Your Thoughts: "Jim Henson: The Biography" by Brian Jay Jones

[Oscarfan]

You can't expect it to get in EVERYTHING Jim did. Things like the development of TMS or the Dark Crystal are far more important to his life story than the Play-House videos.

 

[dwayne1115]

Sure, and I find it interesting how they talk about some of the ideas that Jim had that where only ideas. Some of them I would still love to see done.

 

[D'Snowth]

I just finished the first chapter, and already, I'm really impressed: I can't recall ever reading a biography of someone that not only delved into the subject's childhood, but practically went into something of a family tree as well.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

I've basically reached 1985 and the Labyrinth filming (I was shocked to learn that Ally Sheedy, Jane Krakowski, Sarah Jessica Parker and Mia Sara were among the actresses up for Jennifer Connolly's role) and I'm still enjoying the book.

The tone is bright and breezy, not unlike much of Jim's work, and it's refreshing that Jones doesn't gloss over any of the missteps or negative reviews that occasionally arose throughout Jim's career. (The Frank Oz multiple retakes on TMTM and the stunned silences at test screenings for The Dark Crystal stand out for me in this regard.)

I'm surprised to read some of these posts and learn that the book doesn't mention Follow That Bird, Little Muppet Monsters (which is given its own two-page section in Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal) or The Christmas Toy, which Mrs. Otter and I enjoyed for the first time this year on DVD. I was already a little put off at the omission of The Muppets Go To The Movies (arguably my favourite non-Christmas special featuring the TMS characters) and the edgy, hit-and-miss but still memorable 1982 effort The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show.

That being said, I'm still loving the book and I know I will be grateful for it for a long time. Jones dove deep into the most significant projects of Jim's life and he presents a marvelous treasure trove of details and analysis.

 

[minor muppetz]

It's interesting how many chapters focus more on certain projects than others, while also talking about what else was going on at the time, and those projects that do get most of the focus in a given chapter still get talked about a bit in future chapters (mainly TV shows that were still in production), though it seems Sesame Street isn't brought up as much in the same way after the Sesame Street chapter.

Sesame Street is brought up every now and then after its own chapter, and there are parts that talk about Julie on Sesame Street and 20 and Still Counting. But considering that, one thing that surprised me is that, in a later chapter, it briefly acknowledges when work was done on Barkly, without really talking more about it. I think Barkley is the only Sesame Street character whose development was mentioned outside of the Sesame Street chapter (Elmo doesn't even get such treatment, though it does at one point mention that Richard Hunt handed over - or actually threw over - the role to Kevin Clash).

I wonder how many of the quotes were from interviews conducted for this book and how many were taken from other sources. I've read that Jane Henson was interviewed, I assume most of Jim's children's were interviewed, and I think Frank Oz was interviewed for this. But many of the quotes are quotes I've already read in the past. I assume most of Bernie Brillstein's quotes come from his autobiography, and Jerry Juhl's quotes must have come from somewhere (I've read that this book has been in the works for awhile, but I doubt it was in the works as far back as when Juhl was alive). In the section that sources quotes, it seems like for the most part it only lists the names of those being quoted, as opposed to listing where the quotes come from.

 

[D'Snowth]

I also forgot to mention that the photo on the cover has always been one of my favorites of Jim.

In fact, I like how the jacket itself is designed: the front is simple, yet is clear and to the point that this is a book abot Jim Henson (and of course, his name is printed on the front, in Kermit Green); while the back the spine offers a nice contrast with a full-color shot of Jim surround by TMS characters (clearly from before Season One).

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, I just finished the book.

Turns out some of the productions that I thought weren't mentioned do end up being mentioned, mostly in the "notes" section acknowledging various sources. There's one note about the properties Jim Henson had purchased back from ITC, listing all productions (including those that weren't mentioned). I was surprised to see that ITC originally owned The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show.

 

[D'Snowth]

That's really the only unfortunate aspect of doing business with Lord Grade; yes, Lord Grade was the one who finally helped turn Jim's dreams into realities, but Lord Grade was the one who owned said realities, not Jim. Then again, the sad thing is, with the exception of his contributions to SST, practically everything else Jim did in his career was owned by other companies, which isn't a good thing. As I've said before, with all due respect to Jim's vision, creativity, and artistic genius, I just really don't believe he was quite as savvy a businessman as people say he was; heck, his first attempt to sell to Disney was his way of trying to relieve himself of the business aspect of running a company so he could put more focus into the creative aspect.

 

[Oscarfan]

Part of the Disney thing was also he'd never have to worry about going to people like Grade for funding, which was always the hardest part for Jim.

 

[D'Snowth]

True. True. The more I think about it, Drtooth does kind of have a point, as much trouble as Jim had in getting any kind of interest in most of his projects, such as TMS, the Muppets in general may have been a complete failure if Jim's were an independent company, because (SST aside), nobody really offered him a chance at anything, especially since his sights were on primetime, and basically anything outside of kiddy fare.