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Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. | MirrorMask is a 2005 fantasy film from the Jim Henson Company, 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, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story created by McKean and Gaiman. Image File history File links Question_book-3. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (512x755, 83 KB) Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
David Tench McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. ...
Neil Richard Gaiman (IPA: ) (born November 10, 1960[2]) is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. ...
David Tench McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. ...
Poster for MirrorMask featuring Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born February 14, 1984) is a British actress of Greek Cypriot ancestry. ...
Jason Barry (born on 14 December 1972 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish actor. ...
Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones, May 3, 1965, Baglan, Port Talbot) is a Welsh actor, comedian and impressionist most famous for his role as Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and The Keith Barret Show. ...
Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03). ...
Destination Films is Sony Pictures niche film distribution company founded by Brent Baum and Steve Stabler. ...
Tartan Films, established in 1982, is a United Kingdom-based film distributor. ...
is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
This article is about motion pictures. ...
The Jim Henson Company is a company founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. ...
The Samuel Goldwyn Company was an independent film company founded by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. ...
Destination Films is Sony Pictures niche film distribution company founded by Brent Baum and Steve Stabler. ...
Poster for MirrorMask featuring Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born February 14, 1984) is a British actress of Greek Cypriot ancestry. ...
Jason Barry (born on 14 December 1972 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish actor. ...
Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones, May 3, 1965, Baglan, Port Talbot) is a Welsh actor, comedian and impressionist most famous for his role as Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and The Keith Barret Show. ...
Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03). ...
Production designer is a term used in the movie and television industries to refer to the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. ...
Director Herbert Brenon with actress Alla Nazimova on the set of War Brides, 1916 A director is a person who directs the making of a film. ...
David Tench McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. ...
Neil Richard Gaiman (IPA: ) (born November 10, 1960[2]) is an English author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. ...
Synopsis
Helena is a girl who works at the family circus with her father and mother. One night she gets into an argument with her mother, Joanna, for Helena wants to "run away and join real life". When her exasperated mother says, "You're going to be the death of me," Helena sharply replies, "I wish I was." During that night's show, Joanna collapses and is sent to the hospital. Ten days later, Helena learns from her father that Joanna has to undergo an operation. Helena blames herself.
The night of the operation, Helena wakes up after a strange dream and sneaks out of the family apartment to see a masked man playing a violin. Nearby are two other masked men who are trying to juggle. Suddenly a shadow "consumes" the violin player, and Helena flees from the danger with one of the other masked men, who introduces himself as Valentine.
Valentine leads Helena to the City of Light, where they see many unusual citizens leaving the city because of the Shadows that are consuming it. Helena is mistaken by the royal guards as a "Princess", and she is forcefully taken to the Palace of Light. At one point during her transportation, Helena looks into a house window and instead of seeing what should be inside, she sees herself sleeping in her room. This makes her believe that she is still dreaming.
Once at the palace, she meets the Prime Minister, who can see that she is not the Princess. The Prime Minister explains that there are two kingdoms: the City of Light and the Land of Shadow, both of which have their own queens. Three days prior, a Princess from the Land of Shadow arrived at the City of Light, where she was welcomed warmly. But the Princess stole their "charm" and fled in secret, leaving the White Queen in an unnatural sleep and the City of Light vulnerable to the Shadows. Helena decides to help them find the charm.
Recruiting a reluctant Valentine, Helena starts following clues throughout the city to find the charm, which she learns is the "MirrorMask". All the while, the pair have to elude the Shadows and other dangerous creatures. Unknown to Helena, the Dark Queen is also hunting her, thinking that she is the Princess who has run away.
At certain points, Helena looks into other windows, and instead of seeing herself asleep as she thought she would, she sees a doppelganger arguing with her father, smoking, and later making out with someone Helena disapproves of. When Helena yells through the window, the doppelganger "sees" her, prompting Helena to quickly hide.
Helena's search leads her to a small white building on the border between the City of Light and the Land of Shadow. Inside the building are hundreds of locks, one of which should reveal the Mirrormask. Before Helena can start trying the locks, she is betrayed by Valentine to the Dark Queen. Helena is hypnotized to think of herself as the Princess, and forgets her mission.
Valentine eventually has a change of heart, and secretly returns to the white building where he tries all the locks. He finds the right one, but is dismayed when its contents turn out to be a letter from the real Princess, announcing her theft of the MirrorMask. Valentine returns to the Dark Palace and apologizes to Helena, whom he helps remember who she is.
A recovered Helena and Valentine go into the Princess' room and discuss the information they have. Helena then remembers that Joanna had always told her that when she's looking for something, it's very often staring at her right in the face. Helena looks at the Princess' mirror, and when she dips her face in it, the MirrorMask is revealed.
