Unlocking the Dance Magic Labyrinth: A Nostalgic Dive into a Fantasy Classic

Growing up, babysitters came and went, but there’s one who remains etched in our memories: Imogen from Norway. She was the one who introduced us to the enchanting world of Labyrinth. For my sister Harriet and I, already indoctrinated as David Bowie devotees by our parents, it was love at first sight. The Goblin King, Jareth, with his grand entrance, billowing sleeves, and undeniable charisma, captivated us instantly.

Recently, I felt the pull of nostalgia and called Harriet. “Labyrinth hour?” I proposed. Being the more organized sister (how is she younger?), she carved out time in her busy schedule. We both revisited the 1986 classic, ready to dissect its magic. Here’s a glimpse into our conversation, exploring the enduring appeal of Labyrinth and its captivating blend of fantasy and music.

Sarah cosplaying in the park, a detail often missed on first viewing, highlighting her fantastical nature even before entering the Labyrinth.

Olivia: So Harriet, what sparked this Labyrinth revisit for you?

Harriet: You asked! And the timing was right.

O: Fair enough. What were your initial thoughts this time around?

H: [Holds up a phone screen filled with notes] Notes upon notes. I went deep.

O: Wow, impressive! I jotted down a few things at the start, nothing that extensive.

H: My last note is about Jareth’s yellow and gray eyeshadow and, wait for it, yellow lipstick in the final scene. Banana yellow!

O: Banana lipstick? I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken.

H: No, seriously! Yellow lipstick perfectly coordinated with his eyeshadow!

O: Okay, now I have to re-examine that scene.

H: Watching it in 4K on our massive TV really brings out the details.

O: True. But getting back to the beginning, did you also note, “Sarah is peak relatable for cosplaying alone in the park”?

H: Actually, my first thought was, “Sarah lives in a mansion.”

O: Exactly!

H: And her mom was an actress!

O: That’s right!

H: It just clicked. The cosplaying suddenly makes so much sense. It’s not just teenage nerdiness; it’s in her DNA.

🕰 Enter the Goblin King and the Dance Magic

H: Watching Labyrinth right after reading Midnight Sun is… an experience.

O: [Muffled scream of realization] Oh my god, you’re right!

H: Because both feature a dramatic, older, mythical man fixated on a teenage girl… Jareth is undeniably in love with Sarah. It’s hard to interpret it any other way. And he seems to have chosen her from the outset. But Sarah isn’t even surprised when he appears.

O: There’s a necessary suspension of disbelief. We need to skip the “Whoa, what’s happening?” to dive into the fantasy.

H: No “Who are you?” It’s just, “Ah, yes, Jareth.”

O: “Oh, Jareth! Fancy seeing you here.”

H: “Welcome, Jareth, make yourself at home!” And his name is Jareth. It just sounds so… regal goblin.

O: And he seems genuinely thrilled to have human interaction. The man is desperate for connection! He almost smiles when he appears, then remembers to be serious for his dramatic speech. He’s probably just relieved to escape the goblins and chickens for a bit. They probably don’t appreciate his humor.

H: Honestly, I think David Bowie wanted to be on The Muppet Show and it didn’t pan out, so they made Labyrinth instead.

O: I’m glad they did this. A Muppet Show appearance would have been fun, but a whole movie with Bowie writing songs is so much better. The “dance magic dance” sequence alone is iconic!

Jareth, the Goblin King, making his dramatic entrance in Labyrinth, showcasing David Bowie's captivating stage presence.

🕯 The Ballroom Dress: A Mother Dress of Fantasy

O: I think, deep down, every girl, thanks to societal conditioning, secretly dreams of a ‘Mysterious Ballroom Moment.’

H: You know how French cuisine has five mother sauces? There are three mother dresses in the ball gown universe. The Labyrinth dress [links to YouTube video], the Pirates of the Caribbean dress [links to image], and the Anastasia dress [links to YouTube video]. These are the archetypes.

O: The purple Anastasia dress, absolutely. The Pirates dress, I’d almost forgotten about.

H: It’s a strong contender.

O: True. Trying to think of others… but Anastasia might just be the ultimate.

H: Sarah’s entire wardrobe is amazing, though.

O: Yes! Poet sleeves and waistcoats for everyone!

