjunction. Between the First and Second Great Conjunctions, the UrSkeks, accidently blind and then heal Aughra, build the Castle of the Crystal, bring knowledge and culture to the Gelfling, and then built Aughra the Observatory. Yet the show seems to imply that the Skesis did the work of the observatory, which would have been before the Second Great Conjunction and the division of the UrSkeks into the UrRu and the Skesis. http://www.darkcrystal.com/mythology.php

This is set 932 years after the events of the crystal being cracked and 50 years before the original movie and set after the Creation Myths graphic novels.

I thought those two wierdo,s were going to merge as their big surprise .

Yes but did you thought

 

the puppet show scene

was funny and fourth wall breaking? those two guys remind me of the stoner aliens from Heavy Metal in aspects.

Did anyone cringe at the

 

torture scene of Skektek the scientist

? i mean this show is even edgier and darker than the original and goes PG13 you know. And probably the most

 

cringe inducing scene of eye violence since the broken piece of wood through a woman's eye in Zombi 2 aka Zombie aka Zombie Flesh Eaters or the syringe in Dead and Buried 1981

.

Are the Skeksis vampires in any way? i mean they thirst on essence and crystal energy than on blood, similar to Asian vampire mythology

[cryanmchsi]

I was at FYE and saw these this morning:

81B8FC10-9189-4E07-A633-0B7C726B74C5.jpg

[wyldman11]

I saw those on bigbadtoy, but the images looked kind of like renderings so wasn't sure about them. Looks better in that image, also have a better feel for what the intended figure set is.

[Mark M]

I was at FYE and saw these this morning:

81B8FC10-9189-4E07-A633-0B7C726B74C5.jpg

It's awesome seeing Dark Crystal toys at retail instead of more Marvel and DC action figures.

[HarryCanyon]

It's awesome seeing Dark Crystal toys at retail instead of more Marvel and DC action figures.

Refreshing from just Marvel, Star Wars and DC action figures eh?

Who would love to hear Jim Cummings, Ron Perlman, Keith David, Brad Douriff, Kevin Conroy, Rob Paulsen,

Who would love to hear Charlie Adler or Clancy Brown be the voice of both Skekung the garthim master/new general and Skekshod the Treasurer? Tim Curry as SkekEer the spy master, Tress Macneille as SkekSa and Ursan the mariner Urru and Skeksis,.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Oh yes, I will be watching this new Dark Crystal show! I was a fan of the original as a kid, but after I re-watched it last year I do not think it held up so well. But this new one looks great

You don't think it held up well?? I love love LOVE the original film.

For anyone who's a fan of the original movie and Jim Henson even fantasy/sci-fi should check out this amazing must see series that is epic.

I kind of agree. It's too intense and dark though for my taste. My mom and I started binging on it when I was at my folks' this weekend (they have Netflix, I don't), and while there is a lot of beauty and some good humor, there's also so much you have to take. I'd like to relax and enjoy some entertainment on a weekend, and while back at home seeing family. I don't wanna feel all hit with this much intensity and evil and betrayal and despondence. It feels heavily influenced by Harry Potter and LOTR and (I assume) GoT (though I haven't seen that, just heard about it) in such intense darkness and defeat.

I get there has to be unpleasantness in the plot, but come on:

 

We had to watch a son see his father killed in one episode, and then we had to watch two daughters see their mother get killed in the very next one?? Yeesh.

And I agree with those who are turned off by how gross the Collector gets. The Skeksis are already visually corrupt enough. We do not need disgusting things like how they handled the Collector with that icky stuff. Yuck.

Also, why would they get a female to voice the Collector since he is a male? To me it just sounds like a female voice, and that does not fit. Maybe they were going for a different or unique sound for a Skeksis voice, but it just comes off as it obviously being a woman voicing a male character.

On a more pleasant note, I did love the Skeksis "spa" scene, that was great, lol.

I also loved how they showed a banquet scene like in the film. But I was puzzled though why they showed the Emperor doing that oozy stuff with his fingers at the table, when nothing ever came of it?

