The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal is a 1982 American–British fantasy-adventure film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. The plot revolves around Jen, an elflike 'Gelfling' on a quest to restore balance to his alien world by returning a lost shard to a powerful but broken gem. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than the creators' previous material. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the fantasy illustrator Brian Froud, famous for his distinctive faerie and dwarf designs. Froud also collaborated with Henson and Oz for their next project, the 1986 film Labyrinth, which was notably more light-hearted than The Dark Crystal. The film stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, and Percy Edwards.

The Dark Crystal was produced by Gary Kurtz, while the screenplay was written by David Odell, who had previously worked with Henson as a staff writer on The Muppet Show. The film's score was composed by Trevor Jones. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment, the British production company responsible for producing The Muppet Show.

The Dark Crystal (video game)

The Dark Crystal is a graphic adventure computer game based on Jim Henson's fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. The game was designed by Roberta Williams and published under the SierraVenture line in 1983 as Hi-Res Adventure #6: The Dark Crystal. It was the first Hi-Res Adventure released under the SierraVenture line, the previous titles being released under earlier names and later re-released under SierraVenture.

Gameplay

The Dark Crystal is set in Thra, a world with three suns. Every thousand years the three suns come together in an event known as "The Great Conjunction". The player controls Jen, a gelfling. Two souls are destined to battle to reveal the secrets of their past. One warrior's fate rests in the hands of a tyrannical villain who is hellbent on destruction.

The game features no music, a single beep is used to alert that no action other than the return key can be taken and a double beep if another command is used at that time.

Development

Development took a little over a month.