Henson Biography available for pre-order

[zns]

I saw the CNN People Profiles on YouTube recently (for the first time since its original broadcast in 1999, for some reason I was unable to record it), and it feels very rushed. At the beginning it talks quite a bit about his childhood before getting to clips and coverage of his work, the section on Sesame Street seems to be the longest, the section on The Muppet Show seems long enough though not as long as the SST section, and after that it tends to be rushed, only showing the bicycle scenes from the movies, a little of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and finally coverage of Henson's death, with no mention of Fraggle Rock* or The Jim Henson Hour (I would have happily done without it showing footage from The Wizard of Oz, which he didn't perform in, in order for it to show more clips from what he's actually worked on).

Though to be fair, the People Profiles documentary had to squeeze in commercial time, while Henson's Place and The World of Jim Henson were originally broadcast without commercial interruptions and were able to cover more of his work (and The World of Jim Henson is 90 minutes long as opposed to an hour).

*I don't remember seeing any Fraggle Rock footage during the original broadcast, and when I watched it on YouTube I was surprised to see the lack of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if the person who uploaded it on YouTube cut out any Fraggle Rock footage, since Lionsgate was known for removing videos with Henson-owned content that Lionsgate had the video rights to.

I agree. I thought it seemed a bit rushed as well. But then again, CNN obviously had to squeeze in as much as they could for 60 minutes. As for Fraggle Rock clips, they didn't show any. I have a copy of the special on DV-R.

 

[zns]

An official synopsis has just been given on the book as well as advance praise.

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/208942/jim-henson-by-brian-jay-jones

Now all we have to wait for is the cover art and finding out who will do the narration for the audio CD.

 

[mupcollector1]

I hope there will be an audio book version too. I have Street Gang on audio book as well as "It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things To Consider". next I need Bernie Brillstine's "Where Did I Go Right" on audio book.

An official synopsis has just been given on the book as well as advance praise.

http://www.randomhouse.com/book/208942/jim-henson-by-brian-jay-jones

Now all we have to wait for is the cover art and finding out who will do the narration for the audio CD.

Just read the synopsis. Looks like it's going to be the untimely biography. I can't wait to get my copy. I'll probably end up buying the kindle version as well.

 

[zns]

I hope there will be an audio book version too. I have Street Gang on audio book as well as "It's Not Easy Being Green and Other Things To Consider". next I need Bernie Brillstine's "Where Did I Go Right" on audio book.
Just read the synopsis. Looks like it's going to be the untimely biography. I can't wait to get my copy. I'll probably end up buying the kindle version as well.

I'm going to put this right at the very top of my Christmas list this year.

 

[zns]

We have an official cover:

http://brianjayjones.com/2013/06/14/and-now-were-covered/

We also have more details on the audio-book version as well. The person telling the story is someone named Kirby Heyborne. I don't know much about this guy and personally I was hoping it would be someone involved in Jim's life. But other than that, we've got more details and less than 4 months until it comes out. Super excited.

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

I'm still super excited about this book, but that cover looks like a seventh grader who just learned photoshop made it.

 

[Oscarfan]

Just 'cause it's minimal? As Jim said, "Simple is good." I think it's fine; that's always been a wonderful picture.

 

[jvcarroll]

There are other ways they could have gone with the cover, but this is one of my favorite Jim Henson images. Plus, there's no clumsy Photoshop stamp tool used to erase Ernie! They could have found some creative ways to splash some color into the black and white bits, used a different font or rendered the entire composition grayscale, but I like it! Simple. Clean. With a splash of color. This photo represents Jim at his most vital. I approve.

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

Just 'cause it's minimal? As Jim said, "Simple is good." I think it's fine; that's always been a wonderful picture.

No, not because it's minimal. I'm all for simplicity. I raise you Henson's "Simple is good" with Mr. Rogers' "Simple and deep is better than shallow and complex!"

Rather, I dislike it because it's a poor and rather lazy, slapdash design. Henson had a great sense of style and design (just look at any of the posters he designed in college, or his pitch documents) and I don't think this cover is worthy of that legacy. But hey, one goon's opinion.

 

[zns]

No, not because it's minimal. I'm all for simplicity. I raise you Henson's "Simple is good" with Mr. Rogers' "Simple and deep is better than shallow and complex!"

Rather, I dislike it because it's a poor and rather lazy, slapdash design. Henson had a great sense of style and design (just look at any of the posters he designed in college, or his pitch documents) and I don't think this cover is worthy of that legacy. But hey, one goon's opinion.

I don't think we should be too worried about the cover to be perfectly honest. Whatever is written in the book about Jim and his amazing life is what truly counts. It seems as though Brain Jay Jones has been very respectful to the Henson family and organization when he took on this project. I'm not trying to get too far ahead here, but I am sure that everything here, both the book and audiobook, will definitely be worth the wait and the money.