Category Archives: Jim Henson

Five Months and Counting

Posted on January 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

Hello there, and Happy 2012! Sorry to be away so long — I hate when this thing sits idle, but it’s been a busy couple of weeks.

I’m still due to deliver the first draft manuscript of Jim Henson to my editor in May (which I choose to define as “by close of business on May 31″) — and looking at my outline, that means five chapters in five months. Even I can do the math on that one.  At the moment, I’m deep into Mystics, Muppet water ballet sequences, and Fraggles — so if you’re a Muppet fan, you can guess how far along that makes me.

I spent the first week in January, in fact, back at the Henson Archives in New York, where archivist Karen Falk once again took extraordinarily good care of me, patiently helping me locate and carry one box after another to the office they’d set aside for my use.  (If you’re interested, here’s an interview with Karen Falk, where she talks about the the actual layout and look of the Henson Archives—which does not resemble the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.)

We also had the opportunity to oooh and ahhh over her advance copy of the new Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand graphic novel, which is every bit as terrific as it sounds (and I just received an e-mail earlier this week informing me that the copy I had ordered from amazon back in June(!) should be arriving this week).  Jim and his long-time writing partner Jerry Juhl began writing Tale of Sand in the mid-1960s, during an incredibly experimental time in Jim’s career. They continued to tinker with the script on into the early 1970s before finally setting it aside in the midst of Sesame Street fever and the countless other balls Jim was juggling at once. It’s very different from most of the Jim Henson projects you’re familiar with — and yet, it’s also “very Jim,” especially the Jim at that time. Be sure to check it out—it’s not only an intriguing story, but the book itself is also a really nice piece of work.

Let’s see, what else? Over the next few weeks, I’ll be up and down the Eastern Seaboard to take care of some more interviews, each of which should be a lot of fun. I also get to work my way through films like The Great Muppet Caper and call it work.

Finally, I can’t resist passing onto you some New Year’s Words of Wisdom from the Always Remarkable Neil Gaiman — who really hopes you will make mistakes this year.  Click here and read on.

Happy New Year. Make mistakes.

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Posted in Jim Henson, Neil Gaiman, works in progress

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Complete and Otter Hilarity

Posted on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

What’s that? You’d like to see outtakes from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas? Here you go:

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Posted in Jerry Nelson, Jim Henson

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What’s So Amazing That Keeps Us Stargazing?

Posted on November 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

In honor of the official opening of The Muppets — and I’m thrilled to see it’s already getting rave reviews — I thought it might be appropriate to put up a little something to help remember what got them (and us) here.

Here’s the opening three and a half minutes of 1979′s The Muppet Movie. And I gotta admit, it chokes me up every time.

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Posted in Jim Henson, movies, Muppets, works in progress

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In Media Res

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 7 Comments

It’s probably due to the upcoming premiere of the brand spanking new movie The Muppets (coming to a theater near you on November 23), but over the past few days I’ve been asked more and more, “How’s  the book coming?”

The short answer: really well.  I recently finished writing extensively about The Muppet Show, which puts me about two-thirds of the way through.  But there’s still a lot more to go — that Jim Henson was a busy and productive guy — and as I make the turn into the final third of the book, my desk is officially a mess. And to respond to some of the other questions I’ve received, here’s what my workspace  presently looks like:

Whatta mess.

It’s a bit blurry — I took it with my phone — so let me guide you around.  On the wall behind my chair is the gigantic white board I use to draw up the timeline for the chapter I’m working on, along with any random notes (at the moment, there’s a scribbled address for the long-gone Muppet Stuff store in New York City).

On top of the desk (which is actually just two old tables pushed together, with a filing cabinet shoved into the open corner) is an assortment of black binders (filled with transcripts of interviews, notes, and newspaper articles) along with several journals and scattered Post-It notes. You might also see the corner of Christopher Finch’s fantastic Jim Henson: The Works peeking out, as well as Caroll Spinney’s The Wisdom of Big Bird. And that piece of red striped paper is actually part of my Bible for this project: a well-thumbed and marked-up photocopy of Jim’s Red Book, generously provided by the Henson family.

