Remembering Jim Henson

[wonderclown2003]

I would like to say the big reason I am creative and try to show the world in a positive way is things I saw in Jim Henson. I learned how to be a better puppeteer, how to write skits, and just be goofy from some of what I saw on Jim Henson's shows. I have not been "Professional" trained as a puppeteer but hope my puppets bring joy like Jim Henson and the Muppets did for me when I was growing up.

 

[mupcollector1]

I would like to say the big reason I am creative and try to show the world in a positive way is things I saw in Jim Henson. I learned how to be a better puppeteer, how to write skits, and just be goofy from some of what I saw on Jim Henson's shows. I have not been "Professional" trained as a puppeteer but hope my puppets bring joy like Jim Henson and the Muppets did for me when I was growing up.

I can totally relate. I too was self taught from what I've seen in Jim's work as I became a puppeteer. Though I believe for about a year I didn't have any puppets so I learned from my hands first and my first puppets where Muppet puppets, and then I built my first puppets out of paper before I was allowed to work with felt using a gluegun, and then I learned more about foam and so on.
The silliness of The Muppets totally introduced me to humor which is probably what got me into The Muppets in the first place before knowing anything about puppetry. That kind of wild crazy silliness is still a comedy genre that's so deep and dear to my heart. And once The Muppets where doing The Muppet Show in England, and especially getting their British writer Chris Langhum. I always felt it increased their silliness. One of the main reasons why I love British Humor (Monty Python, The Young Ones, Spitting Image, Benny Hill, Not The Nine O Clock News, etc). It's certainly something I love to see more of.
I remember hearing a lot of stories of how The Muppet Performers' favorite memories of Jim was his laughter. I think I heard a story of Jim and Dave Golez hanging out after work a bit and before they left, Jim mentioned "You know what my favorite part of tonight was? When we all laughed." There was many stories on how crazy Jim's team got on the set where they would make themselves laugh for hours and it would take them some time to get back into work. I remember a quote from someone regarding production people thinking "What are these grown adults with puppets doing?". They've always had a ball on the set. And the Wilson's Meats Meeting Film where they were all partying on the set instead of working, even thought that's an exaggerated inside joke, it's quite similar except the fun would include The Muppets. Blooper reels always show their good time on the set, which some of it would lead up to the inspiration of "Stuffed and Unstrung". Some of my all time favorite Jim Henson stories was the gags and pranks they all pulled on each other from time to time. And of course they were always silly and innocent, sometimes a bit irreverent but always in great spirits. Jim felt that people had the wrong idea of work and said that the feeling of accomplishment is more satisfying then enjoying a good meal or looking at someone's wealth. Jim had tons of fun with his work and I think the film industry can learn a lot from Jim on that. Frank said once "A typical director when they see someone mess up on the set and shout get them out of here, Jim had enormous patience and kindness for his team." That's another aspect I loved about him and it's quite inspiring. Especially an artist to lead a team. Or any leader to lead a team. Jim was the great leader who lead my example without rasing his voice.

I remember seeing The Secrets of The Muppets as the camera revealed The Muppet Performers, my mouth dropped. lol I remember hearing some stories online years ago on how there was kids that felt a bit betrayal when they found out that The Muppets were puppets and not living, breathing creatures in our realm of reality. I for one never felt like that and even to this day, I feel they do exist in a realm of fantasy, doesn't mean they aren't real, they are but in a different universe. But in this one, well "helping hand" might sound like a bad pun but we all get the idea. lol
Anyway when I seen the footage and my mouth dropped, I was so amazed and thought "So that's how Muppets work!, what's this under their wrists, is that how their arms move?" and from that point on, I wanted to become a puppeteer. Even today I would love the opportunity to write for The Muppets and perform in the background just to know the joy of what it feels like to live my ultimate childhood dream come true. I have a feeling that it might happen within my life's journey, I don't know how or when, but I just have that good feeling.

 

[cjd874]

I agree with mupcollector1. I forgot to mention this earlier, but I loved how kind and patient Jim was with his entire staff, and how they all had a great time together. One great story I read was when Jim was watching a Muppet skit being filmed on Sesame Street when one puppeteer took a wrong step and accidentally caused the scene to fall apart. Jim paused and then said quietly, "I think we can do it again." He didn't raise his voice or get angry at the puppeteers, he simply took it for what it was and let them continue their work.
Another story that I read from the book "Jim Henson: The Works" was when Jim, Frank Oz, and Dave Goelz were recording some phone messages as the Muppet Show characters for some children's toy when Dave mispronounced a word. Jim and Frank began to giggle, and Dave asked them to exit the room. Jim simply tried to hide behind a music stand, but Dave could still see him shaking back and forth as he stifled his laughter. Frank, meanwhile, went into another room and released his laughter as a screaming Miss Piggy. Then Dave broke down, and they all laughed for about twenty minutes before they resumed the recording.
That is what I also loved about Jim Henson: the fact that he treated everyone as equals, with the same amount of respect and affection. God bless you, Jim.

