Jim Henson's Red Book

[minor muppetz]

There have been a few entries about certain scenes from The Great Muppet Caper (pool sequence, parachute sequence... I'm thinking there was another but can't remember), but I haven't seen any entries about any scenes from The Muppet Movie or The Muppets Take Manhattan. I would expect Henson to have noted down dates for scenes from those movies. Considering these entries reflect corresponding dates (meaning that, for example, a post on january 10 would represent something he hoted on january 10 in the past), I wonder when filming of those movies began.

Somehow I have a feeling he didn't note down dates for when he worked on any speciffic Sesame Street or Muppet Show segments. He'd be more likely to have noted wokring on certain episodes. For Sesame Street several inserts were filmed in one day, and I'm not sure if Henson sensed any specific moments becoming classics in the future. There was an entry on when the "Body Parts vs. Heavy Equipment" film was shot, and I figure Henson's Sesame Street films are probably his only speciffic Sesame Street works noted in his red book. It would be interesting to see if he notes dates for when any speciffic characters were built or finished.

It's always great whenever historical information is posted. Whenever additional historical information is included on the website it usually includes some piece of information that I did not previously know (that I care about). A few days ago there was an entry on an industrial film Henson did for a chicago-based company called APECO. Muppet Wiki didn't have a page for it (Apeco was previously a redirect to a chronological list of commercials and industrial films... But it has its own page now). I'd be surprised if the film was still in existience, but it's odd that that entry did not have any production photos (the only photos were related to other things mentioned in the article).

 

[minor muppetz]

Here's an entry on the Ed Sullivan Show appearance by the Muppets performing Octopuses Garden, with some additional info on the Come Together performance: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/02/23/2231970/

It even has images of the characters from Come Together. And those band members appear to be dressed like Mahna Mahna.

 

[ploobis]

Here's an entry on the Ed Sullivan Show appearance by the Muppets performing Octopuses Garden, with some additional info on the Come Together performance: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/02/23/2231970/

It even has images of the characters from Come Together. And those band members appear to be dressed like Mahna Mahna.

WOW! I've read about the "Come Together" appearance. The photo of the Muppet band looks awesome! To bad that piece wasn't in the Muppet Ed Sullivan DVD.

 

[minor muppetz]

WOW! I've read about the "Come Together" appearance. The photo of the Muppet band looks awesome! To bad that piece wasn't in the Muppet Ed Sullivan DVD.

Makes me curious as to who performed in it. There'd be four performers for the band, and I assume at least three for the Muppet who comes apart. Obviously Jim and Frank performed, and since it was after 1970 Jerry Nelson must have. I doubt Jerry Juhl performed in it, but I wonder if Richard Hunt or Caroll Spinney did.

 

[minor muppetz]

This one doesn't have historic info, but it is intriguing: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/02/24/2-1970/

It says "Shoot Kermit for US airing of Hey Cinderella". I guess that means they shot extra Kermit footage for the US airing. I wonder if the popularity of Sesame Street had anything to do with that (though Street Gang posted a letter Henson wrote to a critic explaining that the special was not produced to cash in on the success of Sesame Street). It's dated 1970 so considering it already aired in canada a year earlier I wonder why this was done.

 

[minor muppetz]

Here's an entry which mentions that Henson planned on a theme park in 1988, a year before he considered selling the company to Disney: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/02/25/2251988/

If Henson did go through on a theme park, I wonder if they would have been allowed to include anything related to Sesame Street, considering the fact that there was a Sesame Street theme park.

Also, this entry mentions Henson wanted there to be multiple theme parks around the country (much like Six Flags), and one feature was to include the Waldo system to allow people to arm wrestle from different parks. I guess this was another form of Henson being psychic, considering all the online game play and the ability to play xbox games with people in other homes.

 

[minor muppetz]

Today's entry was about The Frog Prince, including images of promotional material and a review: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/03/16/3-1971/

It's interesting seeing some promotional material for the sponsor, including some images and being "written" by Kermit the Frog. Each frame is obviously illustrated as opposed to being actual photos, but it seems they were traced. I think that's the first time I've seen an illustration (besides drawings I made myself) of double-collar Kermit (thoguh you can barely see the collar underneath the front one). Judging by the review it seems the critic thought Sweetums stole the show. In my opinion none of the characters stole the show any more than any other characters (well, okay, so Featherstone and the towns people were less show-stealers than other characters).

 

[minor muppetz]

Today the redbook includes info on the Wizard of Id pilot: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/03/22/3221969/

The pilot was also uploaded on youtube (it says it's a "sample", but looks like the whole thing to me, unless it has credits and a title sequence).

 

[zns]

Today the redbook includes info on the Wizard of Id pilot: http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/03/22/3221969/

The pilot was also uploaded on youtube (it says it's a "sample", but looks like the whole thing to me, unless it has credits and a title sequence).

I never even knew if they shot something with that pilot or not. It's definitely well done. This is the kind of stuff that makes us appreciate the legacy Jim Henson has left for us. Let's hope they keep it coming.

 

[minor muppetz]

Tough Pigs posted a great article on the website: http://www.toughpigs.com/wizard-of-id-red-book/