From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MirrorMask
MirrorMask film poster
Directed by	Dave McKean
Produced by	Martin G. Baker Lisa Henson Simon Moorhead Michael Polis
Written by	Neil Gaiman (story, screenplay) Dave McKean (story)
Starring	Stephanie Leonidas Jason Barry Rob Brydon Gina McKee
Distributed by	Sony Pictures
Release date(s)	September 30, 2005
Running time	101 min
Language	English
Budget	$4,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

MirrorMask is a 2005 film from the Jim Henson Company, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Destination Films. It stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Barry, Rob Brydon, and Gina McKee. It is designed and directed by Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story created by McKean and Gaiman.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Helena Campbell

Helena, portrayed by Stephanie Leonidas, is the story's protagonist. The young circus performer and aspiring artist dreams of running away to join 'real life'. Despite these feelings, Helena loves both of her parents although she spends more time with her dad in the movie. In one circus skit they juggle and then have her mother come out in a gorilla suit. After a fight with her mother, in which Helena wishes she could 'be the death' of her, her mother falls ill, possibly from a brain tumour. Helena blames herself for the illness. On the night doctors operate on her mother, Helena dreams, or thinks she dreams, of a mysterious world of masked people and monsters. In the context of the dream world, it is not a dream that has taken her there, but the Princess, daughter of the Dark Queen, who has used a charmed mask (the Mirrormask) to escape the dream world. Helena volunteers to help find the Mirrormask and use it to restore balance in the dream world. It soon becomes apparent that Helena is the creator of the dream world, having created it from her drawings, posters, sculptures and daydreams. Her mother's illness is mirrored by an enchanted slumber which has befallen the White Queen. The two queens are identical to each other and to Helena's mother Joanne (all three are played by Gina McKee).

[edit] The Dark Queen, The White Queen, and Joanne Campbell

The Dark Queen creates the main villain the Princess. A possessive mother who wants a daughter but expresses it through oppressing both the Princess and Helena, the Dark Queen also turns a blind eye to the problems in the dream world if they relate to her daughter. Helena tries to convince her to change her ways and let her daughter grow up, but the Dark Queen refuses to. One can almost pity the Princess if she has to return to the dream world; she would also have to return to her mother.

Joanne Campbell, on the other hand, has let Helena grow up into her own person up to the point that her daughter's trailer is filled with drawings. She has good intuition and gives advice that helps Helena find the Mirrormask: "when you are looking for something, it is probably staring you in the face". A circus acrobat and ticket-seller, Joanne also dresses up in a gorilla suit for a short skit with her husband and daughter; on the night she collapses another performer has to take over while she travels to the hospital. The movie doesn't explain what her illness is exactly, but dialog implies that she has a tumor of some sort and that it's in her head. After an operation where they "got all of" the illness, Joanne returns to circus life with her relieved family.

Not much is known about the White Queen except that she rules the City of Light, took in the Princess, and the sun is her sigil. The reason why the viewers do not know much is because the Queen is asleep for most of the movie (due to the Princess using the Mirrormask to escape the dr