The Dark Crystal Ball @ Dragoncon

The cheerful green building in Midtown Atlanta wasn’t anywhere I had expected to go on a Thursday night, but as I exited my Uber, I was stuck by how /fun/ the building seemed.

Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts is an argyle-painted green building with purple railings that arch over a multicolored playground as they lead you up to the front doors. It’s whimsical in approach, seeming to lead you down the path back towards your childhood… a premise that I soon found well served.

The glass doors opened to a typical museum foyer: ticketing windows and an enticing gift shop, but past the inner doors was where the true magic of the facility began.

The evening’s event, the Dark Crystal Ball: Gathering of Gelflings was a celebratory event showcasing Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. Set on the mystical planet of Thra, the Dark Crystal was a 1982 film that broadened the horizons of not just its viewers, but also those of puppetry; something that the Center for Puppetry Arts is dedicated to reminding us.

Everywhere within this playful building were reminders of the fantastic, the wealth and breadth of imaginations captured both by the decorations and the costumes. Fairies and Gelflings chatted as they ate, a rise and fall of voices that filled the lulls in the music with a melody all its own. Animated discussions of the magic of puppetry moved through the room whose center focus wasn’t the food that was edible, but rather the food that was not.

Aughra held court over these fairies and Gelfling, a resplendent and intricate rendering of the puppet… in cake. En-robed in chocolate ganache and faithfully rendered, this two foot tall cake looked as if it was ready to look at you and entrust you with the secrets of the Crystal. To approach it with a knife would have been a travesty, and not one patron of the event seemed to remember that it was, indeed, a cake.

Instead, everyone was content to walk within the darkened room lit by the Crystal hanging above, indulging in artisanal sandwiches, roasted vegetables, smoked salmon, and cold rice noodles as they chatted and danced, celebrating the work and vision of a movie that had been around before many of them had been born.

And though the music was enticing, and the conversations delightful, the true magic of the event lay just beyond two closed doors.

Past a cheerful concierge who welcomed me back to my childhood as she opened the door, I was greeted by a mural of Jim Henson and some very familiar faces. Welcome back to my childhood indeed, for the first thing I saw was Rolf from the Muppet Show. What then ensued was a wander down memory lane with old friends and familiar faces, including a surprise walk around the corner and come face-to-feathers with Big Bird and Little Bird. Instantly, I was seven again, caught in the magic that Jim Henson’s remarkable vision had captured in a bundle of felt, feathers, and stuffing.

His hand was everywhere, bits of what was used for creating puppets, giving them life and characterizations… hand written notes of things that were important and comments to the puppeteers. It was a glimpse into a mind that not only saw a world that would enrapture a child, but how to make it real.

I could have spent hours in there, visiting Bert and Ernie, sitting with Kermit (my Grandfather had a Kermit doll that was a fixture in my childhood, and I admit to a moment of nostalgia when I saw that old familiar green.) But perhaps that was what the Center had intended, a nostalgic look at the amazing world of the puppets (muppets) of my childhood that still exists today. Nonetheless, I continued my journey through Sesame Street, through the Muppet Show, and on to Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, and yes, the Dark Crystal.

Kira was not present, though her dress was, a beautifully crafted gown that evoked the delicate Gelfling regardless of her absence. The chance to see it up close was something out of a dream. So too was the model of the Crystal Chamber, set at the moment when the Mystics confronted the Skesis, though Jen and Kira were not readily apparent. Rigged with lighting and the ability to create some effects at miniature, it made it all the easier to see how the magic worked. The wires that controlled various other puppets from the Dark Crystal were there to see; the bats, a Skesis head, and even one of the Garthim was present.

Much of Jim Henson’s work was showcased, and the exhibit closed with an entreatment to the visitor from Jim himself, to be kind to everyone before I passed below a stained glass reminder of Kermit’s most famous belief that we will all find that Rainbow Connection together.

Past the memories of childhood, an exhibit opened up to the world of puppetry, a global review of various types and styles from East and West. Again, it would have been possible to spend hours lost in the details and the mechanisms, for there was even one stage set with marionettes to manipulate and allow a knight to fight a dragon for the hand of the princess. Or the princess herself to defeat the knight and run away with the dragon. Whatever the tale, it was there for you to tell. But the night was growing long and the Dark Crystal awaited.

Back through the ballroom, the private dances had begun. Those who had decided to participate at the highest level had been waited on hand and foot, and were now invited to the dance floor. A couple from Australia had a romantic dance and human and Gelfling alike were entranced by the love that filled the room. A fairy wanted everyone to dance with her, and the room exploded in wings and giggles as the beat pounded with lights swirling. The concierge that held the door to the Dark Crystal exhibit implored me to refrain from flash photography, that the Crystal would provide all the light that was required. Upon my promise, he granted me access, and I stepped into the behind the scenes of the world of Thra.

The exhibit starts, as all good do: at the beginning. A reproduction of the first page of the the first draft of the story outline hangs on the wall, Jim Henson’s handwriting sweeping across the lines. It is as it was in 1978, with words added and scratched out, a tiny diagram of what would become the Crystal Chamber in the palace sketched up in the corner. It gives a solid sense of weight to the concepts that had only just barely begun in those first few words: “The story begins at the death bed of…”

Again, many of the exhibits have notes from Jim Henson himself, comments about materials and how to make the creature not just look… but move. This truly was a from-scratch production, concepts and characters alike being discussed by notes and memos. Hand drawn examples of puppetry sit next to the initial prototypes, sketched through from wood to foam as life was slowly created. For every puppet mechanic, there was a covering, a clothing or shell, and ultimately a movement and everything had to be carefully curated and crafted by hand. These were, of course, before the days of high-res computer graphics and 3D printing.

Each puppet showcased has aged, and aged well. Safely kept behind glass, but close enough that one can see the details in minutia; the painstaking stitches in the podling’s clothing, the otherworldly

textures required for the flora and fauna of a world not our own. And then, of course, the extraordinary details given to Jen himself, the Gelfling standing surprisingly tall in his pseudo-leathers, blue eyes strikingly real. He’s faced off against Skekung, and the Garthim Master’s puppet is imposing as it towers over the exhibit, gnarled hand raised as if in defiance as UrAc and the Podlings cower below. Aughra’s presence tempers the mood somewhat, and though it was impossible at the time to compare puppet to cake… the edible replica later became even more uncanny.

Past the puppets, the exhibit showcases art and other items as related to the movie. Press releases, books, tie-in comics and even a clothing collection are all given their moment to shine before the viewer is returned to the real world of the ball and the realization that Jim Henson and his vision put the wheels in motion for all of these people who had come together to a museum in a building that didn’t quite seem to take itself seriously in the heart of Midtown.

And even though the Center for Puppetry Arts is the largest museum of its kind, it needs us to remember. This is where we came from, this is the world that created the concepts used in blockbuster movies such as Jurassic Park. The museum can’t do it alone. It needs sponsors, events, people like you and me to remember and visit. To donate time and money and ensure that our literal fantastic history isn’t lost. I’m already planning my next trip, maybe I’ll see you there.