| Lessons Learned | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Toby Froud |
| Written by | Toby Froud |
| Produced by | Sherri Morgan |
| Starring | William Todd-Jones David Skelly Bryonie Arnold Brandie Sylfae Scott Woodard Mark Lewis |
| Cinematography | Scott Tebeau |
| Edited by | Margaret Lily Andres |
Release date |
|
Running time | 16 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lessons Learned is a 2014 fantasy short film written and directed by Toby Froud. The film's visuals were achieved widely through the use puppetry and animatronics.
Lessons Learned was written and directed by Toby Froud, son of the fantasy illustrators and puppet makers Brian and Wendy Froud. Toby, who had appeared as the baby Toby Williams in Jim Henson's Labyrinth , had developed an interest in puppetry from an early age. The film was executive produced by Heather Henson, daughter of the puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson, who financed the film as part of her Handmade Puppet Dreams series. [1]
To raise money for the film, Froud launched a Kickstarter campaign on July 2, 2013, with a goal of $25,000. The campaign closed on August 1, 2013, having successfully raised $53,330. [2] [3]
The film premiered in April 2014. It also played at the Portland Film Festival in August 2014. [1]
| Year | Organisation | Category | Recipient(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Dragon Con Independent Film Festival | Best Animated Film | Won [4] | |
| FilmQuest | Best Art Direction/Production Design | Scott Foster and Toby Froud | Won [5] | |
| Best Makeup Effects | Toby Froud | Won [5] | ||
| Best Fantasy Short Film | Nominated [5] | |||
| 2015 | Pixie Awards | Visual Effects (Gold) | Stripey Pajama Productions | Won [6] |
James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). He was born in Greenville, Mississippi, and raised in both Leland, Mississippi and University Park, Maryland.
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book Faeries with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). According to Wired, Froud is "one of the most pre-emiminent visualizers of the world of faerie and folktale".
Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas as executive producer. Based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud, the film was written by Terry Jones, and many of its characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as 16-year-old Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, The Goblin King. In Labyrinth, Sarah embarks on a quest to reach the center of an enormous, otherworldly maze to rescue her infant half-brother Toby, whom she wished away to Jareth.
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. The plot revolves around Jen and Kira, two Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal.
"Magic Dance" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie for the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth. It was released as a single in limited markets worldwide in January 1987. Upon Bowie's death in 2016, the single version of "Magic Dance" reached #63 on the iTunes chart in the UK.
Toby Froud is an English-American artist, special effects designer, puppeteer, filmmaker, and performer. He rose to prominence for his role as the baby who was wished away to the goblins in the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth. He became a puppeteer, sculptor, and fabricator for film, television, and theatre. He wrote and directed the 2014 fantasy short film Lessons Learned. He was the design supervisor of the 2019 streaming television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Wendy Froud is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating Yoda for the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for which she has been called "the mother of Yoda", and creatures for the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
Return to Labyrinth is an original English-language manga based on the Jim Henson 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Jake T. Forbes is credited as the creator, and Chris Lie is the illustrator. The covers for all four volumes were drawn by Kouyu Shurei. It is published by Tokyopop.
The Center for Puppetry Arts, located in Atlanta, is the United States' largest organization dedicated to the art form of puppetry. The center focuses on three areas: performance, education and museum. It is one of the few puppet museums in the world. The center is located in Midtown, the city's arts district. It was founded in 1978 by Vincent Anthony.
Jareth the Goblin King is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Portrayed by David Bowie, Jareth is the powerful and enigmatic king of the goblins to whom protagonist Sarah Williams wishes away her baby brother Toby. Jareth gives Sarah thirteen hours to retrieve the baby from his castle at the centre of an enormous labyrinth, during which time he sets obstacles in her path and tries to entice her away from her quest.
Timothy Lagasse is an American director, puppeteer and puppet designer. He has worked on films and television programs for Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and HBO. He is known for playing the title character on Noggin's Oobi, and Crash on Disney XD's Crash & Bernstein.
Toby Philpott is an English puppeteer best known for his work in motion picture animatronics during the 1980s in such films as The Dark Crystal and Return of the Jedi. Born into a family of entertainers, Philpott dropped out of school and traveled the world during the 1960s, squatting in various locations and surviving off money he earned from his work as a street performer, which included juggling, fire eating, magic shows, clowning and acrobatics. He began his film career after Jim Henson personally selected Philpott to work on the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, in which he worked side-by-side with Henson.
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States.
Puppet Showplace Theater is a nonprofit puppet theater in Brookline, Massachusetts. The organization was founded in June 1974 by Mary Churchill. Since 1981, it has been located at 32 Station Street. The theater presents performances by local and traveling professional puppet companies.
Cheryl Lee Henson has served as the President of the Jim Henson Foundation since 1992. She is a philanthropist and supporter of puppetry arts and artists, and serves as a board member of The Jim Henson Company. She was honored in 2010 at the LaMama Gala, and in 2011, she won the New Victory Arts Award for her leadership in puppetry.
Heather Beth Henson is an American contemporary puppet artist, the daughter of Jim Henson. She serves on The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, and the Jim Henson Foundation Boards of Directors. She is also a Trustee of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American fantasy television series produced by Netflix and The Jim Henson Company. It is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. It follows the story of three Gelflings: Rian, Deet, and Brea, as they journey together on a quest to unite the Gelfling clans to rise against the tyrannical Skeksis and save their planet Thra from a destructive blight known as the Darkening. The series premiered on August 30, 2019, to critical acclaim. In September 2020, it was announced that the series had been canceled after one season.
John Stephenson, is a British director and a former vice-president and creative supervisor for Jim Henson's Creature Shop. He was nominated for a BAFTA film award in 1985 for Dreamchild and in 1991, he won an Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Sarah Williams is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Portrayed by Jennifer Connelly, Sarah is an imaginative teenager who wishes for the goblins from her favourite story to take away her baby brother Toby. When her inadvertent wish comes true, she must solve an enormous otherworldly labyrinth in thirteen hours and rescue Toby from the castle of Jareth, the Goblin King.
Labyrinth: Coronation is a 12-issue comic book limited series based on Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Published by Archaia Entertainment, it was written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Daniel Bayliss, with cover art by Fiona Staples. The first issue was released in February 2018 and new installments were released on a near-monthly basis until the series' conclusion in March 2019. The series has since been collected in three volumes in trade paperback.