Official MirrorMask Site Online

[lowercasegods]

Superherohype.com just posted this. It's the link to Mirrormask's official website. Just thought it'd be of interest to anyone who may have thought this project was dead in the water. Obviously it is gonna happen, so I'm extremely excited! Anyway, check this out:

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/mirrormask/

MirrorMask centers on Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister.

 

[Muppetsdownunder]

Sounds good! Thanks for the link.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Cool. I'd like to see this!

 

[LifeWithMuppy]

Neverending Story

I hate to make it sound like I'm insulting the writers for MirrorMask...but am I the only one who notices strong similarities between it and the Neverending Story?

 

[Uncle Deadley]

At last!

I've been excited about this project for a long time. Mirror Mask is written by the great Neil Gaiman, best known for his comic THE SANDMAN. It's directed by Dave McKean who did all of the covers for SANDMAN, a very talented artist. I hope this will be the beginning of a long collaboration for Gaiman and the Henson company. I'm hoping they will eventually make a movie together of Gaiman's Stardust .

 

[lowercasegods]

Actually, at least five years ago, the Henson Company was in the beginning stages of bringing Gaiman's "Neverwhere" novel to the big screen. I'm not certain why that project never came about, but I figure "Mirrormask" is a result of that previous collaboration. Knowing how Gaiman stays loyal to his creative collaborators, it's likely at least one more project will arise between he and the Henson company, though it's difficult to speculate what it would be. Maybe "Neverwhere" will resurface.

And to the person who spoke of similarities between "Mirrormask's" plot and "The Neverending Story," you're probably right, but I doubt it's intentional. If you read Joseph Cambell's book, "The Hero With A Thousand Faces," he points out how common universal themes dictate the plot, characters and action of all mythology, from ancient stories to modern cinema. In essence, it means that it's unavoidable to have a story like "Mirrormask" have a plot similar to "Neverending Story" since the dying mother/lost child on a fantastic journey plot is so classic and common in mythology.

No matter how original a person thinks their story is, inevitably it's still derived, voluntarily or not, from a proven formula that's older than time. It doesn't mean, however, that a story, In this case "Mirrormask", won't be original and will just be a knockoff. Gaiman is a self proclaimed student of mythology and folklore (as his "Sandman" comic illustrates beautifully) and always manages to envoke an original voice into the most familiar of folk tales in his retelling. He's a great writer, and it's highly unlikely that he'd allow the story of "Mirrormask" to be just another knock off of "Neverending Story." Your concerns are valid, though, and with a lesser writer, I'd say we all would have something to worry about. But trust me, Gaiman won't let us down.

And on a similar note, when "Labyrinth" came out, just months after "Return to Oz", a lot of people saw connections there and labled it a rip off of the works of L. Frank Baum. However, I think we all know how great and original "Labyrinth" truly was (and is), and know that such comparisions were pretty off the mark. Just try to keep that in mind as we all anticipate the arrival of "Mirrormask."

 

[Green Gelfling]

...its almost reminds be vaguely of the Hugga Bunch movie back in the 80s. but then again most stories are passed down from generation to generation...everyone hears them..so they are bound to be rewritten or used for inspiration for newer stories.

btw..i already love the costume design!

 

[lowercasegods]

Oh man, I remember that Hugga Bunch movie! I thought the puppets were pretty cool, even if they weren't Muppets. Too bad the toys weren't nearly as cool, though.

 

[LadyHyde]

I know Gaiman's "Death" is being turned into a movie as well. It's about the spirit of Death (Who looks like a normal goth girl) who tries to show a suicidal boy that life is worth living. I wish it was "Death: At Death's Door" by Jill Thompson where a rift between heaven and **** kicks out all the souls and they crash at her apartment. There's a funny love story in there about Edgar Allen Poe falling in love with Despair, a dumpy spirit with low self esteem.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Actually, at least five years ago, the Henson Company was in the beginning stages of bringing Gaiman's "Neverwhere" novel to the big screen. I'm not certain why that project never came about...Maybe "Neverwhere" will resurface.

Actually, according to Neil's blog that's his next project with Henson. There has already been one version of it produced - made-for-TV I believe - in the UK. I think it's available on DVD.

And to the person who spoke of similarities between "Mirrormask's" plot and "The Neverending Story," you're probably right, but I doubt it's intentional.

I'm not so sure...the JHC specifically asked them to come up with something in the same vein as Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal, but you're right it's a story as old as time.