What else? On top of the filing cabinet in the lower left hand corner are all four volumes of an 1862 edition of The Life and Letters of Washington Irving—still a fellow close to my heart—and because I believe you should always have your subject looking over your shoulder as you write, the mantlepiece behind me (yeah, it’s a real working fireplace) sports a framed photo of Jim Henson lounging across a set of theater seats with his arm draped around Kermit.*

What’s next? During the last week of November, I’ll be interviewing not one, not two, not even four, but five more Really Neat People, and I’m producing chapters regularly, which keeps my editor happy.  And while I try to spend most of my days sitting right there in that leather chair you see above, I have to admit I’ll be spending several hours out of it next Wednesday.  I’ll be at The Muppets, you know.

Thanks, everyone, for their questions and enthusiasm!

* Just for fun, see if you can also spot a 1960s-era Batmobile and the Mach 5 among the mess, as well as a Jim Henson action figure, strumming a banjo.

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Posted in Jim Henson, work spaces, works in progress, writing

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Lost Genius

Posted on October 6, 2011 | 1 Comment

In Memory of Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

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Posted in a bit of history, Apple, Jim Henson, Muppets

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Celebrate 75 Years of Making The World “A Bit Better For Having Been Here”

Posted on September 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

Happy 75th Birthday, Jim Henson.

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Posted in Jim Henson, works in progress

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Trip Report? Well . . . okay. Go.

Posted on August 22, 2011 | Leave a comment

I haven’t posted anything about my trip out to Los Angeles back on August 9 — but that was because I got to see something really extraordinary that I couldn’t talk about until things were officially Official.

They’re official now, and they have to do with this:

Click here for the video (I’d embed it, only WordPress Hates Vevo). More later.

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Posted in Jim Henson, Muppets, music, OK Go

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Westward Ho!

Posted on August 8, 2011 | 1 Comment

I know, I know . . . long time, no see, right? My philosophy at the moment is that if I have time to write a blog, it’s probably time I could spend working on the book — hence, I’ve not updated in a while.  That will likely continue, though I’ll still let you know when anything exciting or newsworthy pops up.

Take now, for instance.  I’m leaving tomorrow to head back out to Los Angeles to have two conversations with some more Amazing People. It’ll be a very quick there-and-back kinda thing — but it ‘s also an opportunity to say a quick hello to some folks at Jim Henson Studios, which is always a good thing.

More later.

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Posted in excuses excuses, interviews, Jim Henson, works in progress

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“Henson & Oz” and the Museum of the Moving Image

Posted on July 21, 2011 | 1 Comment

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York — a stone throw from the Kaufman Astoria studios where Sesame Street is taped — is presently hosting the exhibit Jim Henson’s Fantastic World, a marvelous show covering the entire span of Jim Henson’s creative career.  As the program for the show says:

Fifteen iconic puppets, including Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Rowlf, and Bert and Ernie, are on view, along with photographs of Henson and his collaborators at work and excerpts from his early projects and experimental films. The exhibition spans Henson’s entire career, with drawings, cartoons, and posters produced during his college years in the late 1950s and objects related to the inspired imaginary world of his popular 1982 fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. The exhibition features artifacts from Henson’s best-known projects, The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie and its sequels,Fraggle Rock, and Sesame Street, in addition to materials from Sam and Friends, an early show he created in the 1950s, and his pioneering television commercial work in the 1960s.

I had the opportunity to see the exhibit when it was at the Smithsonian in 2008, and it’s a lot of fun.  And while there are plenty of familiar faces on display, you’ll also have the chance to take a peek at some hidden treasures, including some projects that never materialized.

Jim Henson’s Fantastic World runs through January 2012.  You can find more information right here.

Meanwhile, the Museum of the Moving Image has put up on its website a terrific short film Henson & Oz, a affectionate look at the on- and off-screen relationship of Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and the characters they performed.  And it’s very funny stuff indeed. Have a look.

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Posted in Jim Henson, Muppets, museums

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Box Tops

Posted on May 9, 2011 | Leave a comment

As expected, four o’clock in the morning arrived WAY too early this morning. Still, that was what time I had to get up to catch the 5:58 a.m. train from Baltimore to New York, where I’m spending another week doing research in the Jim Henson archives at the the company’s headquarters out on Long Island.

As usual, crack archivist Karen Falk (and her assistant, Madalyn) are taking good care of me, bringing me armloads of materials stored neatly in dark green boxes. Today, I spent the entire day sorting through newspaper clippings, press releases, and interviews. And how cool is it when the boxes that get plunked down on your desk have this sticker on top of them?

I’ll be here the rest of the week, continuing to do research—even though it’s so much fun it hardly seems fair to call it “research.”

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Posted in Jim Henson, Muppets, works in progress

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