LJ Idol Week 13: Current Events Round 2

[puppetmaker]

As many of you know, I am a big fan of all things Henson. It is with some trepidation that I read the following article Jim Henson Bio Pic to be filmed .

On the plus side Penny Marshall who has proven to me to be a magnificent director on more than one occasion is directing it. On the minus side, I am really concerned how Jim is going to be portrayed warts and all and I am really concerned about the latter part of his life which I know a lot about a bit more than most of the rest of the population. I also can't tell if the family is fine with this or if this is being done without their blessing. I have a feeling I am going to hear about that in a day or so.

Jim Henson holds a special place in my heart. He showed me possibilities that existed for puppets that I had never thought of. He created a whole new form of expression for me. I still have my pantheon of those who came before Jim and those that came after Jim but then there is the time of Jim and that is a special time for me.

It was not just me. My family would gather around the TV to watch Sesame Street or the Muppet Show as a family. Phrases and gags from those shows are still part of my family's vocabulary. Such phrases as "Don't Oops me PM. I am no mood to be Oopsed at" and manamana are just normal parts of conversation to us.

I got to watch Jim on several occasions at various functions as he interacted with children and that was magic indeed. Jim was just a big kid with a sense of wonder who knew he was fooling all the adults. I will always treasure that time and the few times I got to talk to the man himself.

But I also know a lot about the other side of Jim's life too. I know about the frustration he felt any time he had to work so hard to raise money and convince people to invest in his vision. Thank goodness for Lord Lew Grade who banked on the Muppet Show which turned the Muppets from puppets to Icons. But Labyrinth (even with George on board) almost didn't get made due to lack of investors who looked at Dark Crystal which did OK at best but still cost a lot of money to make (eventually both films recooped and then profited for those who invested in them.) And this really bothered Jim. He had to do a long song and dance routine anytime he wanted to make something.

Then there is his family life which he took great pains to keep private. He wanted his kids to grow up as themselves rather than under some sort of spotlight because of who their father is. I sort of understood it then and I sure as heck understand it now considering what turns my life has taken. And I think that part of a bio picture is what is disturbing me the most and sorry I can't really clarify beyond that at this point.

If this movie does come out will I see it? Only if the family gives its blessing because anything less just doesn't seem right.

Comments

[lilia2000.livejournal.com]

That is really fascinating. I don't really know much about Jim Henson. But I did grow up on the Muppets and Sesame Street. He truly did have a wonderfully creative mind.

It is interesting to find out more about who he is. I hope that this movie (if it does indeed happen) will portray him in the best way possible. So that fans, friends and family, will be content. It is always sad to see bio pics that don't do justice to the person.

Even though I never knew Tolkien, obviously!, I still hate hearing people talk about him or write about him when the obviously know nothing about who he was. I love reading the JRR Tolkien letters because you can get a little bit of who he was.

Same for Jane Austen. So little is known about her, and people always want to create stories about her based on scattered information.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

The gentleman who owned the house my parents now own was friends with both CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien and use to spend time with them when he was in Oxford. He told me about it when he came across me reading the Hobbit. I so wanted to be a fly on that wall.

Jim always said that the work was more important than he was and he wanted to be remember for the work rather than for himself.

[chite.livejournal.com]

Oh hon you are making me tear up. I normally don't read until I've written, but I saw the muppets in your icon and felt compelled.

My son is 18 months old and is a huge fan of Sesame Street but also LOVES the Muppet Show. He brings the DVD over to me to ask me to put it in. We just watched the John Cleese episode this morning. It makes a mama proud. I cannot imagine what my life and childhood would have been like without Muppets.

Great entry.

Also: do dooo da do do.

[popfiend.livejournal.com]

I cannot imagine what my life and childhood would have been like without Muppets.

Amen.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Yep. I have to agree.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

And that is so true for many of us. The Muppets just ARE. We can't remember a time before them (well I can but I am older than you*grin*)

But they are so much a part of our lives. Caroline loves the Muppet Show too. We have been working through the two box sets we have so far with the 3rd season to be released soon.

[anchasta.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to the new Fraggle Rock that Amy Henson is working on, with Ahmet Zappa doing the music! :)

Henson is a hero of mine, too. Nice entry!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I don't think that Jim really realized the number of people he has touched. He had an inkling about it but he was a rather modest man. Hard to miss though, he was over 6 feet tall.

[adpaz.livejournal.com]

I'm always nervous whenever I hear about a movie adaptation/bio pic about someone I love. Because it never is how I would expect it to be.

Teddy is a fan of Sesame Street as well. We have to watch it every day and he cries when it goes off for Big, Big World (today, he threw things because he wanted to keep watching it). But he learns things from it. Years after Jim Henson is gone, he's still teaching our children, making them laugh, getting them where they need to be to grow up strong, health and smart. Of course he's a man with flaws. No one goes through life without them. But sometimes I prefer to live in my bubble of ignorance and remember the man for what he's given me. Naive, maybe. But it's how I prefer it.

Thanks for the great article, hon.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading it and commenting.

Jim always saw the work as the important part. He felt like a puppeteer. He had a knack of finding the creative people he needed to fulfill his vision like finding Brian Froud.

I still watch Sesame Street with Caroline. The funny thing is that I can tell who is puppetering what and sort of the when on it. Each puppeteer has a rhythm that, to my eye, is as distinctive as a finger print.

