You remind me of the babe.

July 8, 2014 9:29 AM

Toby Froud may not be a household name, but you've probably seen him before - as the baby from Labyrinth. Now thirty, Toby continues to work with magical creatures: his short live-action puppet film, Lessons Learned, recently premiered in Portland.

Toby follows in the footsteps of his parents, Brian and Wendy Froud, who worked together on Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Also among their accomplishments: Wendy was part of the team that brought Yoda to life, and Brian is the illustrator of Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book.

More info on Lessons Learned, including examples of Toby's other work, can be found at the project's (closed) Kickstarter page.

The Frouds previously on MetaFilter.

posted by Metroid Baby (20 comments total)

Whoa! Very cool!
posted by Kitteh at 9:43 AM on July 8, 2014

Yeah, I just found out about this yesterday, and have no idea how this escaped my attention. I have a slew of puppeteer friends, am an amateur puppeteer, watch tons of puppet shows, visit puppet sites, and I fund tons of puppet related things on kickstarter, and I missed this.

They already have my money. I just wish I could have given it to them already.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:44 AM on July 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

You remind me of the babe.

I wonder how many times he had to hear that line quoted back at him when he was growing up...

I'd actually forgotten that baby Toby was the real-life son of the Frouds. I guess that goes a long way towards explaining his apparent nonchalance around the admittedly creepy-looking puppets. Growing up with Creature Shop designers as parents, I imagine things like that would seem pretty normal.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:31 AM on July 8, 2014

I interviewed Heather Henson, who produced this, years ago. At the time, she was dipping her toes into the world of puppetry -- she had worked in visual arts but had avoided puppetry and was approaching working in it cautiously, keenly aware of the shadow she was in. She has since gone on to really embrace that legacy, and has partnered a few times already with Froud, who seems like he has not had the same ambivalence about participating in his parents' legacy. I'm glad for both of them, because it's an extraordinary legacy, and it is thrilling to see it carried on -- and carried on so well -- by the next generation.
posted by maxsparber at 12:05 PM on July 8, 2014

I will add that I like to imagine this is all the result of Froud watching Labyrinth and saying to himself "No, I WANT to be the next Goblin King!"

As life goals go, that's pretty much the best.
posted by maxsparber at 12:06 PM on July 8, 2014

It's funny, I always kind of agreed with Jennifer Connelly's character and found Toby kind of drag in the entire film. Honestly, I always found babies at the center of supernatural problems uninteresting. Exhibit A: OSCAR.
posted by Atreides at 12:19 PM on July 8, 2014

P.S. Good to hear his life has gone relatively awesome. The film had a very cool look to it.
posted by Atreides at 12:20 PM on July 8, 2014

Honestly, I always found babies at the center of supernatural problems uninteresting. Exhibit A: OSCAR.

Counterarguments:

City of Lost Children
Raising Arizona
Rosemary's Baby
2001: A Space Oddysey (YES I AM COUNTING THE STAR CHILD IT'S BOWMAN!)
It's Alive

YMMV.
posted by maxsparber at 12:31 PM on July 8, 2014

Yeah, I was always perplexed that Sarah would actually save the baby. Like, your kid brother gets taken away like you wanted, plus David Bowie has a thing for you? That seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.
posted by Metroid Baby at 12:48 PM on July 8, 2014 [2 favorites]

So, I was an artsy nerdy dramatic loner as a teenager, and I had a stepmother I didn't get along with and an obnoxious, much-younger, always-cranky, always-crying, never-sleeping baby brother whom I was often forced to babysit instead of doing the much more interesting teenager things I wanted to do. And when we were alone in the house and he would wail for no reason and there was nothing I could do to make him stop, I actually used to make a joke of chanting, "Goblin King, Goblin King: Take this child far away from me!"

But I totally understand why Sarah would cross the labyrinth to bring her baby brother back, because I also understand how deeply you can love even annoying, unfairly favored baby brothers who drive you crazy and take your toys. Because it's not like it's really a little baby brother's fault that he's little and annoying.

And sure, David Bowie is hot, but seriously, who wants to live in a snowglobe?
posted by BlueJae at 1:46 PM on July 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

And sure, David Bowie is hot, but seriously, who wants to live in a snowglobe?

According to Tommy Westphall, pretty much the entire universe.
posted by maxsparber at 1:57 PM on July 8, 2014 [3 favorites]

What babe?
posted by kyrademon at 2:45 PM on July 8, 2014 [4 favorites]

Babe with the power...
posted by merocet at 4:17 PM on July 8, 2014 [3 favorites]

What power?
posted by Night_owl at 6:12 PM on July 8, 2014 [4 favorites]

The power of voodoo.
posted by radwolf76 at 7:36 PM on July 8, 2014 [4 favorites]

Who do?
posted by RobotHero at 8:11 PM on July 8, 2014 [4 favorites]

You do.
posted by greta simone at 8:57 PM on July 8, 2014 [4 favorites]

Do what ?
posted by Pendragon at 1:51 AM on July 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

Remind me of the babe!
posted by obiwanwasabi at 2:17 AM on July 9, 2014 [3 favorites]

I think MetaFilter just pulled off an 8-hit combo.
posted by Strange Interlude at 6:42 AM on July 9, 2014 [6 favorites]