So what if you could tell they were matte paintings. I just saw Avatar – and you can sure as hell tell that those backdrops where matte paintings. Digital matte paintings, but still obviously paintings.

I will finish in saying that none of us ever thought it was “too long and the dialogue was bad in places”.

“I appreciate that toddlers may like it (if they have the patience to sit through it}”

Well yes you know my mum said she didn’t think we’d like “The Wizard Of Oz” and we sat thru that and loved every minute. There’s some dodgy looking matte paintings in that for sure. They make Labyrinth look as sophisticated as “The Matrix” LOL.

Storytelling is more important than special effects anyway. The probable real reason for the film lack of success was video. It came out in the all time worst period for the film industry, when video was all but taking over and cinemas were barely staying afloat. There’s no reason for it to fail, it’s got The Muppets, Jim Henson and George Lucas involved for God’s sakes. It made a fortune on video and DVD though, and that’s why it’s unkind to refer to it as an overwhelming failure, which is certainly was not. Still say it’s an 80’s classic as millions would agree.