I found it odd they named the race of Fizzgig's kind "Fizzgig". In the film, that's his name. So I would have thought they'd call that race of creature something else, and leave "Fizzgig" be a given name for that one individual of that type.

I did love seeing the wilderness in the forests, but I was hoping to see some more of the original visions of plants that act like animals and animals that act like plants. And I wasn't crazy about spitters. It feels like borrowing from Tolkien, since he had arachnids in Middle Earth. I like it better thinking of Thra as having nothing like any creature on Earth.

I believe there will be more mystics for season 2 and also flashback back story of the Urseks on how they split apart.

I would hope so. Jim loved the Mystics. He was more interested in them than the Skeksis. And so far in about 5 episodes I've watched, Skeksis are all over the place and we've only seen 1 Mystic in 1 brief scene. That really is a shame. The only way this is okay is if they really plan to showcase the Mystics and Mystic Valley in upcoming material (as of this message, I have not seen the last 4 or 5 shows). And wow, that Mystic sure was too animated and talking way too fast; at least with how we're used to the Mystics from the film.

This show is Game of Thrones with puppets.

See, and I would never watch GoT, so if I'd known this ahead of time, I don't know if I would have dived into this as eagerly as I did.

I find the timeline a bit odd. This series is allegedly set only 50 years before the movie? The Skesis wipe out seven tribes of Gelfling, consisting of, in some cases, many thousands as shown in the series, in that timeframe? Yet when Kira and Jen discover Gelfling ruins in the movie, they are clearly ancient.

Hmm, maybe the "ruins" are "decades old"?

From what I've seen and read, the UrSkeks didn't arrive on Thra until after the First Great Conjunction. Between the First and Second Great Conjunctions, the UrSkeks, accidently blind and then heal Aughra, build the Castle of the Crystal, bring knowledge and culture to the Gelfling, and then built Aughra the Observatory. Yet the show seems to imply that the Skesis did the work of the observatory, which would have been before the Second Great Conjunction and the division of the UrSkeks into the UrRu and the Skesis. http://www.darkcrystal.com/mythology.php

I agree, I was puzzled that as well, remembering that the UrSkeks had built Aughra her observatory while they were still one race.

[HarryCanyon]

You don't think it held up well?? I love love LOVE the original film.




I kind of agree. It's too intense and dark though for my taste. My mom and I started binging on it when I was at my folks' this weekend (they have Netflix, I don't), and while there is a lot of beauty and some good humor, there's also so much you have to take. I'd like to relax and enjoy some entertainment on a weekend, and while back at home seeing family. I don't wanna feel all hit with this much intensity and evil and betrayal and despondence.

I get there has to be unpleasantness in the plot, but come on:



And I agree with those who are turned off by the Collector. The Skeksis are already visually corrupt enough. We do not need disgusting things like how they handled the Collector with that icky stuff. Yuck.

Also, why would they get a female to voice the Collector since he is a male? To me it just sounds like a female voice, and that does not fit. Maybe they were going for a different or unique sound for a Skeksis voice, but it just comes off as it obviously being a woman voicing a male character.

On a more pleasant note, I did love the Skeksis "spa" scene, that was great, lol.

I also loved how they showed a banquet scene like in the film. But I was puzzled though why they showed the Emperor doing that oozy stuff with his fingers at the table, when nothing ever came of it?

I found it odd they named the race of Fizzgig's kind "Fizzgig". In the film, that's his name. So I would have thought they'd call that race of creature something else, and leave "Fizzgig" be a given name for that one individual of that type.

I did love seeing the wilderness in the forests, but I was hoping to see some more of the original visions of plants that act like animals and animals that act like plants. And I wasn't crazy about spitters. It feels like borrowing from Tolkien, since he had arachnids in Middle Earth. I like it better thinking of Thra as having nothing like any creature on Earth.




