My children loved it, too. We watched the entire movie before dinner, the "making of" section during dinner, and restarted it following dinner. It's playing as I type.
You know how old movies often look dated and worn? Labyrinth doesn't. Granted, all the actors are much younger looking, but as I haven't seen David Bowie in a really long time, in my head he still looks like Jareth, anyway. In a total squirrel moment - I love David Bowie as Jareth. He has just the right mixture of reluctant evil with a heart. Gets me every time.Back to my point. After several minutes of watching, I realized something.
Labyrinth influenced Finding Meara, my current work-in-progress, and not just a little bit. There are several parts from the movie that I find submerged in Finding Meara. For example, I have a masquerade ball in Finding Meara. I totally didn't realize until watching the movie that the influence for that scene is directly linked to the Labyrinth ball scene.Sadly, I tried to share the ball scene I found on YouTube, but it was blocked. Instead of trying to find a video link that wasn't blocked, I decided to not participate in copyright infringement and gave up. If you want to watch it, you can go here.
It isn't just a particular scene or character, though, that I recognized. For me, at least, there is a general feel of Labyrinth to the fantasy sections of Finding Meara. I just didn't realize it until watching the movie now.
So, I'm wondering... Have you ever had an a-ha moment over the inspiration for your work?
Really quickly, I wanted to let you all know that I'm going to post on Saturday, instead of Friday, in order to coordinate my posts with Mark Koopmans' Blog O'Hop on the 17th - St. Patrick's Day! There is still plenty of time to sign up, so click on the flag over in the side bar, and I'll see you there.
Mine usually doesn't come from movies, but either from nature (like a feeling I get from being outside, storms, etc) or music.
ReplyDeleteLOTS of inspiration from music.
Great post! I'll have to see that movie :)
Music is a big one for me, too. There is a new age song called Zorya that kind of helped along my next novel idea (hence the name of the female mc of Zarya!) I love Labyrinth...
DeleteI did have one really big a-ha moment for my novel while I was reading a book about feng shui. Mostly I just take inspiration from all kinds of stuff in a way that feels so natural, I don't give it much thought.
ReplyDeleteI think that's what surprised me so much - I never really thought about Labyrinth at all. It's just in the recent watching that I went "wow!" Even my husband noticed the similarities, so it must be pretty obvious, in hindsight, of course. :)
DeleteSounds like a fun movie! I should watch it with the grandkiddies. Yes, I've seen snippets of inspiration drawn from various movies played out in my novels. It's interesting, but I just enjoy my spin on things and let it ride.
ReplyDeleteI think your granddaughters would like it. I would watch it without them, first. They're old enough to get some of the innuendo that my kiddos are too small for. I think it would be okay, but just in case you wouldn't think so, you know!
DeleteOh man! I LOVE this movie. I haven't seen in forever. I need to buy it. My kids can not miss out on such a spectacular movie.
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes the whole copyright thing sucks. Its so fun to share things on blogs and can only increase their publicity - right? *sigh* O-well. At least we can click over to youtube and find it!
Now I'm off to find this movie!
I got the deluxe edition from Amazon (of course!) for $6.99. You know what I found out? It was produced by George Lucas! Naturally we'd love it. Spencer told me "I'm going to make movies like that Lucas guy. It'll be called Star Wars Eight." And, Gates McFadden (of Star Trek TNG) was the choreographer and the muppet movement person for the scenes with groups of muppets. Crazy!
DeleteI can't think of any examples right now, but yes, there are definitely times when I'll re-watch a movie and realize I got some motivation from it.
ReplyDeleteIt probably shouldn't have been such a surprise for me. I watched the movie a zillion times, I swear. :)
DeleteI've never had an aha moment discovering where an idea comes from. But I've gotten inspiration from songs as I've really listened to the lyrics. I just posted this type of question (have you gotten ideas from TV/movie/songs) to 11 author/blogger friends on my blog and it's interesting to see what other say too.
ReplyDeleteI'll come and take a look! It is fun to hear about the experiences of others - at least I like to. Thanks for following!
DeleteAfter finishing my trilogy, I found a hardcover copy of The Far Pavilions at my mom's house. I loved it as a teen, but hadn't read it since. I reread and had such the ah-ha moment. The hero and heroine in each are from two different worlds, and in spite of their deeply felt attraction/bond, obligation to family/tribe keep them apart for much of the story.
ReplyDeleteBTW, One of my favorite fantasy authors, Jacqueline Carey, has spoken of her love of Labyrinth and its influence on her. Great post!
Well, your trilogy definitely sounds good! I love those Romeo and Juliet type stories, that have a happy ending. I guess I'm assuming your trilogy has a happy ending! I'll have to check out Jacqueline Carey. Maybe she's a kindred spirit!
ReplyDeleteI watch this movie just to see David Bowie in his tight pants. ; )
ReplyDeleteI haven't had an a-ha moment over my work as of yet. I get a lot of my ideas from dreams, so who knows where they came from? It would be neat to see what it was that inspired my dream and ultimately, my book.
I wish I got ideas from dreams. Most of my dreams are just weird. I would love to know how that works for you. And, yes, doesn't David Bowie look good in those tight pants!
DeleteYou've been tagged to join the Great Star Wars Blogathon! Details here: http://www.troublewithroy.com/2012/03/so-you-say-youve-got-this-idea-on-how.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invite! I'll give it a try!
ReplyDeleteI love Labyrinth. Definitely one of my big influences for writing.
ReplyDeleteYES! I know exactly what you mean! I was reading a description of one of my favorite fantasy series "A Wheel of Time," and I began to realize how much that inspired me to write my own book. Not to mention The Lord of the Rings. There is a scene in Lord of the Rings where someone is running through a forest and I just got struck with a scene where my (now) main character is running and she comes across someone that is clinging to one of the branches as if it was a monkey bar on a school playground. And that just set off a series of events for the rest of the book!
ReplyDeleteBy the way I tagged you in the Lucky 7 Challenge! :)