This week I’d like to introduce you all to a great friend of mine, Tobias Rowe!
Tobias, thank you for letting me interview you. Please introduce yourself.
T: My name is Tobias Rowe, I’m 33 years old, and live in England, UK.
I asked Tobias what kind of fan he is. Does he make fanart? Does he write stories? Or is he simply a merch collector (no pun intended)
T: I’d say that I’m a “knowledge fan”. Now, that’s not to say I know absolutely everything about the Dark Crystal, but I focus my collecting on anything that will add either to my knowledge of Thra or extends the plot/cannon. Therefore, my collection primarily consists of books, but I do have several items of merchandise.
Soo.. what kind of merch does Tobias have?
T: So, primarily books, but I also have several figurines, posters, the vinyl soundtrack, and a range of other collectibles. My most prized possessions are the poster I won for cracking the BFI exhibition location code, a Mystic POP vinyl signed by Hugh Spight, the novels signed by J.M. Lee, and Lisa Henson’s ticket (stub attached) for the UK premiere of AOR—-although I don’t think she knows I have it!
I remember you taking the ticket haha! Definitely some unique piece of merch! It was such a memorable fun night at the BFI.
Speaking of merch.. We all know the many different items other fandoms have, like Harry Potter, Star Wars eg. What kind of merch would you like to see?
T: Ooooo, good question. I think there’s not enough puppets!!!!! Right? Even if they were scaled hand or marionette puppets——like UrGo and SkekGra use in episode 7—-that would be awesome!
That would be amazing to have! We need Deet Brea and Rian replicas as well!
Could you please tell us how you got into The Dark Crystal?
T: As I recently said during my video clip for the Crystal Shard’s fan montage, Dark Crystal strongly resonated with me as a child. I too was torn between two worlds: the modern world, and that of my religion; my childhood was not abusive, but a humongous struggle to find my place within my family, friends, and the world. I was born in 1986, four years after the film’s release, and saw it on TV as a young child. To begin with, I could only watch it up to the scene where fizzgig jumps out of the hole, scaring Jen. As I got a little older, I then watched it from start to finish, and then again, and again, and again! I became obsessed with it. It 100% shaped my views on life and fantasy for many years to come. Recently, I celebrated my 33rd birthday by getting my first tattoo—a Dark Crystal tattoo (the three suns, the three moons, the three forms of UrSkek—serendipity right?) Now that technology and social media has advanced so much, I began to feel like I wanted to contribute to the community. I initially started Visions of the Dark Crystal, but have now amalgamated into existing fan projects, such as Trial By Stone, Crystal Shard, and TGC.
Tobias is definitely a well known fan in the community, doing lots of different things, so ofcourse I wanted to know.. What did he think of Age of Resistance?
T: Now that’s a loaded question! Do we have enough time?! On the whole, I love it. I think what they have achieved is incredible, and I’m so grateful that it exists. Louis deserved the big old handshake I gave to him at the premiere, because the work he (and everyone involved) has achieved is stupendous. There are clear differences in AOR to the film, and also to J.M. Lee’s novels; I read them obsessively prior to AOR, so when AOR’s plot differed, it threw me off-balance. Joe, if you’re reading this, I prefer your version! But totally understand what can be achieved in different mediums. I also love the “mythological” approach. Brian Froud discussed this process when I interviewed him this summer: he revealed that he did not look at any of his old artwork before starting on the new, the fog of his mind and recall acting like a re-telling of the myth, even to himself. When you approach AOR in that way, you can deeply appreciate it and its creative differences.
The J.M Lee novels are definitely great! Happy to see many other fans like it so much as you do Tobias! Now.. as I’d like to know from all the fans, who is your favorite character?
T: Another extremely difficult question! I’m going to cheat. Based on the original film, SkekSil the Chamberlain wins hands down (plus Simon Pegg’s performance in AOR is incredible). As for AOR, it’s a tie between Gurjin and SkekGra. There is one scene in particular that I find spellbinding—and it’s so simple! It’s when Gurjin is chained in the laboratory and SkekSil is questioning him; there is a side on shot where Gurjin just looks SO alive, SO natural. It’s the same reason why I love the moment where SkekSil drops his sword after losing Trial by Stone in the film. The characters seem real!
As a final question, I asked Tobias what he would love to see in Season 2, if there is one coming.
T: Oh there’s going to be a second season! If not, I’m going to push Louis Leterrier into a patch of gobbles! (And you know I will Louis!) I was massively intrigued by the entire concept of Rian possessing the wrong crystal shard (that wouldn’t fit), also how SkekSo has another magical Crystal in his emperor’s staff. I’d also love to see some groundwork for where the Gelfings go by the time of the film; do they all die or where do they flee to? Why, if they’re still alive, do they not try to intervene any further?)