MirrorMask
Encyclopedia
Mirrormask is a 2005 fantasy film from Jim Henson Pictures
, Samuel Goldwyn Films
, and Destination Films
. It stars Stephanie Leonidas
, Jason Barry
, Rob Brydon
, and Gina McKee
. It is designed
and directed
by Dave McKean
, written by Neil Gaiman
from a story they developed together. The music used in the film was composed by Iain Ballamy
.
The film's story revolves around a young girl named Helena Campbell, who is sick of her family's career as circus performers. Helena's mother is hospitalized after they have an argument, and Helena finds herself trapped in a fantasy world shortly after. Gaiman and McKean worked on the film concepts over the course of two weeks at Jim Henson
's family's home, and actual production of the film took seventeen months.
The film was created on a budget of U.S. $4 million, and had an overall domestic theatrical gross of U.S. $866,999. The film was originally made as a straight-to-DVD film, but had a limited theatrical run in the United States
on September 30, 2005. The film was also screened at the 2005, Sundance Film Festival
where it received positive responses. The overall critical reaction to the film was mixed, with critics praising the film's visuals while complaining about the overall story and script.
) works with her parents (Gina McKee
and Rob Brydon
) at their family circus, but desires to run away and join real life. At the next performance, after Helena and her mother have a heated argument, Helena's mother collapses and is taken to the hospital. Ten days later, while Helena is staying with her grandmother, she finds that the doctors determine that Helena's mother requires an operation, and Helena can only blame herself for the situation. That night, she wakes up in a dream-like state and leaves her building to find three performers outside. As they try to perform for Helena, a shadow encroaches on the area and two of the performers are consumed by it. The third performer, Valentine (Jason Barry
), a juggler, helps to quickly direct Helena to safety through the use of magical flying books. She learns they are in the City of Light which is slowly being consumed by shadows, causing its widely-varied citizens to flee. Soon Helena is mistaken for the Princess. She and Valentine are taken to the Prime Minister (Brydon). He explains that the Princess from the Land of Shadow stole a charm from the City of Light, leaving their White Queen (McKee) in a state of unnatural sleep and the City vulnerable to the Shadows. Helena notes the resemblance of the Queen and Minister to her mother and father, and offers to help recover the charm along with Valentine. They are unaware their actions are being watched by the Queen of Shadows (McKee) who has mistaken Helena as the Princess of the Land of Shadows.
The two attempt to stay ahead of the shadows as they follow clues to the charm, learning that it is called "MirrorMask". Helena discovers that by looking through the windows of the buildings, she can see into her apartment room through the windows on drawings she created on one wall of her room, and discovers that a doppelganger
of herself is behaving radically different from her; the doppelganger soon becomes aware of her presence in the drawings and begins to destroy them, causing parts of the fantasy world to collapse. Soon, Valentine betrays Helena, allowing the Queen to capture her in exchange for a large reward of jewels. The Queen warps Helena's mind to believe she is the Princess. Valentine eventually has a change of heart and returns to the Queen's palace, and helps Helena to break the Queen's spell on her. The two search the Princess' room, and Helena discovers the MirrorMask hidden in the Princess' mirror; the two flee the castle with the charm.
As they escape to Valentine's flying tower, Helena comes to realizes that her doppelganger in the real world is the Princess, who had used the MirrorMask to step through the windows in Helena's drawings to come into the real world. The Princess destroys the rest of the drawings in Helena's room, preventing Helena from returning, and Helena and Valentine disappear in the collapsed world. The Princess takes the drawings to the building's roof to disperse the shreds into the wind, but discovers one more drawing Helena had made on the back of the roof door. Helena successfully returns to the real world and banishes the Princess to her realm. At the same time, the White Queen finally awakens and the two Cities are restored to its natural balance.
Helena returns to her apartment to learn that her mother's operation was successful; Helena returns to happily help at the circus. Sometime later, Helena becomes fascinated by the approach of a young man, strongly resembling Valentine, who wants to be a juggler for the circus.
expressed interest in making a movie that would sell as well in video release as Labyrinth
and The Dark Crystal
based on the two films' consistent DVD sales in 1999. They had considered creating a prequel to Dark Crystal and sequels for Labyrinth, but decided that "it made the most sense to try and create something similar or in the spirit of those films and attribute it as a Jim Henson Company fantasy title."