 

[Gauky1976]

I remember Jim and Kermit being interviewed. Even though I could see Jim's mouth move when Kermit was talking, I didn't care. As Kermit once said "The man with the beard is not as interesting as the frog" (or something similar). I found my eyes drawn to Kermit, even though I could see Jim clearly. Jim said that when kids would see Kermit and himself, the kids would ignore him to talk to Kermit and he loved nothing more.

 

[Laszlo]

There is not a single day in my life when Im not thinking about DARK CRYSTAL or LABYRINTH. Maybe I am mad?
I remember grewing up with the Muppets and Sesame Street. He was a genius!
I still miss him. R.I.P Jim Henson.

 

[roi]

I grew up with Jim Henson and his plans from Sesame Street (the Israeli version of Sesame Street) and Barney through fraggle rock to the Muppet show and Muppet films and on the evening of his Jim Lee opened a new world of imagination I did not know there was a man in general is most affected me and my thinking was very funny person and I also investigating him a lot, but as the song "It's not Easy Being Green" i love you jim

 

[mupcollector1]

You know one of the things that I've noticed was Jim was ahead of his time with a lot of things. Sure The Dark Crystal and Labrynth were'd box office successes from what I've heard but if you look today, especially Labrynth there's not only a strong cult following but there's so much appreciation for the Fantasy genre then ever before now Dungeons and Dragons, Anime, etc. There's conventions dedicated to the genre and people participating in cosplay. Jim loved technology and how it can be a great tool for creativity. I often think of Jim as well as many other great artists that if they knew about the opportunity of indie filmmaking using the internet and direct, they would jump right in.

Here are some clips that I like to link to on this.

Today cable is digital and every new TV set is HD and widescreen. Here's a clip of Jim Henson talking about some of that back in 1982. What I love about this clip is that it's unedited, especially at the end where Jim has a conversation with the film crew. "I battled with the networks for so many years" was one of the quotes I remember.

This I believe is the last thing that Jim filmed before he passed. "We're going to see a whole new television." This is before the internet. Amazing.

The last one I wanted to share is Jim at the Television Academy Hall of Fame

I remember reading on how Jim always mentioned about having television being an influential medium of good. And it's definitely a strong influence to me as a filmmaker to know what your putting out there and your reason is for being a good influence. I strongly feel Satire is one of those things when it's done right. If you look at The Jim Henson Hour, Jim was experimenting with satire and even the idea of Dinosaurs. In fact, it was Dinosaurs that influenced me into the genre in the first place. And that whole show was Jim's idea. Jim continues to influence me in so many aspects of my life from art to even positive thinking. He was amazing, I'm so grateful that he's my #1 hero and strongest influence. Thank You Jim

 

[Iwa Iniki]

Miss him very much, but so glad he created the Muppets before he left us.
I love the Muppets.

 

[Great Gommzo]

I was 11 and a half in May 1990 when Jim died, in my final year at primary school (England) and it definitely felt like a big part of my childhood was over. He was such an inspiration to me as a kid. I've always enjoyed drawing and during primary school I would say probably 90% of my drawings were of Muppets, Fraggles and other JH creations. It was just total escapism to me during a difficult childhood, parents divorced when I was 5, was bullied quite badly throughout primary school, and I didn't really have many friends during that time, so it was good to have something I could escape into.

I always made a point of watching Jim whenever he was interviewed (probably helped my mum was a fan) and as a kid I can remember seeing him interviewed on Wogan, Joan Rivers and Blue Peter specifically (though I'm sure there were others, those are the interviews that stand out in my memory), and always watched the 'behind the scenes' type programmes that were shown on TV about Muppets and Fraggle Rock throughout the 80s. I was in awe of him, so it really did almost feel like losing a family member to me at the time. I was lucky enough in December 1990 on my 12th birthday to go to the Jim Henson exhibition at the Museum of Moving Image in London, a memory that I still cherish to this day. I'm still inspired by his positivity to this day, the music, the bright colours, the surreal humour, and enjoy watching his creations with my three daughters. Long may his memory live on.

 

[sesamemuppetfan]

OK, where do I begin? Sure I was born 3 years after Jim died, HOWEVER, this man has done so much not only for me, but for all of you guys, and many other people in this world. As we've all learned before, without him, there would be no Muppets or Sesame Street or Fraggle Rock. All of our favorite Muppet fan sites (including this one, not to mention this thread) wouldn't exist. Without him, who knows what my collections would consist of!!!! Plus, if he was never born, I would not be dressing up as Grover for Halloween this year!! He has given us so much over the years and who knows what we would do without it!!

Jim Henson has made a real impact on my life, and I'm not sure what I would do without him! I bet you guys feel the same way, right? RIP Jim; we all love you! Thank you for the education, entertainment, humor, magic, and everything else in between!!