The World of 'The Dark Crystal'

I first caught "The World of the Dark Crystal" on PBS a few weeks after the film "The Dark Crystal" saw release. The documentary made me dash out to the movie theater the very next day. That alone should speak volumes about its quality.

Unlike so many cold, congratulatory "making of" documentaries available today, this one really gets to the heart of the creative process. The amount of energy that Henson and company invested in The Dark Crystal has only been matched recently ... by Peter Jackson in his Lord of the Rings films.

The documentary now available on the Dark Crystal DVD, and it's every bit as entertaining as the film itself.

Also of interest in "The Making of the Dark Crystal" are the interview segments with Gary Kurtz, the producer of the first two Star Wars movies. There is little doubt that Kurtz's talents had a great deal to do with the success of the original Star Wars, seeing how the series turned to garbage the moment he left.