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Labyrinth’s ‘Babe With The Power’ Has Gone Into The Puppet Business

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We know what you’re thinking… ‘I wonder what Toby, ‘the babe with the power’ from 80s Bowie vehicle ‘Labyrinth’ is up to these days?’

Well wonder no more. He’s gone into the business of puppetry, which seems like the obvious choice, all things considered.

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Toby Froud was last seen on screen in 1986, wearing a striped baby-grow, being kidnapped by David Bowie’s Jareth and giving half-sister Jennifer Connelly the run-around in a world stuffed with goblins and astonishingly bad hair.

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Obviously he’s no longer a baby, but a 30-year-old man who’s just completed a puppet-based short film called ‘Lessons Learned’ with Heather Henson, son of the legendary Jim, who made ‘Labyrinth’ with George Lucas.

Portland-dwelling Toby has also worked in the special effects departments on movies including ‘ParaNorman’ and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’, and more recently, the forthcoming – and hotly-tipped – ‘Boxtrolls’.

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And though it all seems rather apt that he should go into the business he was exposed to as a toddler, it was all in the family in the first place.

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He’s the son of Brian Froud, the fantasy illustrator whose work inspired Henson to bring both ‘The Dark Crystal’ and ‘Labyrinth’ to the screen – Froud was the conceptual designer on both movies.

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‘I have vivid memories of goblins’ faces and strange creatures and chaos around me that could just be from growing up in the house I lived in, or from seeing the film as many times as I have, or it could be remembering the puppets that were in front of me. I’m not sure,’ Froud told Portland Monthly.

But is he still a fan of Bowie? And does he still like the ace music from the film that made him (briefly) the most famous baby in the world?

“I grew up a huge fan of his music—and knowing I sat in his lap! I believe the first time I met him, I peed on him, but I haven’t met him since,” he added.

“My favourite song: many might think it’s ‘Dance Magic’, but actually my favourite song is ‘As the World Falls Down’ from the ballroom scene—a very dream like song as part of growing up, I feel.”

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(Photo credit: Rex/IMDB/Stripey Pajama Productions)