After being shown a short film directed by McKean, Lisa Henson
contacted Gaiman in 2001 about the project, asking if McKean would be interested in directing and if Gaiman was interested in coming up with the story for the film. Gaiman agreed to write for the film if McKean agreed to direct.
Production for the film took seventeen months, with a budget of $4 million. Though limited by the $4 million budget, McKean viewed this as a good thing, saying "It's very good to have a box to fight against, and to know where your limitations are, because it immediately implies a certain kind of thing... a certain kind of shape... a certain approach to things."
, but that had opted to film it in Brighton
at producer Simon's suggestion. McKean described Brighton as "more bohemian, so that fits with the whole circus thing, with Helena’s family", and that he liked the specific apartment building - Embassy Court
- that they used because "it’s very distinctive, imposing, it does have this character, but it also represents Helena’s collapse and her disintegration into this other world and it’s a potent symbol for her mother."
idea. Something with a girl who was somehow split into two girls who became one at the end." He went on to say that he "had an idea of a girl who was part of a traveling theatre and her mother getting sick and having to go off the road", and mentioned that McKean preferred to have a circus over a theatre "because it was more interesting visually." McKean was the one who came up with the idea of the masks and the two mothers. McKean said that Labyrinth provided something of a starting point for the project, and that he liked the "human element of that film," but that ultimately the story of MirrorMask was something that he and Gaiman came up with on their own. Gaiman wrote the screenplay in February 2002, and said that they always knew that it would be a coming of age story about a girl on a quest, but that later they learned "that it really was just the story of the relationship between a girl and her mother."
, the concept artist for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. The initial intention was to have McKean direct the film with Froud doing the designs, but Polis stated that it "made more sense" to have McKean do the designs seeing as he was the one directing the film. Since they had a tight budget, Mckean designed creatures who were comparatively simple. He assigned entire sequences rather than tiny pieces to individual artists, so that the young professionals working on the film would have the creative opportunity to make part of it their own. He worked with them very closely in a single room. About the animators, he said that, "All but two were straight from art school and almost all from Bournemouth. We took half the class. They all knew each other already." McKean says that one example of the spirit of the film is that they only had one peach during the filming of the scene where Valentine eats the future fruit.
, McKean's friend whom he describes as "one of Europe's best sax players" and "a terrific composer." McKean stated that he "wanted a musical landscape that never quite settled on anywhere geographically or time-wise as well." He also noted that Ballamy has composed music for and performed in circuses before, and that "[h]e just seemed to be perfect for it." McKean said that they could not afford to have a full orchestra due to budget constraints, but that they commissioned several of Ballamy's contacts to help record the music. Digital recordings were used with the aid of Ashley Slater
, but McKean stated that most of the instruments used were real. Norwegian singer Josephine Cronholm provided the vocals for the songs used in the film. The circus band are musicians from Farmers Market. The film's soundtrack, containing thirty tracks of background music and songs used in the film, was released by La-La Land Records
in 2005.
. The movie was originally made as a straight-to-DVD movie, but the movie finally had its limited theatrical release on September 30, 2005 in the United States
.
The North American DVD was released on February 14, 2006. The DVD contains additional content such as commentaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes clips, and an art gallery. The film was listed as #31 on the Billboard
Top DVD Sales chart the week of March 11, 2006. Neil Gaiman commented that the DVD sold "better than expected" and that it was "gathering an audience".
based on 86 reviews.
Metacritic
gave the film a weighted average score of 55% based on 27 reviews.
Critic Roger Ebert
gave the film two out of four stars, praising the film's visual artistry but stating that there is "no narrative engine to pull us past the visual scenery", and that he "suspected the filmmakers began with a lot of ideas about how the movie should look, but without a clue about pacing, plotting or destination."
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
gave the film a rating of A-, saying that the film is a "dazzling reverie of a kids-and-adults movie, an unusual collaboration between lord-of-the-cult multimedia artist Dave McKean and king-of-the-comics Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)" and that it "has something to astonish everyone."