Helena and Valentine flee from the Dark Castle with the Dark Queen in pursuit. Helena knows now that the Princess has taken her place in the real world, and in order to return there, she needs to wear the MirrorMask and look at the Princess. It is also revealed the City of Light and Land of Shadows exist in the drawings that Helena has pasted on her room wall in the real world, and the Princess is methodically destroying these drawings.
Helena needs to find a window immediately, but the Princess destroys the last drawing and has apparently won. The Princess throws the drawings into the air while standing on the apartment roof, but when she turns, the door slams shut to reveal another of Helena's drawings, and Helena waiting for her in it. Despite the Princess' protests, Helena puts the MirrorMask on.
Helena wakes up on the apartment roof, all the events in the City of Light and Land of Shadows apparently a "dream". She is found by her father, who tells her that Joanna's operation was a success. Helena is reunited with her mother, and apologizes for her previous behavior. Later, once the circus is running again, a possibly human version of Valentine bumps into Helena.
Characters Helena Campbell, portrayed by Stephanie Leonidas, is the story's protagonist. She is a young circus performer and aspiring artist who dreams of running away to join 'real life'. Despite these feelings, Helena loves both of her parents. After a fight with her mother, in which Helena wishes she could 'be the death' of her, her mother falls ill, for which Helena blames herself. On the night doctors operate on her mother, Helena "dreams" of a mysterious world of masked people and monsters. In the context of the dream world, the Princess of the Land of Shadows has used a charm (the Mirrormask) to escape and join the real world, presumably switching places with Helena. As Helena has entered this world in the Princess' stead, she volunteers to help find the Mirrormask and use it to restore balance between the City of Light and the Land of Shadows. It soon becomes apparent that Helena is the creator of the dream world, having created it from her drawings, posters, sculptures and daydreams. Poster for MirrorMask featuring Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born February 14, 1984) is a British actress of Greek Cypriot ancestry. ...
The Queen of Shadows, portrayed by Gina McKee, is the main villain on the film. She is possessive mother who treats her daughter like a pet. The Dark Queen mistakes Helena for the Princess who has run away, but when Helena reveals who she is, the Dark Queen does not care either way, as long as she has a daughter. Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03). ...
Joanne Campbell, portrayed by Gina McKee, is Helena's mother who has good intuition and advice that helps Helena find the MirrorMask. A circus acrobat and ticket-seller, Joanne also dresses up in a gorilla suit for a short skit with her husband and daughter; on the night she collapses another performer has to take over while she travels to the hospital. After an operation where they "got all of" the illness, Joanne returns to circus life with her relieved family. Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03). ...
The Queen of Light, portrayed by Gina McKee, 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 Shadows. Gina McKee (born 14 April 1961) is an English actress, known for her starring roles in the TV dramas Our Friends in the North (1996) and The Lost Prince (2003) for the BBC and the ITV version of The Forsyte Saga (2002-03). ...
The Princess (Anti-Helena), portrayed by Stephanie Leonidas, is the Princess, the daughter of the Dark Queen, and Helena's parallel self in the dream world. She uses the MirrorMask to switch places with Helena and hides it in her room. After escaping to Helena's world - the "real world" - she takes advantage of her new freedom: dressing like a teenage punk, "snogging" boys that Helena finds distasteful, smoking, and arguing with Helena's father. Her only connection to Helena are occasional windows in the dream world that connect to the art on Helena's bedroom walls, allowing them to see each other. However, the Princess is destroying these windows by crumpling up and burning the drawings, so that she will never have to return to the dream world. It is unclear whether the Princess is returned unwillingly to the dream world or merges with Helena (a visual effect and the audio commentary by Gaiman and McKean on the DVD imply the latter). Poster for MirrorMask featuring Leonidas Stephanie Leonidas (born February 14, 1984) is a British actress of Greek Cypriot ancestry. ...
Valentine, portrayed by Jason Barry, is a juggler and performer who describes himself as a "very important man." He becomes Helena's companion in the dream world, although his loyalty slips at times. The biggest slip occurs when he turns in Helena to the Dark Queen for "all the jewels he can carry", although he later recants this decision. Valentine is vain, cowardly, and sometimes dim, but he can be both clever and loyal when pushed into a corner. He is constantly in search of reward. He is very proud of his tower, a possession that was more useful before he and the tower had an argument and parted ways; when the Dark Queen is chasing him and Helena he finally shouts his apology and the tower rescues them. Valentine, like the other characters, has an unnamed counterpart in the real world whom we meet twice. The first time is when Valentine eats future fruit and sees an alternative future where he uses the Mirrormask to escape to the real world and ends up as a waiter; this vision influences his decision to give Helena the Mirrormask when she asks for it. The second time he asks to audition for the circus and talks to Helena after bumping into her. His personality is not noticeably different, but he knows nothing about the adventures in the dream world. Jason Barry (born on 14 December 1972 in Dublin, Ireland) is an Irish actor. ...
History Reportedly, it was given a green light by a studio executive who wanted another movie that would sell as well in video release as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal: Labyrinth is a 1986 fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed through the art of Brian Froud. ...
