20 Years Ago Today

[puppetmaker]

We lost Jim Henson. A generation has grown up never having met the man but knowing his influence in the world. A generation hasn't had the good fortune of seeing Kermit perform live and in person with his original voice.

I can still remember where I was when I heard the news. I was in the Green Room at the Yale Rep Theater. I was deck crew for Pygmalion. Someone I didn't trust told me first but I had it confirmed by the friend who was worried about me. I went to the deck to my station and had a really good cry. I went to the service. I gave the butterfly puppet to a little girl who was squeezing her Ernie for all it was worth. I lost the program in my move from Yale. The memorial service was a celebration of the man's life rather than a somber remembrance.

I met Jim a couple of times. Mostly at Science Fiction conventions like World Con. The first time I met him it was because the crowd pushed him into me at the opening of the Center for Puppetry Arts. I found myself telling Kermit that I was OK thank you.

Jim has influenced a generation and beyond. The things he did allowed others to dream of what they could do. Everyone I have met that worked with him said that he asked a lot out of you but nothing less that what he would ask for himself. He recognized talent and potential and surrounded himself with people who had that spark of creativity with a side of slight lunacy. And he encouraged others to be creative.

My work is influenced by his. I make no bones about it. I think I would have taken up puppetry but Jim's work sealed the deal for me. He showed me what could be done with puppets and puppetry. Labyrinth and Dark Crystal are still in my top 10 movies of all times long with the Muppet Movie.

The Muppets are a touchstone for many of us. It is something that we all have in common that we can discuss. We can talk about the films or our favorite Muppet or our favorite Muppet moment.

Now we have new videos to talk about with some of the old Muppet magical lunacy shining through. Have you seen the one that the Muppets comment on LOST?

So let us today celebrate the career of a man who did so much for so many. I plan to watch a lot of Muppet Shows today.

The toast is to Jim Henson, a man among Puppets.

I am grateful that I did get to meet Jim more than once.

Comments

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

This post is beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. Would you mind if I linked to it?

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

You have my permission to do so.

Thanks for reading.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

<3 Thank you for writing it.

The Muppets were (and are) hugely important to my family. I know I'll be thinking about them, and Jim Henson all day.

[reddheart.livejournal.com]

Hadn't even thought about this when I showed the little guy the Star Wars Muppet Show ep.

Must watch the Alice Cooper one today in his honor.

[syzygy-lj.livejournal.com]

Twenty years? How can it be 20 years? It feels like he just left us. I am still reeling.

When I was two years old, I was madly in love with Kermit the Frog. I mean LOVE. I insisted that I was going to marry him someday. My parents bought me a Kermit doll for my birthday that year, and there are pictures of me walking through the mall carrying the box, and all you can see of me are my feet and my hands. When we got home, Mom took him out of the box, and I freaked out, because ZOMG LEGS!!11!!! I had never seen Kermit's crazy long legs before. I made her put him back in the box, and it was two weeks before I would let her take him out again. But after that, Kermie was my best friend in the whole world.

Thirty-three years later, that Kermit doll is sitting next to me on a shelf, his gangly long legs dangling over the side. He is still my most prized possession. I didn't end up marrying Kermit (Piggy got to him first, that hussy). But one day almost nine years ago, a guy I was dating saw my Kermit and said "I had the exact same Kermit doll when I was a kid!" It was meant to be, and I ended up marrying him, instead. (And we played "Somebody's Getting Married" and "The Rainbow Connection" during our reception.)

I think I may need to watch The Muppet Movie tonight.

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

It is hard to believe that he has been gone so long! Wow!

[fufaraw]

I can't believe it's been twenty years. He's dearly missed, and often.

[dydan.livejournal.com]

I freely admit that I learned the most about the fundamentals of reading from Sesame Street. I loved the Muppets and Jim Henson's work.

[artnouveauho.livejournal.com]

He was an astounding talent. He genuinely did change the world for the better, and he did it using felt, foam, feathers and fuzz. I was in high school when I heard he had died. It was a sad day.

[alycewilson.livejournal.com]

When Jim Henson died, I was working for the college radio station. I put together a three-hour tribute to him and his work. It was one of my best shows of my college radio career.