Stephen Holden
of the New York Times described the film's look as "hazy, indistinct, sepia-tinted, overcrowded and flat", and that "its monochromatic panoramas are too busy and flat to yield an illusion of depth or to convey a feeling of characters moving in space." He went on to say that the film is "The embodiment of a cult film, one destined for a rich life on home video".
Desson Thomson
of the Washington Post described the film as "so single-minded in its reach for fantasy, it becomes the genre's evil opposite: banality."
's Green Street Hooligans, Rodrigo García's Nine Lives
, the award winning baseball documentary Up for Grabs
and Opie Gets Laid
.
, in partnership with The Jim Henson Company
, announced plans to publish a manga
-style comic prequel
to the film, which would center around the Princess' escape from the Dark Palace and how she acquired the MirrorMask.
The manga was reportedly canceled in 2007.
A children's book based on the film, authored by Gaiman and illustrated by McKean, was published by HarperCollins Children's Books
in September 2005. An audiobook based on the children's book has also been released by HarperCollins in December 2005. A book containing the film's complete storyboard
and script as well as some photographs and archival text by Gaiman and McKean, titled The Alchemy of MirrorMask, was also published by HarperCollins
in November 2005.
The band The Crüxshadows
wrote and performed "Wake the White Queen", which retells the story of MirrorMask. This track appears on the Neil Gaiman-inspired compilation album
, Where's Neil When You Need Him?
Dark Horse
released a number of MirrorMask related merchandise in 2005. Three PVC figure sets, which included three figures per set, were released from May to June 2005. These sets included figures of characters such as Helena, Valentine, the Dark Queen, as well as figures of minor characters like the Librarian and the Small Hairy Guy. A journal made to look like the Really Useful Book, which provided aid for Helena in the film, was released in July 2005, and a seven-inch tall bust of the Dark Queen was released in August 2005.
Jim Henson Pictures
Jim Henson Pictures is an American movie studio, owned by The Jim Henson Company and opened by Lisa and Brian Henson, the daughter of the late Jim Henson.-List of films produced by JHP:* Buddy...
, Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Samuel Goldwyn Films is an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., the son of the Hollywood business magnate/mogul, Samuel Goldwyn...
, and Destination Films
Destination Films
Destination Films is Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions' independent film division. The company was originally founded and established by Brent Baum and Steve Stabler in 1999. The logo is two halves of a ring formed at the top and the bottom with a line with a crescent on one end and a star on...
. It stars Stephanie Leonidas
Stephanie Leonidas
Stephanie Leonidas is an English actress of Greek Cypriot descent.- Early life and family :One of four children born to a Greek Cypriot father, Leonidas is not the only thespian in the family — her brother Dimitri Leonidas and sister Georgina Leonidas are also actors, whilst her older sister Helen...
, Jason Barry
Jason Barry
Jason Barry is an Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Tommy Ryan in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. However, he has also been in such movies as The Still Life for which he has won numerous awards....
, Rob Brydon
Rob Brydon
Rob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
, and Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
. It is designed
Production designer
In film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
, written by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
from a story they developed together. The music used in the film was composed by Iain Ballamy
Iain Ballamy
Iain Ballamy is a British composer, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone player.- Career :Ballamy was schooled at 1975-80 George Abbot School, Guildford. He then studied Musical Instrument Technology from 1980-1982 Merton College...
.
The film's story revolves around a young girl named Helena Campbell, who is sick of her family's career as circus performers. Helena's mother is hospitalized after they have an argument, and Helena finds herself trapped in a fantasy world shortly after. Gaiman and McKean worked on the film concepts over the course of two weeks at Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
's family's home, and actual production of the film took seventeen months.
The film was created on a budget of U.S. $4 million, and had an overall domestic theatrical gross of U.S. $866,999. The film was originally made as a straight-to-DVD film, but had a limited theatrical run in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on September 30, 2005. The film was also screened at the 2005, Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
where it received positive responses. The overall critical reaction to the film was mixed, with critics praising the film's visuals while complaining about the overall story and script.