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. ...
- "Well, in 2001, Lisa Henson phoned and said, 'Look, we've been talking with Sony, and it's become obvious that Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, these two family fantasy movies that Henson made in the 80s, which at the time were both regarded as being flops, have gone on to have this life-forever. People love them, people remember them.' She said, 'We want to do something like that again.'" -- Neil Gaiman on [1]
- The time of production is clearly (although incidentally) evident in the film itself: scenes overlooking the seafront of Brighton, England, where the film was shot, show landmarks which provide chronological evidence of the film's production. In the scene where Helena and her father are on the rooftop, overlooking the seafront, the burned-out old West Pier is clearly visible, juxtaposed with the still-standing pier. The fire occurred in the early part of 2005.
This article is about the English city; for other places called Brighton, see Brighton (disambiguation). ...
West Pier concert hall, 1995 The West Pier on 11th Janurary 2003, showing the collapse of the concert hall, before the fire. ...
The Brighton Marine Palace and Pier is a pleasure pier in Brighton, England. ...
Production - The flat scenes were filmed in Embassy Court in Brighton that, at the time of filming, was semi-derelict and in a poor condition. After the filming was complete, Embassy Court was redeveloped.
- Filming took six weeks in an East London warehouse.
- The budget given to the director Dave McKean by the Jim Henson Company was $4 million.
- The original concept title of the film was 'The Curse of the Goblin King'.
For other places with the same name, see Brighton (disambiguation). ...
David Tench McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. ...
Release - The movie opened September 30, 2005 in the U.S. The film ultimately had only a very limited release. The North American DVD release on February 14, 2006 marked the first time this film was made available in most regions.
- The movie opened on a very limited release in Australia on December 8, 2005.
is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
is the 342nd day of the year (343rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Themes | | This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (September 2007) | The character of the Princess (or anti-Helena) links to the Jungian idea of the 'doppelganger' or double; she is Helena's shadow self, the one that shouts at her mother in the beginning of the film, the side that she wants to apologize to her mother. Everything in the dream world has a double, sometimes evil, and this relates to the Jungian idea of the shadow self. The entire film is about the balance between the conscious and the dreaming, good and evil, black and white, dark and light. Image File history File links Emblem-important. ...
For other uses of the word Doppelgänger please see Doppelgänger (disambiguation). ...
As with other fantasy films about a young protagonist who enters a "dreamworld" that may or may not be real, MirrorMask contains a number of visual cues that link the real world with the supposed fantasy world, some of which are used in the opening sequence and foreshadow events that will take place later film. A clear example is in Helena's introduction, when she is seen playing with a white sock (the White Queen) and a black sock (the Black Queen). Helena can also be heard saying, "I'm a very important man", a line that the character Valentine will say repeatedly later in the film. Various objects in Helena's circus trailer and apartment room also reflect objects and places that Helena would later visit in the City of Light and Land of Shadow.
Associated work Tokyopop in partnership with The Jim Henson Company are planning to publish a manga-style comic based on the movie, which will be a prequel to the film. TokyoPop Press Release For the music movie, see Tokyo Pop. ...
Jim Hensen Company in Los Angeles The Jim Henson Company is an American company founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. ...
This article is about the comics published in East Asian countries. ...
A prequel is a work that portrays events which include the structure, conventions, and/or characters of a previously completed narrative, but occur at an earlier time. ...
A small children's book, authored by Gaiman and illustrated by McKean, has already been released and distributed. A book containing the film's complete storyboard and script, as well as some photographs and archival text by Gaiman and McKean, has also been produced and distributed. Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of previsualizing a motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity. ...
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?. The Crüxshadows (Pronounced as IPA: )[3] is an independent music group from Florida. ...
A compilation album is an album (music or spoken-word) featuring tracks from one or multiple recording artists, often culled from a variety of sources (such as studio albums, live albums, singles, demos and outtakes. ...
Wheres Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute CD to writer Neil Gaiman consisting of seventeen tracks performed by various artists who are fans of Gaimans work. ...
Soundtrack The film is notable for its soundtrack, which is composed mainly by British jazz luminary Iain Ballamy (who appears briefly in the film as a circus musician) and features contributions from other prominent musicians such as Arve Henriksen, Stian Carstensen, and Ballamy's old Loose Tubes bandleader Ashley Slater. Iain Ballamy (born February 20, 1964 in Guildford, Surrey) is a British soprano, alto and tenor saxophone player. ...
Arve Henriksen at Moers Festival, June 2006, Germany Arve Henriksen (born 22 March 1968, Stranda) is a Norwegian trumpet player, renowned for his distinctive, flute-like sound on the trumpet, inspired by the sound of the Japanese shakuhachi flute. ...
Stian Carstensen (born in 1971) at Eidsvoll). ...
Loose Tubes was a big band based in Britain during the mid-to-late 1980s. ...
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