'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' was 'the longest shoot in Netflix history' spanning over 4 years, say writers
'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' is a beautifully told story of resistance brewing in a time of uncontrolled power. A prequel to the 1982 cult classic Jim Henson movie 'The Dark Crystal', Netflix's production follows three Gelflings on their quest to overthrow the evil overlords, the Skeksis.
In 10 hour-long episodes, 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' tells an epic fantasy story of the triumph of good over evil. The show's writers and executive producers Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews and EP Javier Grillo-Marxuach talk in an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) about developing the world of Thra.
The three are die-hard fans of Henson's 1982 project — a movie way ahead of its time. The movie was not only fascinating but affected the trio at a different level. "The original film felt like a glimpse into a world that existed right next to our own. A world that you might be able to step into if you found the right magic corridor or took a lucky turn. It was a place I wanted to go back to. And I got the chance to do that every day," says writer Jeffrey Addis.
For the geeky, sensitive, artistic boy in Javier Grillo-Marxuach growing up in Michigan, 'The Dark Crystal' was a beacon signaling that there is a huge world out there — "full of people every bit as weird as me, who could come together and make great art. It was the kind of movie that kept my hopes and dreams alive as I set about the task of becoming an artist."
For Will Matthews, the most fascinating bit was the absurdity of the original. "A lot of people talk about how much the movie scared them as children and I'm definitely in that camp. I loved how weird the movie was. It didn't look or sound like anything else. There were no humans and it was not a cartoon. I was enthralled by just how odd it was. I liked how tactile everything felt. The world wasn't polished or sanitized, but it was full of awe and beauty. I loved how impossible it all seemed."
And it was this fascination that they wanted to bring back to the prequel. "We wanted to tell a story about defending the moral high ground, how difficult it is to resist an established order, and about the power of families, both invented and real," says Javier.
A contrast to the movie, which showed a destroyed world, the prequel shows the Gelfling civilization at its peak. "[In the movie] The Gelfling civilization is gone and the Skeksis are fewer than they once were. Since the show takes place before the film, we got to show the Gelfling and the Skeksis at their height. A lot of this world-building was done for us by JM Lee in his YA novels, but we loved being able to add whatever new creatures or locations we needed to tell this story," shares Will.
Creating the world of Thra in all its glory was a long and tedious process. "When Jeff and I first sold the pitch to Netflix, my wife wasn't pregnant. When the show comes out, my daughter will be two-and-a-half!" Will jokes.
Two years after Netflix first announced the series, the trio talks about their journey. "We shot for 10 months in a series of warehouses that were converted into production facilities outside of London. In many ways, it felt like 'classic' movie-making because we had big, sweeping wood and styrofoam sets that you could literally walk into and through. Stepping onto those soundstages was like stepping into another world. It was hard on the crew and so hard on the puppeteers, but we became like a family working together towards a common goal," adds Jeff.
Will elaborates on the production process. "The Henson company has been working on some version of a 'Dark Crystal' project for over 10 years — a feature film sequel, two versions of an animated series, who knows what else. It was really just luck that Jeff and I called Henson not long after Netflix decided they wanted to do a live-action series with puppets."
He adds, "We met with Lisa and told her our idea of how to make one new story out of all the pieces (comics, novels, etc.) that had built up over the years. That meeting went well, so we met with Louis. That went well, so we met with Netflix and pitched them the entire series: beginning, middle, and most importantly, the end. They had us write a pilot script and a short 'proof of concept' test which Louis shot," he shares.
"Then Netflix greenlit the series and we started a writers room, which is where Javier came on board. That room worked for about six months with pre-production running at the same time. Then Jeff moved to London and was on set for over 10 months for production."
This makes 'The Dark Crystal: Age of Crystal' "literally the longest shoot in Netflix history!" Will adds. Add to that post-production, which was another nine months or so. "So a brief four years after we first pitched Lisa that the show is finally out."
'The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' is currently streaming on Netflix. Read over review here.