The Brand New Ask Jim Lewis Thread

[dwayne1115]

Wow thats a very interseting question!

 

[theprawncracker]

Dear Jim,
I know you had a hand in helping The Muppet Show Comic Book come to hillarious fruition, so you're really the only person I can ask this question to...

How does one explain to his mother why he used her PayPal account to pay for roughly $40 worth of comic books in the past two months?

Thanks Jim!

 

[Davina]

hehehe good luck with that prawnie..

 

[dwayne1115]

Dear Jim,
I know you had a hand in helping The Muppet Show Comic Book come to hillarious fruition, so you're really the only person I can ask this question to...

How does one explain to his mother why he used her PayPal account to pay for roughly $40 worth of comic books in the past two months?

Thanks Jim!

Well you could say that you hired me as your personal finanical advisor and that buying these comics was an inesvtent into the future!

 

[theprawncracker]

Well you could say that you hired me as your personal finanical advisor and that buying these comics was an inesvtent into the future!

Right! Good! I'll just have my mom contact you. Good luck Dwayne-o!

 

[unclematt]

Jim,

As I have stated in this forum, it is amazing to me how much time you give back to the fans. Why do you think you appreciate the fans so much? Were you an appreciated fan of something in your youth or even now? I can not tell you how appreciative I am of your commitment to us. Thank you!

Matt "unclematt" Blecha

 

[antsamthompson9]

Jim, you worte some segments for VeggieTales. What do you think about the show? I think it's one of the better kids' shows.

 

[minor muppetz]

I have a question about script writing in general...

When a scene is rewritten, or needs to be, does a writer just rewrite that scene, or does the writer completely rewrite the whole script, even for just one small but important change?
I hope what I'm asking is clear.

 

[dwayne1115]

These questions are great and I'll send these off tomorow. I want to say I'm sorry for not sending them off sooner just had some things come up.

 

[dwayne1115]

Enjoy!

And here are the answers!



Questions For Jim Lewis (June 21, 2009)





1. From New Askie (Is that a word) wemblingalong: Hi Jim!

I am an elementary computer lab teacher and outside my classroom I have the "think different" poster of Jim and Kermit. Inside my lab I have a Kermit poster to spread Muppet awareness. Some of the kids ask who BOTH Kermit and Jim are and that concerns me!

With all the competition of CGI 3-D movies, computers, and various other forms of entertainment. What sort of things are being done to appeal to the next generation of possible Muppet fans?

The world is a more crowded place. It’s tough to get attention when the markets are divided into so many niches that there is a niche for people who want to ask me question. . The Muppets are doing many thing in many places – many you’ll see soon (I hope), some of which are more long term and all of which I can’t talk about or I’ll be selling shaved ice. How to appeal? Well, my feeling is that these characters have an advantage over most every CG and 3D and animated character in the world, because the Muppets live in our world. They don’t need to be rendered, they are here in real time. And no matter how good your HD, they’re still fuzzy (or at least some of them are). We can only do what Jim Henson did, which was entertain and amuse to the best of our ability (and for all audiences) and then hope folks find us. I’ve also considered trying to get federal stimulus money, but no luck on that so far.



2. From Ryan: Dear Jim,
I know you had a hand in helping The Muppet Show Comic Book come to hillarious fruition, so you're really the only person I can ask this question to...

How does one explain to his mother why he used her PayPal account to pay for roughly $40 worth of comic books in the past two months?

I don’t know. I have to explain the same thing to my wife. I’m at the comic book store every Wednesday for new books. The missus thinks I’m crazy. Even my kids look at me as odd, until I share my purchases with them. If you come up with a good excuse, please let me know.


3. From UncleMatt (The fan not the Fraggle):Jim,

As I have stated in this forum, it is amazing to me how much time you give back to the fans. Why do you think you appreciate the fans so much? Were you an appreciated fan of something in your youth or even now? I can not tell you how appreciative I am of your commitment to us. Thank you!

You answered your own question. Here you are appreciating me and I feel good. So I’ve already got my payback. Your guesses are good. I was a fan of various people when I was younger – the humorist Jean Shepherd, the writer Tom Wolfe, and Jim Henson – and in each case, these people responded when I contacted them (long before the internet). Hey, if REALLY important folks like that can be kind and friendly and encouraging, why not me? Besides, someday you may be extremely powerful and I can come to you for a favor. See, it’s all about me being selfish. I feel so cheap.




4. From antsamthompson9: Jim, you worte some segments for VeggieTales. What do you think about the show? I think it's one of the better kids' shows.

I became entranced by “Veggietales” on video when my kids were younger. (I haven’t really watched the episodes on TV, so I can’t speak to those) Not only is the moral message great, but the humor was deliciously absurd, with plenty of jokes, gags, asides, sly references for a grown-up audience. (To this day, I still say “Nope, not Tito” which will mean nothing to anyone who hasn’t watched “Esther”) I loved it. As it happens, I got to meet one fo the Veggietales creators, Phil Vischer, and develop a script for them. I haven’t done much more, but meeting him I could see he had that same spirit, that same let’s-entertain-ourselves flair that Jim Henson had. Hope I get to do more someday. Long may they run!



5. From Minor Mupptz:I have a question about script writing in general...

When a scene is rewritten, or needs to be, does a writer just rewrite that scene, or does the writer completely rewrite the whole script, even for just one small but important change?
I hope what I'm asking is clear.

That’s clear. Just the scene is usually rewritten by the writer. But sometimes (often) changing the scene changes the scenes around it meaning that you’ve got to go through and make sure the story, characters, etc all “track”. Rarely do you tweak a scene and not have fallout elsewhere – sometimes major, sometimes minor, usually for the better, sometimes not, and always followed by complaints from the writer.



7. From Dwayne: One of the questions got me thinking about writing for kids shows such as Sid the Science kid, and then a family show such at the Muppet Show. How do yoo personaly determan what is good for a kids show and what makes for a good family show? Because a lot of family show or movies tend to be to much for just kids, or the other way around. What's your take on the whole kid/ family shows.

With “Sid” – that show was built from the curriculum up. It was and is intended as a pre-school science prep show to get kids interested in the idea and techniques of science. It is very focused, tested, information based – with laughs (we hope). With a family show, the goal is to entertain and connect emotionally with the audience, and who cares if you learn anything. (e.g. Always duck when Fozzie walks by with a 2x4). In each case, I think the humor should be smart enough (or silly enough) to entertain a younger or older audience. And it’s equally important that, in each case, the writer is treated like a king – though this, to my knowledge, has never happened.


I also want to say that it has really done me good to get back into doing this! I missed it, and can't wait to see what you all ask next. I also can't wait to see what Jim says.