Plot
Helena (Stephanie LeonidasStephanie Leonidas
Stephanie Leonidas is an English actress of Greek Cypriot descent.- Early life and family :One of four children born to a Greek Cypriot father, Leonidas is not the only thespian in the family — her brother Dimitri Leonidas and sister Georgina Leonidas are also actors, whilst her older sister Helen...
) works with her parents (Gina McKee
Gina McKee
Georgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
and Rob Brydon
Rob Brydon
Rob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
) at their family circus, but desires to run away and join real life. At the next performance, after Helena and her mother have a heated argument, Helena's mother collapses and is taken to the hospital. Ten days later, while Helena is staying with her grandmother, she finds that the doctors determine that Helena's mother requires an operation, and Helena can only blame herself for the situation. That night, she wakes up in a dream-like state and leaves her building to find three performers outside. As they try to perform for Helena, a shadow encroaches on the area and two of the performers are consumed by it. The third performer, Valentine (Jason Barry
Jason Barry
Jason Barry is an Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Tommy Ryan in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. However, he has also been in such movies as The Still Life for which he has won numerous awards....
), a juggler, helps to quickly direct Helena to safety through the use of magical flying books. She learns they are in the City of Light which is slowly being consumed by shadows, causing its widely-varied citizens to flee. Soon Helena is mistaken for the Princess. She and Valentine are taken to the Prime Minister (Brydon). He explains that the Princess from the Land of Shadow stole a charm from the City of Light, leaving their White Queen (McKee) in a state of unnatural sleep and the City vulnerable to the Shadows. Helena notes the resemblance of the Queen and Minister to her mother and father, and offers to help recover the charm along with Valentine. They are unaware their actions are being watched by the Queen of Shadows (McKee) who has mistaken Helena as the Princess of the Land of Shadows.
The two attempt to stay ahead of the shadows as they follow clues to the charm, learning that it is called "MirrorMask". Helena discovers that by looking through the windows of the buildings, she can see into her apartment room through the windows on drawings she created on one wall of her room, and discovers that a doppelganger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
of herself is behaving radically different from her; the doppelganger soon becomes aware of her presence in the drawings and begins to destroy them, causing parts of the fantasy world to collapse. Soon, Valentine betrays Helena, allowing the Queen to capture her in exchange for a large reward of jewels. The Queen warps Helena's mind to believe she is the Princess. Valentine eventually has a change of heart and returns to the Queen's palace, and helps Helena to break the Queen's spell on her. The two search the Princess' room, and Helena discovers the MirrorMask hidden in the Princess' mirror; the two flee the castle with the charm.
As they escape to Valentine's flying tower, Helena comes to realizes that her doppelganger in the real world is the Princess, who had used the MirrorMask to step through the windows in Helena's drawings to come into the real world. The Princess destroys the rest of the drawings in Helena's room, preventing Helena from returning, and Helena and Valentine disappear in the collapsed world. The Princess takes the drawings to the building's roof to disperse the shreds into the wind, but discovers one more drawing Helena had made on the back of the roof door. Helena successfully returns to the real world and banishes the Princess to her realm. At the same time, the White Queen finally awakens and the two Cities are restored to its natural balance.
Helena returns to her apartment to learn that her mother's operation was successful; Helena returns to happily help at the circus. Sometime later, Helena becomes fascinated by the approach of a young man, strongly resembling Valentine, who wants to be a juggler for the circus.
Cast and characters
- Helena Campbell, portrayed by Stephanie LeonidasStephanie LeonidasStephanie Leonidas is an English actress of Greek Cypriot descent.- Early life and family :One of four children born to a Greek Cypriot father, Leonidas is not the only thespian in the family — her brother Dimitri Leonidas and sister Georgina Leonidas are also actors, whilst her older sister Helen...
, is the story's protagonist. Helena is a young circus performer and aspiring artist who is drawn into a mysterious world of masked people and monsters shortly after her mother is hospitalized. It is eventually revealed that the world she entered was created through her own drawings that she hung up on the walls of her room. Leonidas stated that she expected that filming would be difficult because most of the scenes were done with one or two other actors just with a bluescreen in the background, but also said that "it all came alive" for them when they started working.
