There’s a lot from Jim Henson’s 1986 fantasy musical feature Labyrinth that’s stuck with us over the years. Take the plot, for example: a story about Jareth (David Bowie), aka the Goblin King who kidnaps a baby (the babe with the power!), which in turn sends the child’s sister, a 16-year-old named Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) on a rescue mission through a colorful and puppet-filled kingdom with danger at every turn. The film, while not a success upon release, cemented itself as a cult-classic hit and an absolute must-see in the years after its release.
However, more notable than the bizarre storyline, the incredibly crafted puppets from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, and the attachment of not only Henson as the director, but George Lucas as an executive producer, is Bowie’s bulge. A true thing of mystery and mayhem, the glam rocker’s appearance in his tight-fitting costumes is without a doubt the most talked about part of the film. During a recent interview with The Guardian, while chatting about his upcoming Disney+ sequel series, Willow, Warwick Davis reminisced on his time with Bowie on the set of the fan-favorite feature.
For those who may not recall, Davis was one of the actors who played the Goblin Corps, a character with perhaps the biggest arc in the film. As the interview was winding down, Warwick spent a moment recalling how Bowie “wanted to go by Dave” during filming and that he “was very, very down to earth.” He also made the not-so-startling revelation that the man known for such hits as “Space Oddity” and “Under Pressure” would jam “seven pairs of socks down his tights,” adding “those tights were a bit too tight, weren’t they?” And with this, the mystery of the bulge has finally been solved — although we’ve always had our suspicions.
Davis also shared what some may read into as interest in returning to his character for a Labyrinth reboot in the form of a TV series. “Has a Labyrinth TV series been mooted anywhere?” the Leprechaun star asks, adding, “They did Dark Crystal, but I haven’t heard any talk about Labyrinth.” And while, to the best of our knowledge the answer is “no,” (save for the sequel that's gone quiet since its announcement in 2020) with Davis’ interest piqued, who knows — maybe there could be a revamp.
If there were to be a reimagining of Labyrinth, there would be one glaring problem — the absence of Bowie, who tragically passed away in early 2016 following a private battle with cancer. Of course, there are ways in which a reboot could work, but without Bowie, things would never be the same.
The first two episodes of Willow drop on Disney+ on November 30, with four more episodes to be released weekly. Check out a trailer for the series below.