I would hope so. Jim loved the Mystics. He was more interested in them than the Skeksis. And so far in about 5 episodes I've watched, Skeksis are all over the place and we've only seen 1 Mystic in 1 brief scene. That really is a shame. The only way this is okay is if they really plan to showcase the Mystics and Mystic Valley in upcoming material (as of this message, I have not seen the last 4 or 5 shows). And wow, that Mystic sure was too animated and talking way too fast; at least with how we're used to the Mystics from the film.




See, and I would never watch GoT, so if I'd known this ahead of time, I don't know if I would have dived into this as eagerly as I did.




Hmm, maybe the "ruins" are "decades old"?




I agree, I was puzzled that as well, remembering that the UrSkeks had built Aughra her observatory while they were still one race.

Too dark? well i love it for that for being edgier and darker than the original movie.

I love dark fantasy myself like Robert E Howard, Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur and more.

I think it's an excellent worthy prequel to a classic.

[IceyCat]

Merman's Minion - Thank you for your post. I watched the first episode with my kids, but we have not gotten around to watching any more. If it is that dark I do not want them watching that.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

Merman's Minion - Thank you for your post. I watched the first episode with my kids, but we have not gotten around to watching any more. If it is that dark I do not want them watching that.

Yeah, that's a shame too when you have families that are looking to watch it. I dunno, kids and people all handle things differently, and times are different now (I remember the Jabberwocky in the all-star 2-part TV mini-series "Alice in Wonderland" being, like, SO scary in 1985, but when I showed it to my niece, he didn't faze her, LOL). But I will say at least for binging, yeah, it felt like a lot to take for 4 or 5 episodes in a row non-stop, very "heavy" feeling (I didn't know how Netflix worked. I assumed a "new series" meant a new episode per week. After the first episode ended another one began, and then another, and another, and---I was like, jeez, how many did they release?? ).

Icey, if you want, you could look up the series on The Dark Crystal Wiki and read the episode summaries there and see what you think regarding the kiddos.

Maybe other folks here with kids can chime in with some input.

[HarryCanyon]

Merman's Minion - Thank you for your post. I watched the first episode with my kids, but we have not gotten around to watching any more. If it is that dark I do not want them watching that.

It's healthy for children to be afraid and not be sheltered like grimm's fairy tales

[Lokus]

It's healthy for children to be afraid and not be sheltered like grimm's fairy tales

I agree with IceyCat . This is how phobia,s are created . There is nothing healthy about terrorizing a child .

I had a fear of heights most for my life because one of my mothers friends thought it would be funny to hold me upside down over a four story building . Young children cannot separate fantasy and reality . Any shocking scene from TV land can be as traumatic as what happened to me .

[Mark M]

It's healthy for children to be afraid and not be sheltered like grimm's fairy tales

No there is limitations and I think parents should not let children watch movies and play video games etc that are not age appropriate.
People let their children play games like Grand Theft Auto then complain when their kids start swearing etc.

Although so far I haven't seen anything I would really deem inappropriate for children in TDC:AOR so far.

[Mer-Man's Minion]

It's healthy for children to be afraid and not be sheltered like grimm's fairy tales

I agree, to a degree.

I agree with IceyCat . This is how phobia,s are created . There is nothing healthy about terrorizing a child .

I had a fear of heights most for my life because one of my mothers friends thought it would be funny to hold me upside down over a four story building . Young children cannot separate fantasy and reality . Any shocking scene from TV land can be as traumatic as what happened to me .

Yikes!

No there is limitations and I think parents should not let children watch movies and play video games etc that are not age appropriate.
People let their children play games like Grand Theft Auto then complain when their kids start swearing etc.

Although so far I haven't seen anything I would really deem inappropriate for children in TDC:AOR so far.

Yeah, it's not that I'd claim "kids shouldn't watch this." I'm just so used to "The Dark Crystal" the film, and I wasn't prepared for the heaviness and the intensity of this series (especially if you binge several in a row).

