Jim Henson: Classic or One of Your Favorite Humans Ever?

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Due to recent threads about/the release of the Muppet Show on DVD, I've been considering lately just what an awesome guy Jim Henson was. Though Sesame Street didn't necessarily define my childhood, it certainly entertained me while I was there. And just looking at his IMDB credentials, it's totally undeniable that the guy (and his Creature Shop, respectively) was/were an unstoppable force of entertainment. The Muppet Show/movies, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, the Storyteller, even Fraggle Rock, for christ's sake. All gems.

And all in all, probably the most positive person I could even begin to think of. An all-around wholesome-in-a-good-way guy who somehow managed to bridge the gap between children and adults in a way that I haven't seen anyone even come close to since his passing. (Those parents who claim to enjoy Spongebob with their kids can just fuck right off). So cheers for Henson for being my stand-up guy of the moment. That is all.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Thursday, 18 August 2005 03:00 (twenty years ago)

Henson was one of the men that I would list among my heroes.

Forksclovetofu (Forksclovetofu), Thursday, 18 August 2005 03:05 (twenty years ago)

i can't even imagine anyone saying dud to this.

J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 18 August 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

Neither the IMDB nor Wikipedia have anything to say about something that I always thought was less urban legend than biographical fact: that he was a Christian Scientist, and died of influenza because he wouldn't go to hospital.

A complete hero, anyway.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 18 August 2005 09:10 (twenty years ago)

Has anybody seen MIRRORMASK!?!?

nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 18 August 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

This is a great book for Henson fans...

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0810982331.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIlitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,32,-59_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)

Holy shit. You guys SERIOUSLY need to watch the trailer for Mirrormask.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Thursday, 18 August 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

yeah, that that trailer is pret-ty sweet. it's good to see the creature shop still working on projects. i thought their work in hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy was completely top shelf. it's a shame more people don't rely on puppetry these days for special effects. they seem to have come a really long way.

Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Plastic Gas Booby Trap), Thursday, 18 August 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

> unstoppable force of entertainment

education as well. generations of american children were encouraged to learn stuff by his work.

koogs (koogs), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:19 (twenty years ago)

eight years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KjJcsMf8OA

erect, sporadic, notorious, genitals (forksclovetofu), Friday, 27 September 2013 17:05 (twelve years ago)

er, sorry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KjJcsMf8OA

erect, sporadic, notorious, genitals (forksclovetofu), Friday, 27 September 2013 17:05 (twelve years ago)

four years pass...

KJB and I dashed through the Henson exhibit at MOMI yesterday, so we didn't have time to pose with our role models Statler & Waldorf.

http://www.movingimage.us/exhibitions/2017/07/22/detail/the-jim-henson-exhibition/

ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Monday, 29 January 2018 16:15 (eight years ago)

I think some variation on that exhibit has been circling the country for decades. Saw it in Indianapolis as a kid and at the Museum of Science and Industry a few years back, loved it deeply both times.

Senior Soft-Serve Tech at the Froyo Arroyo (Old Lunch), Monday, 29 January 2018 16:22 (eight years ago)

How long is it running morbs?

Winter. Dickens. Yes. (Jon not Jon), Monday, 29 January 2018 17:06 (eight years ago)

end of March

ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Monday, 29 January 2018 17:10 (eight years ago)

I think it's a permanent installation, no? I remember reading about the opening and thinking there was no urgency to get my family there because it was sticking around.

early rejecter, Monday, 29 January 2018 21:21 (eight years ago)

it's a permanent installation afaik, not sure what the dates on the website apply to (reservations?)

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 29 January 2018 21:22 (eight years ago)

also it's great

flamenco drop (BradNelson), Monday, 29 January 2018 21:23 (eight years ago)

Iiiii guess that's true!

What a lot of space to take up permanently. I mean, it's the same space where they had the Scorsese exhibit last year, so they're kinda closing off options unless they're planning another renovation.

ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Monday, 29 January 2018 21:33 (eight years ago)

two years pass...

Muppet Guys Talking: Live Conversation with Frank Oz, Fran Brill, David Goelz and more discussing Henson
On now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsSdhjprioQ

Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Saturday, 16 May 2020 20:49 (six years ago)

three years pass...

Yeah this isn't going to wreck me or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyGFV6VIxkI

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 19:53 (two years ago)

yeah I need a kleenex just for that trailer

Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 20:15 (two years ago)

being a latch-key kid in a very rural NorCal area, Sesame Street gave me an idea of what living in a city must be like: hanging on the stoop, not everyone is white, Mr. Hooper's market, etc... beside the set itself, they would have little films shot in Central Park or on the streets of NYC. It definitely was my first vision of urban life besides like Adam 12 or something dark like that

Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 24 April 2024 20:20 (two years ago)

doc looks really good <3

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 20:25 (two years ago)

the CGI still in that thumbnail looks monstrous

bae (sic), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 20:47 (two years ago)

In 1992, a friend of a friend, a writer for the Henson Company, gave us a tour of their NY townhouse offices and the Creature Shop a few blocks away.

https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Henson_Townhouse

The Townhouse was decorated throughout with much priceless art.

https://d1inegp6v2yuxm.cloudfront.net/royal-academy/image/upload/c_limit,cs_tinysrgb,dn_72,f_auto,fl_progressive.keep_iptc,w_850/tfm9ufvnx590auxuphfb.png

The Creature Shop that day was filled with racks of Muppets that had just arrived back from London filming "A Muppet Christmas Carol." We got to peek through drawers and drawers full of Muppet eyes, heads, arms, etc. for creating random Muppets for Sesame Street.

Outside, the only indication that this was the Creature Shop was this:

https://live.staticflickr.com/3270/2723525858_a419f9f566.jpg

Hideous Lump, Friday, 26 April 2024 04:46 (two years ago)


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