"Power of the Dark Crystal" Director Announced

The Jim Henson Company has announced that Genndy Tartakovsky will direct "Power of the Dark Crystal" - the sequel to 1982 film "The Dark Crystal." Tartakovsky, creator of the animated hits "Samurai Jack," "Dexter's Laboratory" and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," will direct the film and use his Orphanage Animation Studios to take the lead on the CG animation elements for the puppet-driven film.

"The original 'Dark Crystal' was the pinnacle of puppetry; they created characters that were as believable as the ones you see in animated films," Tartakovsky said. He went on to say that unlike in the expensive original, for which high-cost otherworldly sets were built, the puppets this time around will operate amid a beautiful life-like CGI backdrop. "There is a limited budget here, and this will be more artsy, in a 'Sin City' fashion, with characters performing over greenscreen and great backgrounds behind it," he said.

The film is set to start filming in late summer, with a release sometime in 2007.

Below is a list of the people that we know are involved in this film. No further casting or crew announcments have been made yet, however the full cast should be all lined-up by late-spring/early-summer. I'll keep you posted as more information is released on the upcoming film.

Producers: Lisa Henson and Scott Stewart
Executive Producers: Brian Henson, Ralph Kamp and Louise Goodsill
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Concept Designer: Brian Froud
Screenplay: Annette Duffy and David Odell
Music: Trevor Jones