Task: Sentiment Analysis
Input (English): when jim henson passed away , he left behind diverse legions of fans and a company whose ultimate success , it now seems , hinged on his input .
jim henson productions and the creature shop are still thriving financially , but as the last two muppet films ( or that silly computer - generated monkey from lost in space ) demonstrate , the thrill and genius are gone .
i 'm not sure the dark crystal , made today , would generate from an audience of kids five to fifty the same awe - filled response .
an all - powerful crystal has cracked , causing the leaders of the green world to split apart into two beings : the big , gentle mystics , and the vulture - like skeksis .
the mystics send jen , a naive gelfling boy , on a mission to find the shard that cracked away , which must be reinserted into the crystal before the skeksis become eternal rulers , before the great " conjunction " of three suns .
along the way , jen encounters and teams up with the only other gelfling alive , the rebecca demornay - like kira , an ogre - witch named aughra , who removes her eyes to look at things , and a spastic - but - friendly , tumbleweed - like animal named fizzgig .
much of the beauty in the dark crystal , which is a simple tale ( though it does not condescend to any viewer ) , lies in its art direction and creature design .
the puppeteering is phenomenal -- observe the scenes in which jen plays his flute , or the landwalker chase -- but i must stress that any thoughts of strings and hands and remote controls all but vanish in the opening moments of the picture , a delicately - narrated ( by john baddeley ) , absorbing prologue .
the voice work in the film , by muppet regulars and irregulars , is tone - perfect .
as well , trevor jones ' score should not be discounted : it contributes to the film almost as an unseen character .
i suppose , due to the complexity involved in executing a movie of this nature , that it could n't be helped , but i wish the film was longer .
jen and kira have wonderful . . .
well , chemistry , and more scenes of them quietly conversing would have been appreciated .
the dark crystal has a very small cult following .
the weaker labyrinth is probably better - known , which is upsetting .
a friend of mine related a story to me that henson was pressured into planting humans among labyrinth 's creatures due to the financial failure of people - less the dark crystal .
that film never quite found its footing ; it played like an acid - trip episode of " the muppet show " with david bowie as guest - host , borrowing from tolkien and pandering to tolkien 's fan - base .
( i suppose i just made labyrinth sound appetizing to a certain sector of the public . )
the dark crystal deserved ( and still deserves ) a bigger audience .
it 's the best kind of children 's entertainment : elegant , fantastical , and courageously
un - hip .
brian henson , fortunate son , keep looking back at this , your father 's masterpiece .
Output (English): P