"I think there was a study once about how sixty percent of the girls in America lost their virginity solely because of watching David Bowie in this movie... though it's got to be a bit wonky watching someone else wave balls in front of your face."
Labyrinth is a 1986 Jim Henson film executive produced by George Lucas, a musical fantasy starring David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, and David Bowie's junk◊, which really should have its own acting credit.Sarah is an unhappy teenager, who hides from life in fantasy tales to the point of dressing up in a long flowing dress and acting bits of script in the park. The cause of her unhappiness is her father's remarriage and the resulting half-brother, Toby (played by concept artist Brian Froud's son Toby), about a year old at the time of the action. One night, in a particularly big sulk, she wishes that the Goblin King (called Jareth) would come and take Toby away — which, to her horror, he immediately does. He then offers her a dream-fulfillment crystal if she'll agree to forget Toby, which she refuses. Jareth gives Sarah a chance to rescue Toby; he takes her to his realm, where she must find her way through the Labyrinth to Jareth's citadel before thirteen hours elapse. In this she is aided by various goblins and monsters whose allegiance to Jareth is highly conditional or non-existent.Is a Spiritual Successor to The Dark Crystal, and was itself Spiritually Succeeded by MirrorMask. Although a box office flop, it has since become a Cult Classic.The film is mainly aimed at children, but has plenty to engage an adult audience — not least of all David Bowie's prominent package, a few fan-made drinking games, and the many, many tropes available for hunting...A four-novel English manga called Return to Labyrinth began publishing in 2006 and concluded in 2010. In January 2012, Archaia Publishing announced it will be publishing a graphic novel prequel detailing Jareth's origins.
And let's be honest... everything else as well. It's a magical Labyrinth that constantly shifts and readjusts itself and most of the walls and doors are alive.
Book Ends: The barn owl in flight — arriving in the beginning to observe Sarah in the park, and leaving at the end after seeing her celebrating with her friends.
Celebrity Paradox: Even a social recluse like Sarah should know about David Bowie. She is surprisingly unfazed when the Goblin King looks just like him.
Chekhov's Armory: Sarah's entire bedroom. Plush Didymus, plush Ludo, the musicbox with Sarah's Pimped Out Dress, a Jareth-looking statue, a print of that Escher drawing, it's all there. Not to mention, there's a picture of David Bowie with Sarah's actress mother in the scrap book and in the mirror.
Circling Monologue: In their climactic confrontation, Jareth circles Sarah as he explains how "generous" he has been to her up to this point.
Cool and Unusual Punishment: Jareth threatens to have Hoggle suspended headfirst over the Bog of Eternal Stench, if he betrays him.
Comic Book Adaptation: Marvel did one (Type 1 in that it simply retold the story) as a tie-in when the film hit theaters; spanning three issues, it was collected into one volume afterward.
The Danza: Toby, played by illustrator/creature designer Brian Froud's son Toby.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: The point of this movie. It's about the transition from childhood to adulthood, and Sarah does just that... in the presence of David Bowie. Wait, what?
Also, the line "With the excitement of David Bowie" from the trailer takes a whole new meaning now that his crotch has gone memetic.
Everything's Better with Chickens: Seen in the background, and made famous by the fans, who love them. Just try to find a fic that doesn't mention them.
Inverted by the director and most of the crew. They hated having the live chickens around, with the director making the oft-repeated Hollywood vow to never again work with animals or children.
The Evil Prince: Though he bears the title of king, Jareth acts more like a spoiled prince who'd rather be doing anything but actually ruling the goblins.
The Fair Folk: Most of the goblins don't really fit this trope, but it describes Jareth perfectly. Arrogance, rules lawyering, and being as unfair as possible while claiming he's being totally fair.
Female Gaze: There's a reason the internet is more than a little bit obsessed with David Bowie's crotch.
Growing Up Sucks: Subverted, in that Sarah comes to the realization that while she cannot let childhood nostalgia and fantasy overtake her life, they are things that are important to remember and learn from "every now and again" as she enters adulthood.
Horse of a Different Color: Sir Didymus, a chivalrous, fox-like knight who rides a sheepdog called Ambrosius. This is also an example of Furry Confusion, in that we have a normal, barking and growling canine serving as mount for an anthropomorphic canine (or possibly a squirrel or skunk) who can walk and talk, but also barks and growls along with his mount on occasion.
Laugh with Me: Just before the "Magic Dance" sequence, Jareth laughs, then demands that his goblins join in. Once, they do, he shuts them up for the song. Much the same happens after Sarah is trapped in the oubliette.
Mind Screw: Reciting a line from a play defeated the Goblin King. Really, that's what finally stopped him. *
There is a parallel between this and what got the adventure started in the first place. Sarah makes a long histrionic speech exhorting the Goblin King to come spirit Toby away; the goblins are notably unfazed. He immediately turns up, however, when Sarah makes the request in direct terms. Compare to her reciting her highly poetic line at the end, only to finally cast Jareth away when she declares him powerless.
Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: If Jareth had settled on just giving Hoggle orders then there would have been no problem, especially since Hoggle is a dyed in the wool misanthrope. However, Jareth just can't seem to stop insulting Hoggle, belittling him, physically mistreating him, and issuing dire threats (it was probably his threat to dump Hoggle into the Bog Of Eternal Stench that finally tipped the scales).
