I hadn’t seen The Dark Crystal since I was a kid. I remembered it fondly and it didn’t let me down, but watching it again I noticed the heavy reliance on narration and lack of true conflict. It’s really more of a spectacle movie. The protagonist just kind of floats along. But the puppets are interesting and it creates a vibrant fantasy world.
I was shocked to see how popular it was in Japan, well at least according to Wikipedia.
In both France and Japan, The Dark Crystal was the highest-grossing box office release for the year (1983) and outgrossed E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial as the most successful foreign film in Japan until Titanic took over the spot 14 years later.