Hi all
I attended this event over the weekend and just thought I would write a quick review.
The event was called
Focus on Jim Henson and was held at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne. It consisted of numerous sessions showcasing different aspects of Jim's work over the period of a week.
The sessions I attended were:
Muppet Musical Moments - a montage of musical numbers from various episodes of The Muppet Show.
Commercials and Experiments - a collection of various examples of Jim's early commercials plus excerpts from
The Cube,
Youth 68 and
Time Piece.
The Art of Puppetry and Storytelling - a full screening of the
Harry Belafonte episode of The Muppet Show,
The Heartless Giant episode of The Storyteller plus an excerpt from
Of Muppets and Men. Each section was introduced using notes left by Craig Shermin.
The Muppet Movie - it was great to see all the kids in the audience bopping along to
Moving Right Along.
A screening of
Dog City from the Jim Henson Hour with
The Soldier and Death from The Storyteller.
A Better World: Living in Harmony - This included a screening of
The Song of the Cloud Forest (which I hadn't heard of before) plus two episodes of
Fraggle Rock.
I must say that it was a very enjoyable weekend and it was very heartening to see so many people from all age groups coming together to celebrate Jim Henson's work.
It just goes to show that, even though Jim is gone, his work is timeless and is being appreciated by a whole new generation. And if the reaction of the audience when the Fraggle Rock episodes came on is anything to go by, the upcoming movie is going to be a hit.