My God, What Have I Done?: Hoggle, after giving Sarah the peach. Also Sarah herself, when she realized the goblins had listened when she wished they'd take Toby away.
My Name Is Not Durwood: The only time that Jareth gets Hoggle's name right is on the occasion of the "If she ever kisses you..." threat. He's just as bad with Mayor Spittledrum's name in the manga.
Nothing Is Scarier: Toby begins crying absolutely uncontrollably, and Sarah says, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away— right now." And instantaneously, there is silence, and the audience (and Sarah) realize that's exactly what happened.
Only Smart People May Pass: The entire labyrinth...although it's not really judging cleverness so much as the ability to think "outside the box".
Hoggle: Oh don't act so smart. You don't even know what an oubliette is.
Sarah: Do you?
Hoggle: Yes. It's a place you put people... to forget about 'em!
Our Fairies Are Different: Though, considering most actual faerie folklore describes them as being selfish pranksters at best (and malevolent at worst), Labyrinth's depiction actually isn't too far from the mark.
Granted, all we have to go off of is what Hoggle says about them. And one can hardly blame a fairy for biting Sarah after it's just been sprayed with insecticide by someone she's talking with.
Reality Warper: The Labyrinth is essentially Jareth's plaything, and he is also capable of altering time there.
Rhetorical Request Blunder: When Sarah mutters to her colicky infant brother, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now," she has no idea they are listening.
Road Sign Reversal: Sarah draws arrows on the ground to show which path she's already taken. When she's not looking, goblins flip and turn the tiles with the arrows on them, so she loses her way.
Amongst the books in the panning shot of Sarah's room are Where the Wild Things Are and Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak; the latter picture book (1981) is particularly significant because it's about a girl rescuing her sibling from goblins, though it's a much simpler and different tale. Henson's "artistic debt" to Sendak's work is acknowledged in the end credits, bordering on the Suggested By trope.
"You remind me of the babe" is a direct reference to the ending of The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947).
As Sir Didymus rides through the Goblin City to rejoin his allies, he cries "Hi-ho Silver, away!"
Slouch of Villainy: Jareth's preferred way of "sitting" in his throne. (Currently provides the trope's page image.)
Smooch of Victory: Sarah gives Hoggle one after he helps her escape the Fireys — not knowing that Jareth had warned him that if she ever did that, he'd make good on his threat of the Bog of Eternal Stench...
Spin-Off: In manga form: Return to Labyrinth. Features an older Toby and Sarah, the latter now with a Literal Split Personality.
Spiritual Successor: The second of a Spiritual Trilogy; see the main description.
Squee: David Bowie as Jareth inspires epic amounts of rampant fangirlism to this day (and in-world, the goblins seem to react to anything Jareth says with intense cackles of delight and exuberance — though they have problems with timing), while at the same time also provoking plenty of Squick for other viewers.
When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Or thirteen (goblin time being what it is) Toby will become one of them if Sarah doesn't solve the Labyrinth by then. The ballroom dance sequence climaxes just as the clock strikes twelve, as per the Cinderella motif. When she defeats Jareth, it's just as the clock strikes thirteen; when Sarah and Toby are returned to their world, it's midnight there.
Wicked Stepmother: The stepmother invokes this, saying Sarah insists on treating her like one. (Granted, she doesn't exactly take great pains to alleviate the situation, given the implication that she went into Sarah's room and took a doll without her consent to give to Toby, snapping at her about her dog, and indeed sort of treating her like an employed babysitter rather than a member of the family.)
Her stepmother seems to be good at backhanded niceties; Sarah protests that her parents don't ask her to babysit anymore, they just expect her to do it whenever they want to go out on the weekend. Her stepmother says she'd be happy to hear that Sarah had a date instead. Considering that Sarah's an introverted loner with really nerdy hobbies, it's cruel of her mother to suggest that it's okay to take her for granted because she's not popular. Further following the wicked-stepmother story is her ineffectual, oblivious father; his idea of talking to his obviously troubled daughter who is having obvious trouble adjusting to her father's remarriage and new baby and the loss of her mother is to tell her he and his new wife will be back around midnight. No wonder she's dead-set on escaping into fantasy; the labyrinth is the only place she goes where anyone listens to her.
World Building: As is normal when Henson and Froud work together, with no small assist by Terry Jones; the tie-in book The Goblins of Labyrinth (written by Jones and featuring Froud's concept art) goes into hugely goofy detail about their society and folklore.
◊, which really should have its own acting credit.Sarah is an unhappy teenager, who hides from life in fantasy tales to the point of dressing up in a long flowing dress and acting bits of script in the park. The cause of her unhappiness is her father's remarriage and the resulting half-brother, Toby (played by concept artist Brian Froud's son Toby), about a year old at the time of the action. One night, in a particularly big sulk, she wishes that the Goblin King (called Jareth) would come and take Toby away — which, to her horror, he immediately does. He then offers her a dream-fulfillment crystal if she'll agree to forget Toby, which she refuses. Jareth gives Sarah a chance to rescue Toby; he takes her to his realm, where she must find her way through the Labyrinth to Jareth's citadel before thirteen hours elapse. In this she is aided by various goblins and monsters whose allegiance to Jareth is highly conditional or non-existent.Is a Spiritual Successor to The Dark Crystal, and was itself Spiritually Succeeded by MirrorMask. Although a box office flop, it has since become a Cult Classic.The film is mainly aimed at children, but has plenty to engage an adult audience — not least of all 
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