Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Labyrinth arrived in 1986 as a Jim Henson production released through TriStar Pictures, blending Henson's puppetry with the imagination of executive producer George Lucas and a soundtrack and lead performance from David Bowie. It underperformed on first release but grew into a devoted cult favorite, prized for its practical creature effects, its fairy tale logic, and its refusal to talk down to younger audiences. Over the decades it has become a touchstone for collectors of both Bowie's screen work and Henson's studio output, a rare meeting point between rock stardom and puppet craft.
This cell preserves the title card, the frame that opens the film and sets its name before the audience, a plain declaration of what is about to unfold. Title cards mark a specific threshold moment in a print, the transition from studio credits into story, and collectors seek them out precisely because they represent the film's identity distilled to a single frame. For Labyrinth, this piece stands as a first announcement of the world to come.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm colour release print of Labyrinth (1986).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
Two parallel white lines run along the bottom edge of the picture area, consistent with a dual variable-area optical soundtrack.
Edge print
Bottom edge reads 'L P P' in amber characters; no key numbers or SAFETY FILM text are visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm amber-yellow tint typical of processed colour print stock; the dye image reads as a positive with no visible colour shift or fading.
Projection history
Two continuous horizontal lines run across all three frames in the lower picture area, consistent with repeated projection contact.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames show the same title card, consistent with a title-sequence hold or very slow dissolve from the film on record.
Era check
A dual variable-area optical track and warm amber base are consistent with a mid-1980s release print, matching the 1986 production date of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063043
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
