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It has been nearly two decades, but a Dark Crystal](http://www.cinematical.com/tag/Dark+Crystal/) sequel is still in the works. Designers Brian and Wendy Froud – responsible for creating the sets and some of the puppets that both enthralled and terrified us as children – have revealed that the fantasy follow-up is still a go. The duo has been talking with the director, adding input to the script and have begun the process of creating designs for the film. You can check out a video interview with the Frouds after the jump.
Some have wondered if there’s still a point to doing puppet films in 2010, an age where everything is about CGI and hyperreality. Wouldn’t a Dark Crystal sequel be better with a gaggle of computer-generated characters and backgrounds? Not according to director Genndy Tartakovsky, who agreed to helm the project on the condition that “the film would utilize live-action puppets as well as computer animation.”
There’s an artistry to puppets that doesn’t feel like it translates to CGI – much in the same way there’s an artistry to practical special FX work that never comes across in computer generated gore, for example. One gets the feeling that the hands-on element adds an extra dimension to the work. Plus the puppets always feel more organic than the relatively cold and sterile CGI stuff. Watching The Dark Crystal as a kid, I believed those puppets were real creatures and didn’t equate them with “cartoons” or “videogames” – terms I’ve heard children recently use to describe a CGI film.
Continue reading Can the Magic of Puppets Persist in a Virtual World?