"Remember The Dark Crystal? How cool was that freaking movie? I would watch that any day over all of the digitized junk that I see now. Sure, [digital effects are] beautiful, but the [old-school effects] are so visceral and so real — the actual puppets and models, and actors interacting with monsters that they could see instead of a green screen."

"Stupid Garthim! You want Gelfling? Why not ask me?! No — easier to send your crab-brained soldiers, burn my home! Now home gone, Gelfling gone — nothing but Aughra! Mouldy mildew, mother of mouthmuck, dangle and strangle and death!"

"The Great Conjunction is the end of the world! Or the beginning. Hm! End, begin, all the same. Big change. Sometimes good, sometimes bad."

"A thousand years ago, there was a Great Conjunction. I was there. Three suns lined up. That's when the Crystal cracked. That's when the Skeksis appeared, and the Mystics. Another Great Conjunction coming up! Anything could happen. Whole world might burn up. [snorts] End of Aughra! Hm!"

"Another world, another time, in the age of wonder. A thousand years ago, this land was green and good, until the Crystal cracked. For a single piece was lost; a shard of the Crystal. Then strife began, and two new races appeared: the cruel Skeksis, the gentle Mystics. Here in the castle of the Crystal, the Skeksis took control. Now the Skeksis gather in the sacred chamber, where the Crystal hangs above a shaft of air and fire. The Skeksis with their hard and twisted bodies, their harsh and twisted wills. For a thousand years they have ruled, yet now there are only ten. A dying race, ruled by a dying emperor, imprisoned within themselves in a dying land. Today, once more, they gather at the Crystal as the first sun climbs to its peak. For this is the way of the Skeksis. As they ravaged the land, so too they learned to draw new life from the sun. Today, once more, they will replenish themselves, cheat death again, through the power of their source, their treasure, their fate - the Dark Crystal. But today, the ceremony of the sun gives no comfort. Today, an emperor lies dying. Today, a new emperor must seize the throne."

"But Gelfling all dead! Garthim kill them all! You can't be Gelfling! You look like Gelfling... smell like Gelfling... maybe you are Gelfling!"

"When single shines the triple sun What was sundered and undone Shall be whole, the two made one By Gelfling hand or else by none."

"What in the world? This place is weird. Let's see. Her name is Aughra. "Follow the Greater Sun for a day to the home of Aughra." Hmph. Some directions! Who is Aughra, anyway? One of these things? Maybe she murders Gelflings. What am I doing here?"

"In the valley of the Mystics, there lives a Gelfling, Jen. The Skeksis killed his family, destroyed his clan. Only Jen survived, to be raised by the wisest of the Mystics. But there is a prophecy. A thousand years have passed, and now, once more, the world must undergo a time of testing. Now it must be healed, or pass forever into the rule of evil. At this time, Jen is the chosen one. Today, Jen's pipe gives no comfort. For today, his master lies dying. And a journey must begin; the journey of Jen."

"Judy Parfitt - Queen Katherine"

"Richard Whitmore, Jennie Stoller - Newsreaders"

"Michael Johnson - Hamilton"

"Rudolph Walker - King Mulambon of Zambezi"

"Gedren Heller - Punk Girl"

"Leo Jean - Grampy"

"Julian Glover - King Gustav of Finland"

"Niall O'Brien - Tommy McGuire"

"Joely Richardson - Princess Anna"

"James Villiers - Prime Minister Geoffrey Haile"

"Leslie Phillips - Gordon Halliwell"

"Richard Griffiths - Duncan Phipps"

"Jack Smethurst - Miranda's Father"

"Ann Beach - Miranda's Mother"

"Ed Stobart - Dysentery"

"Camille Coduri - Miranda Greene"

"John Hurt - Lord Percival Graves"

"Peter O'Toole - Sir Cedric Charles Willingham"

"John Goodman - Ralph Hampton Gainesworth Jones"

"A great tragedy has befallen the royal family leaving only one heir to the throne..."

"When Ralph becomes royalty, laughter resigns!"

"A comedy of majestic proportions"

"Ray McAnally - Cardinal Altamirano"

"Ellie Kendrick - Tina"

"Matthew Beard - Graham"

"Sally Hawkins - Sarah Goldman"

"Cara Seymour - Marjorie Mellor"

"Alfred Molina - Jack Mellor"

"Olivia Williams - Miss Stubbs"

"Emma Thompson - Miss Walters"

"Rosamund Pike - Helen"

"Dominic Cooper - Danny"

"Peter Sarsgaard - David Goldman"

"Carey Mulligan - Jenny Mellor"

"Innocence of the Young."

"Someone told me that in about 50 years, no one will speak Latin, probably. Not even Latin people."

"Knowing a famous author is better than becoming one. It shows you're connected."

"The life I want, there is no shortcut."

"[about sex] It's funny though, isn't it? All that poetry and all those songs, about something that lasts no time at all."

"If you never do anything, you never become anyone."

"I don't want to lose my virginity to a piece of fruit."