- The Queen of Shadows (also referred to as the Dark Queen), portrayed by Gina McKeeGina McKeeGeorgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
, is the film's primary antagonist. She is a possessive mother who treats her daughter like a pet. She mistakes Helena for the Princess who has run away, but when Helena reveals who she is, the Queen does not care as long as she has a daughter.
- Joanne Campbell, portrayed by Gina McKeeGina McKeeGeorgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
, is Helena's mother. A circus acrobat and ticket-seller, Joanne collapses during a skit and is confined in the hospital shortly after having an argument with Helena. After successful operation, Joanne recovers and returns to circus life with her family.
- The Queen of Light (also referred to as the White Queen), portrayed by Gina McKeeGina McKeeGeorgina "Gina" McKee is an English actor known for her television roles in Our Friends in the North , The Lost Prince and The Forsyte Saga ; and her portrayal of Bella in the film Notting Hill ....
, is the Queen of the City of Light. She is a kind ruler, and the sun is her sigil. She falls into a deep sleep when the MirrorMask is stolen from her, leaving her city vulnerable to the Shadows.
- Morris Campbell, portrayed by Rob BrydonRob BrydonRob Brydon is a BAFTA-nominated Welsh actor, comedian, radio and television presenter, singer and impressionist...
, is Helena's father. A juggler and ringmaster of his family circus, he is a gentle and kind man with an artistic temperament. He is frightened and overwhelmed by his wife's illness. Rob Brydon also plays the White Queen's majordomo.
- The Princess (Anti-Helena), portrayed by Stephanie LeonidasStephanie LeonidasStephanie Leonidas is an English actress of Greek Cypriot descent.- Early life and family :One of four children born to a Greek Cypriot father, Leonidas is not the only thespian in the family — her brother Dimitri Leonidas and sister Georgina Leonidas are also actors, whilst her older sister Helen...
, is the rebelliousRebellionRebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
daughter of the Queen of Shadows and Helena's parallel self. She uses the MirrorMask to switch places with Helena and hides it in her room. After escaping to the "real world", she takes advantage of her new freedom: dressing like a teenage punk, kissing boys that Helena finds distasteful, smoking, and arguing with Helena's father.
- Valentine, portrayed by Jason BarryJason BarryJason Barry is an Irish actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Tommy Ryan in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic. However, he has also been in such movies as The Still Life for which he has won numerous awards....
, is a juggler who describes himself as a "very important man." He becomes Helena's companion in the dream world, although he betrays Helena by handing her over to the Queen of Shadows. He regrets this decision, however, and returns to rescue Helena. He is very proud of his tower, though he mentions that he had an argument with it and that they parted ways. As he and Helena are being pursued by the Queen of Shadows, he calls the tower to aid their escape by shouting an apology to it.
Development
Executive producer Michael Polis mentioned that the idea of creating MirrorMask began when Jim Henson Company and SonySony Pictures Entertainment
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony...
expressed interest in making a movie that would sell as well in video release as Labyrinth
Labyrinth (film)
Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
and The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
based on the two films' consistent DVD sales in 1999. They had considered creating a prequel to Dark Crystal and sequels for Labyrinth, but decided that "it made the most sense to try and create something similar or in the spirit of those films and attribute it as a Jim Henson Company fantasy title."
After being shown a short film directed by McKean, Lisa Henson
Lisa Henson
Lisa Henson is a television and movie producer who has been involved in television shows such as Sid the Science Kid and blockbuster movies Lethal Weapon and Batman...
contacted Gaiman in 2001 about the project, asking if McKean would be interested in directing and if Gaiman was interested in coming up with the story for the film. Gaiman agreed to write for the film if McKean agreed to direct.
Production for the film took seventeen months, with a budget of $4 million. Though limited by the $4 million budget, McKean viewed this as a good thing, saying "It's very good to have a box to fight against, and to know where your limitations are, because it immediately implies a certain kind of thing... a certain kind of shape... a certain approach to things."
