The 2005 fantasy film MirrorMask is billed as being “in the tradition of Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.” Well, it’s more than that. MirrorMask is less of a tribute and more of a rewrite of Labyrinth [which is itself a rip-off of many classics]. I wrote an essay about Labyrinth’s influence on Mirror Mask, but I have yet to get it uploaded. See tantalizing sample below…

Two decades after Labyrinth, the film MirrorMask appeared in theaters in 2005. Scripted by graphic novelist Neil Gaiman and directed by long-time collaborator/illustrator Dave McKean, MirrorMask tells the story of a teenaged girl who makes a stupid wish. By doing so, she endangers a family member. In order to save the family member, our hero must journey through a dream-like world strongly influenced by her real-life artistic endeavors. In the course of her quest, she grows from petulant self-centeredness to maturity.

Why, this sounds exactly like Labyrinth! The only difference is that our MirrorMask hero is named Helena, not Sarah. She’s rescuing her mom, not her half-brother. And her preferred art form is drawing rather than acting. Still, MirrorMask looks like a Labyrinth for the 2000s. If we peek further into the genesis of MirrorMask, we find that it was supposed to be a latter-day Labyrinth created primarily to make money.