We have to also remember that oftentimes kids don't react to things near as much as adults think they will. For instance, some parents deplore the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" series of books which were staples in my elementary school library. The drawings are so grotesque (but wonderfully done, by Stephen Gammell) and some are downright scary, and some parents want those books out of their kids' libraries and don't want their kids exposed to things like that. But I checked those books out of our elementary school library and I absolutely loved them. What's funny though is there are a few images that scare me now as an adult, but I don't recall being scared of them as a kid, lol (one in particular I hadn't remembered when I was re-reading the first book the first time in adulthood after so many years, and when I turned the page, I nearly jumped, lol). So sometimes kids can handle some things better than adults.

[HarryCanyon]

Jim Henson thought it was healthy for children to feel afraid every once in a while. He also thought it wasn't right to hide the harder truths of the world from them. True fact.

And nothing wrong with kids seeing some horror movies like i did starting at age 4 with Psycho, Alien, House of Wax, Jaws, Friday The 13th 1 to 3, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein etc. on TV, seeing the first horror movie on the big screen known as Gremlins in it's 85 re-issue, seeing my first r-rated films i saw in theaters being Fright Night Commando (not horror but action) and Silver Bullet, watching Creepshow on video with my parents during Halloween time and seeing Halloween, Elm Street 1 and 2 on cable and more got into the horror genre. I even saw other horror films like The Fly 1 and 2, Aliens, Critters 1 and 2, Creepshow 2, Hitcher, Elm Street 3/4/5/6, Friday The 13th 6/7/8/9, Jacob's Ladder and more in theaters as a kid and watched Tales from the Darkside/Twilight Zone/Tales from the Crypt etc growing up on TV and cable. So no effects on me, although films like Magic (the one with the ventriloquist dummy), Making Contact aka Joey and Pinocchio and The Emperor of the Night (saw it on the big screen at age 6) terrified me.

Hell i even watched action films and Sci-fi growing up in theaters like Cobra, Rambo 3 (saw first 2 on cable), Predator 1 and 2, Robocop 1 and 2, Terminator 2 (saw first one on cable at 4 and saw T2 in theaters at 10), Lethal Weapon 1 to 3, Aliens, Die Hard 1 to 3 and more R-rated sci-fi and action films at the movies growing up even on cable and video. Even other r-rated films of other genres like Planes Trains and Automobiles and more at the movies and more.

They even did toys and merchandise for kids based on Rambo, Robocop (they also did an animated series), Elm Street, Terminator 2, Demolition Man and more. I had a Rambo action figure, i had a couple of Robocop toys like an ED209 and Robocop, a Freddy doll, some T2 action figures/lunchbox when i was 10 even backpack and all that.

I also knew about how special effects and make up effects were done as i was a kid reading Starlog, Fangoria, comicscene and other movie magazines even seeing behind the scenes TV footage even on cable and i knew not to say any profanity growing as a kid except when i became 13.

Hey Icey, would you let your kids watch Robocop or is it off limits until they are teens since it's a film for adults? and how did you feel when they did a cartoon back in 88 and toys for kids based on Robocop?

Anyway, last week i finished all episodes and WHAT A SHOW! my favorite show of the year.

Who else agrees this show and Blade Runner 2049 are retro film revivals that succeeded where attempts like Ghostbusters, Robocop, Elm Street etc. failed miserably? Ghostbusters 2016, Elm Street and Robocop were made by writers and directors who never were fans of originals and did them only for a paycheck and to cash in on a familiar name yet turned out to be soulless, passionless and hollow efforts with horrible scripts (Ghostbusters 2016 had a horrid unfunny script with no likable characters or a decent sense of sarcastic well timed humor and cringe inducing cameos and all that) and there's no passion behind them. Where in DC AOR and BR 2049 they were done with care, respect, handled with passion/love for the movies and project they were doing and gave out good quality products and not a sloppy moneygrab like Ghostbusters.

I bet if Jim Henson would be proud if he was alive he would had loved this prequel as the show was made by fans for fans and anyone glad it's now Netflix's number one show and a success now and it's getting season 2? this show should bring in a new dawn of practical effects along with Shape of Water, Child's Play 2019, Mission Impossible 5 and 6, Blade Runner 2049 and more proving we need more practical effects.