Setting
According to McKean, the film's setting was originally in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but that had opted to film it in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
at producer Simon's suggestion. McKean described Brighton as "more bohemian, so that fits with the whole circus thing, with Helena’s family", and that he liked the specific apartment building - Embassy Court
Embassy Court
Embassy Court is a radical Grade II* listed residential building in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. Designed by Wells Coates, it was one of the first modernist buildings to be constructed in Britain and also featured the first penthouse suite anywhere in the country...
- that they used because "it’s very distinctive, imposing, it does have this character, but it also represents Helena’s collapse and her disintegration into this other world and it’s a potent symbol for her mother."
Writing
McKean and Gaiman worked on the story and concepts for the film over a span of two weeks in February 2002 at the Henson's family home. Gaiman stated that he wanted to do "a sort of Prince and PauperThe Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
idea. Something with a girl who was somehow split into two girls who became one at the end." He went on to say that he "had an idea of a girl who was part of a traveling theatre and her mother getting sick and having to go off the road", and mentioned that McKean preferred to have a circus over a theatre "because it was more interesting visually." McKean was the one who came up with the idea of the masks and the two mothers. McKean said that Labyrinth provided something of a starting point for the project, and that he liked the "human element of that film," but that ultimately the story of MirrorMask was something that he and Gaiman came up with on their own. Gaiman wrote the screenplay in February 2002, and said that they always knew that it would be a coming of age story about a girl on a quest, but that later they learned "that it really was just the story of the relationship between a girl and her mother."
Design
Polis initially spoke to both McKean and Brian FroudBrian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, the concept artist for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. The initial intention was to have McKean direct the film with Froud doing the designs, but Polis stated that it "made more sense" to have McKean do the designs seeing as he was the one directing the film. Since they had a tight budget, Mckean designed creatures who were comparatively simple. He assigned entire sequences rather than tiny pieces to individual artists, so that the young professionals working on the film would have the creative opportunity to make part of it their own. He worked with them very closely in a single room. About the animators, he said that, "All but two were straight from art school and almost all from Bournemouth. We took half the class. They all knew each other already." McKean says that one example of the spirit of the film is that they only had one peach during the filming of the scene where Valentine eats the future fruit.
Music
The music used in the film was composed by Iain BallamyIain Ballamy
Iain Ballamy is a British composer, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone player.- Career :Ballamy was schooled at 1975-80 George Abbot School, Guildford. He then studied Musical Instrument Technology from 1980-1982 Merton College...
, McKean's friend whom he describes as "one of Europe's best sax players" and "a terrific composer." McKean stated that he "wanted a musical landscape that never quite settled on anywhere geographically or time-wise as well." He also noted that Ballamy has composed music for and performed in circuses before, and that "[h]e just seemed to be perfect for it." McKean said that they could not afford to have a full orchestra due to budget constraints, but that they commissioned several of Ballamy's contacts to help record the music. Digital recordings were used with the aid of Ashley Slater
Ashley Slater
Ashley Slater is a UK based trombone player and best known for his work with Norman Cook in the band Freak Power. He was born in Schefferville, Canada in 1961...
, but McKean stated that most of the instruments used were real. Norwegian singer Josephine Cronholm provided the vocals for the songs used in the film. The circus band are musicians from Farmers Market. The film's soundtrack, containing thirty tracks of background music and songs used in the film, was released by La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records
La-La Land Records is an American record company based in Burbank, California . The company specializes in film and television soundtracks. The label is run by Michael V...
in 2005.
Release
The film was first screened at a high school, where it got a very positive response. The film also received positive reactions when it was screened at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. The movie was originally made as a straight-to-DVD movie, but the movie finally had its limited theatrical release on September 30, 2005 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The North American DVD was released on February 14, 2006. The DVD contains additional content such as commentaries, interviews, behind-the-scenes clips, and an art gallery. The film was listed as #31 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top DVD Sales chart the week of March 11, 2006. Neil Gaiman commented that the DVD sold "better than expected" and that it was "gathering an audience".
Box office
The film earned a total domestic gross of $866,999, earning $126,449 on its opening weekend.Critical response
The film received mixed reactions from critics, was given a 53% "fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 86 reviews.
Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave the film a weighted average score of 55% based on 27 reviews.
