Celebrating Jerry Juhl

[amiki chan]

Man I hadn't heard about this on the news at all today
My condolences to Mr. Juhl's family as well.

 

[dizzyizzy]

Man this is hard to hear. I"ll be thinking of Jerry and his family. May he rest in peace.

 

[unclematt]

I cant believe we lost two of our dearest friends in such a short period of time. The only thing that scares me is they say that deaths occur in threes.

 

[theprawncracker]

Good lord no!
Jerry...

Why...

This is horrible news. Utterly horrible news.

RIP Jerry Juhl

 

[BEAR]

I cant believe we lost two of our dearest friends in such a short period of time. The only thing that scares me is they say that deaths occur in threes.

They did... Bob Denver, Don Adams, and Jerry Juhl

 

[Infinity Sirius]

I alwats felt there was a shared niche between Jerry Juhl and me, because of the writing. I'll miss him, but all the lives and memories are still alive. I just wish I could have met him before he passed away. At least he, Jim, and Richard are together in heaven.

 

[Squigiman]

I am pretty much in complete and utter shock. I was just going through my checking of the usual IGN sections as a check of my usual sites, when I saw something about "Remembering Jerry Juhl". I hate finding out like that, how it doesn't register right away, because I didn't already know he'd passed. Here's their sweet article commemorating his genius: http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/654/654602p1.html . I was lucky enough to see him speak, both in 2003, and last November at BAM, where I was even luckier to meet him and get his autograph. He was really terrific and very sweet, and as funny as ever in his recollections of the various works being screened.

I can't believe he's gone. The Fraggle movie sounded like it could possibly be a return to Muppetty form, getting all original talent involved, staying true to the original intent and form of the show. Now, my hope is all but completely lost. In fact, any return to any kind of form for any Muppetty thing is sorta lost. Sorry to sound so down, but things have never been the same since Jim died, and now this. Jerry was almost as much the heart and soul of the Muppets as Jim, himself. All of the great Muppet lines are most likely his, and there is no scale capable of measuring how much he will be missed by the Muppet fan community at large. Rest In Peace, Mr. Juhl.


-Squigiman

 

[Chilly Down]

Holy smoke. I'm in shock. I don't even know how to react.

I knew he was getting up in years, but didn't know he was ill.

We've lost the most significant person to the company since Richard Hunt passed away in '92.

I secretly hoped for Jerry to return to writing for the Muppets, or at least consult on a script. He didn't come to MuppetFest, and I couldn't make it to any of the NY things, but I thought for sure I'd get a chance to see him at some upcoming Henson event, and thank him for all the years of joy he brought us. I never got the chance, but I thank him anyway.

For that matter, I hoped to study under him someday in one of his classes or something. He had so much to share, so much to learn from.

When I was growing up, there were 3 powerful creative influences on me: Charles M. Schulz, C.S. Lewis, and Jerry Juhl. Since I was watching Sesame Street before I can even remember, Juhl was influencing me before I can even remember. He is one of the main reasons I want to write professionally. I am greatly indebted to him.

Good night, Prospero. Time to put away your books of magic.

 

[Gorgon Heap]

First time in years I've actually felt like crying over the death of someone I didn't know.

Only recently, after Juhl's departure from the Henson company, did we, the fan community, take stock of what his contribution was, and how it hasn't been the same without him. He put forth not only the out-and-out silliness, but the subtlety and mastery that grounded that silliness, and the character that made it all worthwhile. IMO if you want a comparison, look at FR and its animated counterpart- animated show is much more generic, characters are weakly written, gags and one-liners lack punch, the whole lacks heart and gravity, characters are harder to care about and take to heart, the emotion is ingenuine and written in cliched, obvious ways- THOSE are the things so often lacking in the newer Muppet productions, and everywhere, really- the things that Jerry did successfully for the Muppets.

Watching FR has opened my eyes once again to Juhl's genius, and I recently took to making a more concentratred study of his writing techniques, aside from what I learned just from studying TMS's humor structure and copying it. Wish I could've had the chance to ask him about writing. I think the best things I've ever written around here were merely more successful imitations of him.

He operated at levels which all writers would be fortunate to aspire to. He is sorely missed. RIP and God bless him.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[unclematt]

David,
Excellently written and so true. Your comparrison with the animated FR really opened my eyes.