Did anyone love the Heretic and Wanderer? they remind me of the stoner aliens in Heavy Metal and Cheech and Chong in aspects.

[wyldman11]

It's up to the child to decide when they are ready.

That said it's the parents responsibility to handle the situation when the child isn't capable of doing so.

Fiance had mentioned she thought she might like to watch Watership down (netflix one) I said I wasn't sure if I did or not. She asked why, I said well the cartoon version I watched as a child had rabbits slaughtering each other. And here they go and make cgi life like rabbits, would need to know what level the violence is toned to. She's an animal lover, can't stand most scenes where animals are 'suffering' in films etc and decided she didn't want to follow up the series.

The problem with watership down for me, wasn't the violence but my age upon seeing the film. Did I turn out fine and ok? Yeah as did most of us. But I think many of our parents if they had been aware, many of our school systems had been aware when they showed it to 5-7 year old children they may not have done so. Of course this early on creates a generation that realizes cartoons don't have to be just for kids.

Iceycat has/had to make a decision if she thinks her kids are ready for it. Other kids similar age might be, that isn't the fault of any parenting on either side of the situation. This has just as much to do with life circumstances as it does anything else, the things we can't control.

I mean I remember watching Leviathan as a young person and having to explain to my brother that Ernie Hudson could still be in movies after the movie.

[Asher Tye]

Watership Down is kind of a bad example though. Anyone familiar with the book knows what takes place in it. The problem with the animated movie came from the fact that all its advertising was aimed at making it look like a cutesy tale about a bunch of cute looking rabbits looking for a new home and it was given a G-rating on the basis of being animated. As someone once lamented "I just wanted a movie about bunnies!"

Truth is, you can't really tell what is going to frighten a child vs what's going to simply scare them as a general rule. It usually takes a case by case basis to figure out. Case in point with the Dark Crystal. I never thought the Skeksis, the Garthum coming out of the darkness to grab Jen, or the Emperor's death were anywhere near as terrifying as when that podling and Kira were getting their essences drained and their eyes were going blank and dull.

[IceyCat]

My kids gets freaked out by weird things. An episode of Fraggle Rock sent my daughter into one. The Fraggle was just going down a dark tunnel by himself and singing and she had to turn it off because it totally tweaked her. My kids are young and innocent, so I try to keep them from watching anything that is going to change that. I know some of you folks grew up watching horror movies and things, I did too, but I do not want that for my kids. They can choose to watch that content when they are older. We do very limited screen time, so I make sure it is worth our time.

[wyldman11]

My point was more I had a reluctance to watch a newer version of it because of my previous experience which led to me warning the fiance what the story was about which goes into your point.

Main point really for kids, is if you can watch it before them do so. If that isn't possible make sure you are aware of what is going on. As a kid the truck scene in Pee Wee's big adventure scared the crap out of me at the time, where as when I watched the original Dark Crystal film none of it bothered me in a context like that.

[HarryCanyon]

It's up to the child to decide when they are ready.

That said it's the parents responsibility to handle the situation when the child isn't capable of doing so.

Fiance had mentioned she thought she might like to watch Watership down (netflix one) I said I wasn't sure if I did or not. She asked why, I said well the cartoon version I watched as a child had rabbits slaughtering each other. And here they go and make cgi life like rabbits, would need to know what level the violence is toned to. She's an animal lover, can't stand most scenes where animals are 'suffering' in films etc and decided she didn't want to follow up the series.

The problem with watership down for me, wasn't the violence but my age upon seeing the film. Did I turn out fine and ok? Yeah as did most of us. But I think many of our parents if they had been aware, many of our school systems had been aware when they showed it to 5-7 year old children they may not have done so. Of course this early on creates a generation that realizes cartoons don't have to be just for kids.