H: I’m tempted to incorporate that aesthetic into my teaching wardrobe. Imagine introducing Shakespeare to my class in poet sleeves.

✨ On Glitter: Jareth’s Magical Residue

H: [Referring to the set design] When I was younger, I thought everything glistened because it had just rained. Wrong! Everything is covered in glitter. It’s like Jareth is just shedding glitter wherever he goes.

O: I used to think it was snail slime! Watching it again, the sheer volume of glitter is a revelation. A major realization, for some reason.

H: Cobwebs in the oubliette? Glitter. Candles? Glitter. Walls, tree trunks? Glitter, glitter, glitter. It’s just Jareth-glitter fallout. Not necessarily intentional magic, just… glitter happens.

O: He just touches things and leaves glitter trails. Also, oubliette. I want a black dog named Oubliette now. Perfect name.

H: ‘Forgotten,’ the dog!

O: “Oubliette!” Imagine calling that across the dog park! And he could wear a little bow!

H: Ooblie for short.

O: Little Ooblie.

🔮 On Crystals: Dreams Less Appealing Than Goblin Kings

O: So, the crystal that “shows your dreams?” Not that appealing, honestly.

H: Was that really the offer?

O: Yeah, Jareth holds up the crystal, like, “Look at this! It shows your dreams!” Thanks, but no thanks?

H: I was too distracted by realizing that’s not actually David Bowie’s arm doing the wavy crystal motions. [Mimics wavy motion]

O: Wait, what?

H: No! Why else the massive cloak whenever he does that? It’s someone else’s hand doing the wavy thing, so goofy.

O: I did wonder about that crystal ball rolling the first time I saw it.

H: He could do small bits, but not sustained while acting.

O: I just assumed David Bowie would have dedicated himself to mastering… whatever that is.

H: Contact juggling.

O: Contact juggling.

H: Contact juggling.

🪄 Share the Dance Magic with a Friend!

You know that friend who dressed as Jareth for Halloween (or will someday). Share the Goblin King love!

🪄 This email reminds me of the babe 🪄

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Sarah and Jareth in the iconic ballroom scene, a visual representation of the "dance magic" and romantic tension in Labyrinth.

⏳ We Don’t Scare Children Like We Used To: The Fantasy Fear Factor

O: I genuinely feel like kids’ movies today don’t aim to scare children like they used to. And they should.

H: [Pauses] I want to argue, but… you might be right. Thinking of shows like Over the Garden Wall and Gravity Falls, they do tap into creepiness. Kids are strangely okay with creepy. [Pause] And what about the baby in the ‘Magic Dance’ scene? Surrounded by those muppets. Babies have no filming concept. One day, that baby was just surrounded by the weirdest looking goblins.

O: Imagine if that kid grows up oblivious to being in the movie, just with recurring goblin nightmares. But movies like Labyrinth, NeverEnding Story, they have this ‘Twilight in Fantasyland’ vibe.

H: Return to Oz, the second Wizard of Oz movie! [Links to YouTube video]

O: Yes! Weirdly quiet, creepy, upside-down stairs, pyramids, constant sunset feeling.

H: Fog machines, cobwebs, forests. Lots of forests.

O: But deserted. No one sensible around.

H: And those fake rocks, that orangey painted sky backdrop, like the goblin castle reveal. Reminds me of those low-budget Greek myth videos we watched in Latin class.

O: Oh my God, yes! And, half-related, the Encarta ’95 cover! Remember Encarta ’95?

H: Vaguely familiar.

O: Look it up! ‘Encarta ’95 CD ROM.’

The Encarta '95 CD ROM cover, evoking a similar low-budget fantasy aesthetic to parts of Labyrinth.

H: [Googles image] Oh, right! Familiar, but not as core to my childhood as yours.

O: I’d just browse the encyclopedia for fun.

H: High concept, low budget aesthetic.

O: Creepy emptiness. And… statues? Hard to explain.

H: I get the vibe.

O: A mood board would nail it. You’d understand it, but not what it is.

🪨 REALLY STUPID DISCUSSION ABOUT ROCKS: The Rolling Rock Renaissance?

O: Big rolling rocks. What’s their place in modern Hollywood? What’s the 2020s equivalent of the big rolling rock?

