Rediscovering Labyrinth: 13 Things to Notice

Screencap from TriStar Pictures

They Should Be Eternally Stenched!

The Bog of Eternal Stench plotline always bothered me. We know if Sarah or her friends dip one toe into the Bog that they’ll smell like rotting garbage forever. When the rickety bridge Sarah’s walking on falls away, we watch Sarah hang on to a tree branch that inches ever closer. She physically never comes into contact with the bog directly, but there is some significant splashback. Are we supposed to believe a drop or mist didn’t get on the bottom of her sensible shoes?

As if that’s not unbelievable, when Ludo calls up the rocks that allow everyone to cross, those rocks came out of the bog! We watch Ludo, Sir Didymus and Ambrosious, and Sarah all walk across those rocks. Sarah’s shoes should be toast while the animal creatures – lacking footwear at all – should reek! I’m sure Jones and Henson assumed A) no one would notice and B) it was only more physical contact, but they could have elaborated on that. Or maybe, like Didymus, the group was used to the smell and actually did stink? Thirty years later – more like 20 for me – and this still seems like lazy screenwriting!

Next: Count the Bowies