Critic Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two out of four stars, praising the film's visual artistry but stating that there is "no narrative engine to pull us past the visual scenery", and that he "suspected the filmmakers began with a lot of ideas about how the movie should look, but without a clue about pacing, plotting or destination."
Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the film a rating of A-, saying that the film is a "dazzling reverie of a kids-and-adults movie, an unusual collaboration between lord-of-the-cult multimedia artist Dave McKean and king-of-the-comics Neil Gaiman (The Sandman)" and that it "has something to astonish everyone."
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
of the New York Times described the film's look as "hazy, indistinct, sepia-tinted, overcrowded and flat", and that "its monochromatic panoramas are too busy and flat to yield an illusion of depth or to convey a feeling of characters moving in space." He went on to say that the film is "The embodiment of a cult film, one destined for a rich life on home video".
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter in the Obama Administration and a former movie critic for The Washington Post.-Biography:Thomson attended boarding schools in England from the age of 7 until 17. He went to the Abbey School in East Grinstead, Sussex, and the City of London Freemen's School...
of the Washington Post described the film as "so single-minded in its reach for fantasy, it becomes the genre's evil opposite: banality."
Awards
The film was nominated for the Golden Groundhog Award for Best Underground Movie, other nominated films were Lexi AlexanderLexi Alexander
Lexi Alexander is a German film director and martial artist.-Career:In her childhood, she began kickboxing and karate. At the age of 19, she became world champion in both. She is represented by Endeavor Agency and Gotham Group in Los Angeles, United States.After this, she went to Hollywood...
's Green Street Hooligans, Rodrigo García's Nine Lives
Nine Lives (2005 film)
Nine Lives is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay, an example of hyperlink cinema, relates nine short, loosely intertwined tales with nine different women at their cores. Their themes include parent-child relationships, fractured love, adultery,...
, the award winning baseball documentary Up for Grabs
Up for Grabs (2004 film)
Up for Grabs is a 2004 comedic documentary about two men who fought over custody of a baseball. It was directed and produced by Michael Wranovics, co-produced by Michael Lindenberger and Josh Keppel, co-edited by Dave Ciaccio; the executive producers were Dr...
and Opie Gets Laid
Opie Gets Laid
Opie Gets Laid is a 2009 American independent romantic comedy film originally titled Sunnyvale for its film festival submissions. The film is written and directed by James Ricardo and stars James Ricardo, April Wade, Ute Werner and Jesselynn Desmond....
.
Other media
In 2005, TokyopopTokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
, in partnership with The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...
, announced plans to publish a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
-style comic prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to the film, which would center around the Princess' escape from the Dark Palace and how she acquired the MirrorMask.
The manga was reportedly canceled in 2007.
A children's book based on the film, authored by Gaiman and illustrated by McKean, was published by HarperCollins Children's Books
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in September 2005. An audiobook based on the children's book has also been released by HarperCollins in December 2005. A book containing the film's complete storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
and script as well as some photographs and archival text by Gaiman and McKean, titled The Alchemy of MirrorMask, was also published by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in November 2005.
The band The Crüxshadows
The Crüxshadows
The Crüxshadows is an Dark Electro group from Florida. Their sound is made up of a combination of male vocals, electric violin, guitar, and synth...
wrote and performed "Wake the White Queen", which retells the story of MirrorMask. This track appears on the Neil Gaiman-inspired compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Where's Neil When You Need Him?
Where's Neil When You Need Him?
Where's Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute album based on the works of fantasy writer Neil Gaiman.-Overview:The album was released on Dancing Ferret Discs on July 18, 2006. The CD has cover art by Dave McKean and extensive new liner notes from Neil Gaiman.The album's title was taken from the song...
Dark Horse
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
released a number of MirrorMask related merchandise in 2005. Three PVC figure sets, which included three figures per set, were released from May to June 2005. These sets included figures of characters such as Helena, Valentine, the Dark Queen, as well as figures of minor characters like the Librarian and the Small Hairy Guy. A journal made to look like the Really Useful Book, which provided aid for Helena in the film, was released in July 2005, and a seven-inch tall bust of the Dark Queen was released in August 2005.