H: [Launches into a convoluted theory about rolling rocks in cinema] …‘Big rolling rock’ peaked with Indiana Jones. Now every rolling rock is chasing that original magic… no space for ‘big rolling rock’ in today’s films… studios are controlling everything… no bravery for big rolling rocks… no introspective movie with a big rolling rock.

O: [Eventually] That makes zero sense.

H: I just want to see Timothy Chalamet menaced by a big rolling rock, and nobody’s willing to commit.

O: No more train track tie-ins either. Watching the rocks in Labyrinth, I thought, “Big rock rolling!” Pure, visceral peril. Man versus rock.

H: Man versus god, man versus nature, man versus rock. The primal struggle.

O: …I’m probably cutting this section.

H: Yeah, useless.

👀 Recasting Jareth: Goblin King 2023

H: Who would you cast as Jareth in a Goblin King prequel? Inevitable, right?

O: Okay, 2023 casting. Musician, definitely. [Pause] Oh god, my brain is screaming ‘Matty Healy’ as a joke. No, absolutely not. CANNOT let that happen. Let’s Google ‘musician men, 2023.’

H: We know who not to cast.

O: Harry Styles.

H: Not Ed Sheeran, not Harry Styles. Ed Sheeran, no Goblin King gravitas. Harry Styles, not an actor.

O: Harry Styles would be thrilled, but utterly miscast. We need mainstream but indie-adjacent.

H: Thinking Hozier.

O: What? …Okay, go on.

H: Tall, long hair. Goblin-esque vibes. I don’t know why, it just feels right.

O: …Actually, I don’t hate that. Or! Hear me out: St. Vincent? She worked with Bowie, I think?

H: St. Vincent as Goblin King. I can see it.

O: First choice! No, Hozier is solid too. Who else is… a freak? [Googles ‘men who are freaks, 2023.’]

H: Sufjan Stevens?

O: Too gentle. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver? Saddest Goblin King ever.

H: Brendon Urie could have worked at one point, but—

O: OH NO! He’d be like, [high-pitched] yaaaaaaa! The songs! [Singing loudly] EVERYBODY IN THE LABYRINTH, CLAP YOUR HANDS! EVERYBODY IN THE LABYRINTH, GET DOWN TONIGHT! Awful. [Defeated pause] Hozier is probably best. People can suggest others.

**✨ WHO WOULD YOU CAST AS JARETH IN A 2023 GOBLIN KING PREQUEL?**

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👨🏻‍🎤 The Goblin King: Ancient and Lonely?

H: I’m convinced Jareth is at least a thousand years old.

O: Seriously?

H: Ancient. Time probably works differently for him.

O: Are all his goblins stolen babies?

H: Not babies compared to other goblins. Are they castle residents? Courtiers? Goblin nobility? Goblin babies probably exist. But his goblins aren’t all babies.

O: [Laughing] No, I mean, are all goblins he has babies he stole and turned into goblins?

H: Ohhhhhhh, okay.

O: Not just ‘are all goblins baby goblins!’

H: I don’t think he’s stolen a baby recently. People stopped believing in the Goblin King. No goblin-babies since the late 1800s, early 1900s.

O: Yeah, Sarah feels like the only person still interacting with him. He’s probably ecstatic about it, waiting for her to wish her brother away so he can finally send her into the Labyrinth and have this interaction. Good for him, in a twisted way.

H: But he also tries to pull her out of the Labyrinth.

O: Does he? He doesn’t want her to enter it at all.

H: He’s worried about human connection, rejection, seeming weird after centuries of goblin company.

O: Totally. Poor Jareth! But what about the people at his ballroom party?

H: Fantasy ballroom within a fantasy. His fantasy of having friends.

O: Oh noooooo! Lonely Goblin King!

H: Or: ballroom people are what the goblin court looked like centuries ago. Jareth will eventually become a goblin himself.

O: Through aging?

H: Yeah.

O: He’s the last of the original Goblin Court.

H: Yes.

O: Beauty and the Beast situation? Sarah as his bride to prevent goblin transformation?

H: Or to trigger his goblin transformation. Maybe he wants to fully embrace his goblin side.

Jareth in his ballroom, a scene representing his fantasy world and perhaps his longing for connection beyond goblins.

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