Iceycat has/had to make a decision if she thinks her kids are ready for it. Other kids similar age might be, that isn't the fault of any parenting on either side of the situation. This has just as much to do with life circumstances as it does anything else, the things we can't control.

I mean I remember watching Leviathan as a young person and having to explain to my brother that Ernie Hudson could still be in movies after the movie.

Watership Down is kind of a bad example though. Anyone familiar with the book knows what takes place in it. The problem with the animated movie came from the fact that all its advertising was aimed at making it look like a cutesy tale about a bunch of cute looking rabbits looking for a new home and it was given a G-rating on the basis of being animated. As someone once lamented "I just wanted a movie about bunnies!"

Truth is, you can't really tell what is going to frighten a child vs what's going to simply scare them as a general rule. It usually takes a case by case basis to figure out. Case in point with the Dark Crystal. I never thought the Skeksis, the Garthum coming out of the darkness to grab Jen, or the Emperor's death were anywhere near as terrifying as when that podling and Kira were getting their essences drained and their eyes were going blank and dull.

Watership Down is an adult animated movie and rated PG for a good reason you know and it was before PG-13! i mean there was graphic violence in it and i saw Watership Down when i was 5 back in 86 as it with Transformers the movie and Rock and Rule plus Starschaser in theaters were my first exposure to adult animation.

I mean not all animation is for kids you know such as those, Heavy Metal, Fire and Ice, American Pop, Wizards, Plague Dogs, Duckman, Spawn TAS, Dark Knight Returns, The Maxx, Aeon Flux, Liquid TV, Simpsons, Bojack Horseman, Castlevania, Ninja Scroll, Akira, Wicked City, Princess Mononoke etc. are proof animation isn't just kids stuff.

I remember seeing Starchaser in theaters at 4 in 3D, watching/taping off Rock and Rule off HBO at 5 even Watership Down, watching/taping Warriors of the Wind (the edited version of Nausicaa), Transformers the movie in theaters, seeing Fantastic planet on video, seeing Wizards and Fire and Ice on video at age 6 even Bakshi's Lord of the Rings, remembering Simpsons shorts on Tracy Ullman even the Family Dog episode of Amazing Stories, remembered Simpsons when it debuted at age 8 with their special, remembered renting Lightyears aka Gandahar at age 9 on VHS, remembered watching Liquid TV on MTV at 9, remembered Family Dog/Beavis and Butthead/Duckman at 11/12, remembered watching Heavy Metal with American Pop and Hey Good Looking and Vampire Hunter D on Cinemax at age 12 26 years ago, renting Akira at 12 after hearing of it in magazines and all that showed me animation wasn't just kids stuff.

My point was more I had a reluctance to watch a newer version of it because of my previous experience which led to me warning the fiance what the story was about which goes into your point.

Main point really for kids, is if you can watch it before them do so. If that isn't possible make sure you are aware of what is going on. As a kid the truck scene in Pee Wee's big adventure scared the crap out of me at the time, where as when I watched the original Dark Crystal film none of it bothered me in a context like that.

I was 4 when i saw Dark Crystal on HBO in 85 and my parents taped me the movie off HBO and loved it since despite the Skeksis did scared me at first but great movie and i've been a Henson fan since 3 with Muppet movies, Muppet Babies, Fraggles and more growing up. The movies that terrified me as a kid was Magic (remember the 1978 horror movie with the ventriloquist dummy and Anthony Hopkins) at age 4 watching it with my parents on video even when i saw Making Contact aka Joey (anyone remembers that horror fantasy movie about a psychic kid and a demon dummy?) at the movies when i visited my aunt in El Paso and also who remembers Filmation's Pinocchio and The Emperor of the Night? i saw that at the movies after christmas at night at one of the mall theaters and it scared the living hell out of me especially that horrifying sequence where the title villain's henchman Puppetino tortures the human Pinocchio and slowly changes him back into a puppet.

Anyone here liked the cast in this series? Simon Pegg was great casting as Chamberlin and Mark Hamil was great as scientist as he sounded like Joker/Cobra Commander.