[lilmissmagic71.livejournal.com]

OH! I have tons to say on this topic... but I won't hijack you to say it... Maybe just a note or two... My kids, just as I was, are entranced by Sesame Street, the old Muppet Show and the Muppet movies... My little one has just discovered Dark Crystal and my oldest is in love with Labyrinth... when I started telling my oldest (who wants to be a movie maker) all the movies that have Henson Studios work in them, he was flabbergasted... "It all started because of just one guy?!?!?!"

Yep... One perfectly enchanting, sweet souled, irreplaceable guy.

My girlfriend and I have a way of saying how we feel on those tough days.

"It ain't easy bein' green."

Wonderful topic, luv!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Oh go ahead and hijack! I love talking Muppets and all things Henson with people.

Have you ever seen the pictures of the Labyrinth costume I did with Caroline as Toby a number of years ago?

[lilmissmagic71.livejournal.com]

NO! I haven't... I would love to see that... My little one actually has a little pair of striped PJ pants and whenever he wears them we call them his Magic Dance Pants...

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Dance Magic Dance (http://homepage.mac.com/kathodavid/Costumes/PhotoAlbum15.html)

[minikin.livejournal.com]

I loved the muppets. I was a little too old for Sesame Street, but I watched a little when I babysat. Yet somehow, I got to see the Muppets. My favorite was their rendition of "Consider Yourself" in which the muppets where being constructed during the song. (Or my steel sieve-like memory has just combined two routines.)

Manamana is our pet name for the President of Iran, after a parody song was down about him, using the tune. I can almost pronounce his name now, but I still can't spell it.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I was a little old for Sesame Street but I had younger siblings so I watched it with them.

I think you combined either two or they did the song more than once.

Peter got me the Complete SNL season one which contains a number of Muppet sketches.

[minikin.livejournal.com]

What a neat gift. :)

[kenakeri.livejournal.com]

The muppets were a big part of my childhood. I remember when I heard he had passed away. They played "The Rainbow Connection" on the radio in tribute, and I had to pull to the side of the road, I was bawling so hard. You're right. The man was magic.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I was doing my workstudy at the Yale Rep Theater when one of the techies who was a real jack-ass came up to me and said well you must be upset that Jim is dead. I thought he was yanking my chain until a friend of mine came to the theater to make sure I was alright. I went up to the stage and just quietly lost it until curtain.

[anamacha.livejournal.com]

Jim Henson -- what a great guy, right up there with Fred Rogers and Bob Denver. I can't imagine what my childhood would ahve been like without the solace of those men.

Thank you for a great entry!

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you for reading it.

He did touch so many lives. I have made good friends in other countries over our love of the Muppets.

[anamacha.livejournal.com]

was he the inspiration for your LJ name?

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Not really. I have been a puppetmaker since I was about 2 so this is just how people know me. The 40 was from that fact that I had turned 40 when I started on LJ.

[anamacha.livejournal.com]

really? cool! Do you have a website or some place I can see some of your creations?

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Puppets (http://homepage.mac.com/kathodavid/PhotoAlbum42.html)
And poke around the other links for other puppets.

More recent work is at
More current work (http://web.mac.com/kathodavid/iWeb/Kath%20O%20David/DragonCon%20Art%20Show.html)

[anamacha.livejournal.com]

very cool! That's some good work right there. Your puppets have a lot of personality :)

[wildcatwrites.livejournal.com]

Mahnamahna is classic and what would the world be without Labyrinth...I don't think I want to know.

You speak as if you knew him personally?

Nice entry.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Our paths crossed a number of times over the years but the second time we met I said something so memorable that he never forgot me after that.

I also know a BUNCH of people who worked for him and have had dinner with Jane Henson and a couple of the kids.

Puppetry is not a large family so we tend to know each other.

[mme-furiosa.livejournal.com]

Wow, oh wow. I had no idea. "Warts and all," I can't wait to see it. Thanks for informing my very out-of-the-loop self about this one.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

It is a long way off I think. They have bought the script and gotten the director but not much else is going to happen until after the strike is resolved. They are still getting the funding together. This looks like a European venture which is only appropriate considering that the Muppet Show was financed by the English.

[moonstone-fae.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

I am a big Jim Henson fan myself. I love the song "A Boy & His Frog". :) I think that, if done correctly, it could be a great movie.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

I am wondering what they are going to do since Mickey Mouse owns Kermit the Frog. I am betting they are already in talks with Disney which might make or break this picture.

[walkertxkitty.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. I grew up watching those shows but never gave the person behind them much thought. I would like to hope that such a film will have the family's blessing but, like you, I've yet to hear if it does or not and will not see it if it doesn't.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I really can't see how they could make the film without both Disney and the Hensons agreeing to it. Too much is under copyright.

[bretzysdude.livejournal.com]

Always have been a Muppets fan. I hope Penny Marshall does Henson justice.

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

She is a good director. My bigger concern is the script and whether they will be able to get permission from Disney and The Henson Group to use the puppets that Jim created. Without the puppets, you have less than 1/2 the story.

[elva-undine.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's pretty sweet for your family to have that!

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

He was truly an amazing spirit. And I agree with you on deciding whether or not to see it based on the family's approval or lack thereof. I do feel better that Penny Marshall is directing it but as you say, there is so much that could go either way with this, depending on how it's depicted.