The term "Augury" involves prophesising the future. "Augurs" were members
of the religious colleges of Rome who would interpret the signs of the gods. The
"Augurers" of Celtic civilization were the keepers of legends and lore though
memory and the oral tradition. These words were most definitely the inspiration
for Aughra's name.
From Bill Sullivan:
The mural the N.Y. HQ of Jim Henson productions has of the Muppet Theater
(you can see it in Jim Henson: The Works) has Jen and Kira in the audience, as
well Scred, godfather of all Skesis.
From Curt Markham:
The Dark Crystal novel by A.C.H. Smith has some added information about
the world and its characters. Among the ones I can remember:
The planet the film takes place on is called Thra.
The Skeksis and Mystics (called urRu in the book) originally numbered
eighteen each.
Aughra lost one of her eyes during the earlier Great Conjunction.
All of the Skeksis (except for the Dying Emperor) and Mystics are given
actual names.
From Curt Markham:
Some info on variant TV and video versions: The current home video version
of the film, released by Jim Henson productions, is missing the Universal logo
that originally opened the film (no big loss, since the Earth is the last image
that should be associated with the film.)
And it has one shot that runs a little longer: After Jen's scene with the Dying
Master, we cut to the Skeksis castle. In a far shot, The General is walking down
the corridor, grunting slightly. Cut to General and Chamberlain circling each
other and hissing, before Chamberlain says "Mmm!" and General says "I hate your
whimper!"
Well, on the new video version, we see General and Chamberlain approach each other
abruptly, and *then* circle each other and hiss. (Obviously, I've watched this
film *way* too many times to be able to pick up on something like that.)
Also, for TV airings the original end credits were sometimes removed and replaced
with larger and more legible end credits scrolling over a blue background with
a drawing of Aughra in it. This new version of the credits offers a "further reading"
list of several of the books you've listed in your webpage. (The current video
release has the original, theatrical credits.)
The longer shot of Chamberlain and General meeting, and the extra shot of the
naked Chamberlain are both in the newer video version released by Jim Henson productions.
They were not in the version that I taped off pay-TV back in the early 80's. For
all I know, these shots *were* in the theatrical release, and it was HBO or Cinemax
(I don't remember which) that took them out, not Jim Henson Video that put them
back in. I just don't know.
It's hard to assign primacy to any one version of a film, without a print to compare
it too. Many films, especially older ones, exist in various forms and lengths,
because the print used for the video transfer may be an original, uncut one, or
one that was cut by the distributor or even by the projectionist (as was common
in the bad old days of censorship). Different TV and video versions of more recent
films can vary depending on how it was framed for television, how the sound was
re-mixed, etc. I haven't seen the laserdisc version of "The Dark Crystal", nor
do I remember what the original film looked like (I was 9 at the time). So I don't
know where this extra footage came from. Maybe it was never really gone. I don't
know what the new video copy looks like.
I don't suppose it matters much anyway. It's nice to have these extra shots in
the JH video, but the framing of the image for TV has cut off some important details
in a few shots. For example:
When Jen is climbing the rocks, looking for Aughra's lair, you can't
see the Crystal Bat perched nearby, wings raised, watching.
When Jen peers into the tunnel from which Fizzgig is about to jump out,
you can't see the plantlike object that suddenly retracts into the ground
a moment before.
When Jen is holding the dead Kira during the climax, you can't see the
Mystics entering behind them.
There are probably more, but these jumped out at me because some visual information
that is key to following the story (particularly the Crystal Bat shot) has been
carelessly left out of the frame. All of these details *were* visible on pay TV.
If the laserdisc version is letterboxed, then of course *all* details are visible.
From Curt Markham:
Another extra shot in the current Jim Henson video: After General defeats
Chamberlain in the Trial by Stone, and Chamberlain has been stripped, General
says to the other Skeksis, "Now, bow down to me! I am Emperor!" And the Skeksis
all chant "Hail to the new Emperor!" Cut to a close-up of the General.
But in the JH video, after the General says "...I am Emperor!" we cut to another
shot of the naked Chamberlain, and *then* to the close-up of the General. Again,
pointless but interesting.
Earlier this year (or maybe last year) the cable series "Movie Magic" on the Discovery
channel had an episode about the use of puppetry in special-effects movies. A
few minutes were devoted to the Dark Crystal, and one (very brief) clip was from
the original version! The clip is of the General saying "Haskeekah!" instead of
"Trial by stone!"
And speaking of language, I have a theory about what one of the Podling words
means. I think "Do-le" means "down". Here is my evidence:
When Kira introduces Fizzgig to Jen and he barks at him, Kira says "Fizzgig.
Dole!" and then sets him down on the ground.
When Jen and Kira mount the Landstriders and Fizzgig growls, Kira says
"No no, Fizzgig, you stay here. Dole!" (as if to say, "Sat "Stay down there"?)
When the Skeksis Scientist picks up one of the Podlings to drain his
essence, the Podling says "Dole! Dole!" (as if to say, "Put me down"?)
From Robert Hanlon:
I'm a big Star Wars fan, and I'm part of a small group that collects
rough drafts of Star Wars screenplays. One of the most interesting was the Third
Draft of the original movie (the shooting script was the Revised Fourth Draft).
In this draft, the familiar concept of the Force is embodied in a large, dark
crystal on the Sith planet of Alderaan. The Sith have all the fragments except
one, which is in the hands of the ancient Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke Starkiller
uses this fragment of the Kiber Crystal to guide his torpedos down the shaft of
the Death Star in the final space battle sequence.
Sound familiar?
Lucas cut out the Sith subplot (Darth Vader was a Dark Lord of the Sith) and decided
to make the Force more ephemeral, eliminating the need for a crystal manifestation.
Okay, you're saying. Dark Crystal (or at least parts of the plot) seem to be based
on an early draft of Star Wars. Where's the connection?
Gary Kurtz produced both. As I recall, Dark Crystal was a pet project of his that
he pursued shortly after parting ways with Lucas after Empire Strikes Back. Kurtz
was one of the very small circle of people (including conceptual artist Ralph
McQuarrie) to be involved in Star Wars in the rough-draft stages of the story.
When I first read the Third Draft of Star Wars a few months ago, I didn't realize
the connection until about halfway through. Now, I haven't seen Dark Crystal in
over ten years, but when Obi-Wan hands Luke the Kiber Crystal shard, the scene
immediately cuts to the Crystal Chapel on Alderaan, where Darth Vader and two
other Sith Lords suddenly feel a great disturbance in the Force. "Darth, did you
feel that?" one asks. I believe this is a scene that made it almost verbatim into
the Dark Crystal.
In fact, it might be even more helpful for those interested to go to the following
site: http://locals.onslowonline.net/~osgood/ This is the official Jedi Bendu
site. It currently focuses on the Second Draft, but there is a link to the Third
Draft somewhere on it.
