Our autumn witch-themed issue will be shipping soon (you can pre-order it here, and/or subscribe here, and/or even gift it here) and features a long, enchanting interview with Toby Froud about the new Netflix show The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance … which, if you don’t know, is a prequel to the 1982 film The Dark Crystal (which featured the genius of Toby’s parents Brian and Wendy Froud, as does the new series!) and became available over the weekend. Senior editor and devoted Froud fan Grace Nuth did a first interview with Toby when the news was announced two years ago, which we shared in this very missive and also posted here.
Here’s an excerpt from her latest interview with the former Babe With the Power:
“The original movie was shot on film,” Toby says, “and film has this wonderful quality to it that lets everything sit back and blur slightly. So details weren’t as necessarily important. It was about color and texture. Whereas this time around, with 4k technology and high end cameras, we really had to step up the details of everything, because we knew the audience was going to be looking, and we couldn’t hide anything anywhere. So it was amazing the amount of things we put into these, and hopefully it shows.”
Here’s Toby on set:
If you know Grace at all, you know that she loves a good, detail-rich ultra magical party. We even featured her tips on throwing a gorgeous celestial party in last winter’s celestial-themed issue. So of course she threw a Dark Crystal-themed soiree for a binge session of the new show this weekend and we’re only slightly resentful that we couldn’t attend due to our tragically being located in another state.
She tells us all about it below:
I absolutely love throwing a good theme party, especially when it’s for something I’m super passionate about. So this fantasy-loving, Froud family art-collecting fan had to go all out for the debut of the new Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance miniseries on Netflix. On Saturday, August 31st, I hosted an all day marathon of the episodes. It was a challenge, since I had only ever hosted short theme parties before, but I had a great time offering themed foods, trivia, prizes, and decor, as well as a fun craft.
The main decor item (and also trivia prize) were bottles of Gelfling Essence. I purchased plain glass bottles at the craft store, and hand-drew a humorous label inspired by antique apothecary bottles. I then photocopied the design onto a paper printed with manuscript texture, and used spray adhesive to attach them to the bottles after I sprayed the glass with a frosting texture. The bottles glowed purple thanks to purple lights attached to a faux cork (purchased on Amazon). I also added texture to the plastic corks with acrylic paint to make them look more real, and wrapped jute twine around the bottle necks, carefully aging the twine with a lighter.
The bottles sat on my mantel, with a purple and black scarf draped across the shelf, with added amethyst and quartz crystals from around my house scattered around the cloth. But when there still seemed to be something missing, I picked up a small notepad at the dollar store, and replicated a page of Brea’s notebook (featured in the first episode) in watercolor and colored pencils to sit front and center on the mantel.
For food, I offered “Crystal Cupcakes:” inexpensive treats from the grocery store bakery with vivid purple frosting. The crystals were made from hard candy treats I ground up with a mortar and pestle until they looked sufficiently crystalline.
I also served “Aughra Eyes” (open face Oreos with gel food coloring irises and brown M&M pupils) on a black plate with Skeksis symbols around the edge (drawn with gold Sharpie), and “Dark Crystals on a Stick” (purple rock candy lollipops from the party store).
A guest brought “Trial by Scones,” and I also mixed a large bottle of “drinkable essence” from grape soda mixed with lemon lime to lighten the color to a brighter purple. Pop Rocks and gem shaped ring pops made all the guests feel young again as we watched this new addition to a childhood classic.
For a craft, I offered paper bag Fizzgigs. Easy to make using a glue stick, google eyes, and a few colors of craft paper, they nonetheless were a delight. Two of the Gelfling bottles also went home with partygoers as they competed in two rounds of Dark Crystal trivia.
Finally, I made large reference sheets of all the voice actors on 11×17 paper, and attached them to large foam core poster boards. Since we all know there’s nothing more frustrating than watching a show and thinking “I know that voice…who is that?!”
The party started at ten in the morning, and we all said our goodbyes ten episodes later at around nine in the evening, all a little tired from the junk food, and a lot awestruck by the epic and incredible journey the Hensons and Frouds created for us.
I am now watching the whole series again, and dreaming and hoping for a season 2, and a second marathon party.
Isn’t that amazing? If you yourself watched the show in your pajamas with a bag of cheese puffs (or didn’t watch at all) we still love you eternally!
Also, check out this video from the dashing Ian Hencher, who recently visited the Dark Crystal exhibit at the British Film Institute: https://bit.ly/2kr4wvK
and who, if you recall, starred in this Labyrinth-inspired shoot by Bella Kotak for our summer 2016 issue (find all our back issues at https://enchantedlivingmag.com/collections/magazine) that might have changed a few lives:
Anyway, please take another gander at our beautiful new witch issue that is being printed on a gorgeous big printing press in Missouri as we speak and that is chock-full of witchy and Dark Crystal goodness:
