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

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MirrorMask centers on Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother's major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world - the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it's up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she's in a dream, or something far more sinister.

Played by Stephanie Leonidas, The protagonist of MirrorMask. Helena is a young circus performer and aspiring artist, prone to daydream to escape the normalcy of her life, and given that her daily life is her parent's circus, the intense oddity of her daydreams is understandable. After a fight with her mother over her constant desire to "run away to real life", her mother falls ill with a disease that is never named (some lines and symptoms imply cancer). Helena blames herself for the illness and dreams or thinks she dreams of a mysterious world of masked dreams. It ends up that it is not a dream that has taken her there but her darkside, the Dark Princess, daughter of the dark queen, using Helena's pain and a charmed mask to escape the dream world. Further more it becomes apparent that Helena is infact the god of the Dreamworld, it having been created from her drawings, posters, sculptures and day dreams. she is 15 years old at the stories open, and presumpstuiously 15 at the end, although her age in the middle is up to debate.

Only she and Helena can see through the windows (not all windows, but some) connecting the real world.

A juggler and performer, as well as a very important man, who owns a tower (however, they are not speaking after having had an arguement). he becomes Helena's sidekick and companion, but his loyalty is less than perfect at times. He has a counterpart in the real world who is unnamed, however we can conclusively assume he would make a terrible waiter. In general, Valentine is a bit dodgy and a bit stupid, but he can be both clever and loyal when pushed into a corner He had a partner and musical accompany, minstrel, but both were taken by the Shadows when he first meets Helena. However, with in 10 minutes he forgets most anything about the two. He is often very vain and very cowardly, and is constantly in search of reward and treasure. He is also one of the few characters who is clearly not from England, apearing to be Scottish (?).

Reportedly, it was given a green light by a studio executive who wanted another movie that would sell as well in video release as "Well, in 2001, Lisa Henson phoned and said, 'Look, we've been talking with Sony, and it's become obvious that Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, these two family fantasy movies that Henson made in the 80s, which at the time were both regarded as being flops, have gone on to have this life-forever. People love them, people remember them.' She said, 'We want to do something like that again.'" -- Neil Gaiman on [1]

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and had been announced by Neil Gaiman to come to theaters in late 2005:

"The current news is -- good news, MirrorMask will be getting a wider release than was originally envisioned; bad news, it's now going to be getting to the cinemas later in 2005 than was originally planned. I think it'll be released in early autumn. More news as I get it." -- Neil Gaiman on [2]

It opened September 30 in the U.S. The official website has the theaters that are showing MirrorMask. The Landmark Theaters is one chain that is releasing the movie.

The movie opened on a very limited release in Australia on December 8.

The DVD was released in North America on February 14, 2006.

Tokyopop in partnership with The Jim Henson Company are planning to publish a manga- comic based on the movie, which will be a prequel to the film. TokyoPop Press Release

A small children's book, authored by Gaiman and illustrated by McKean, has already been released and distributed. A book containing the film's complete storyboard and , as well as some photographs and archival text by Gaiman and McKean, has also been produced and distributed.