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Jim Henson

Jim Henson Jim Henson once said, “Follow your enthusiasm. It’s something I’ve always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing” (qtd. in Fionaurora). Jim did just that. He loved puppetry and made many others love it too. The creator and a performer of the Muppets, Henson is known worldwide for his creations, which include shows like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and characters such as Grover, Elmo, Big Bird, the Swedish Chef, Bert and Ernie, and Miss Piggy to name a few. Jim’s most famous character was Kermit the Frog. Kermit remains the Muppet with which Henson is most closely associated. Through television and feature films, Henson developed the art of puppetry to new heights of popularity and storytelling capabilities, especially the ability to create sympathetic and emotional characters that are humorous at the same time. Jim Henson’s countless movies and television shows were loved by audiences young and old, and they continue to have an impact on people nearly ten years after his sudden death. James Maury Henson was born September 24, 1936, at King’s Daughters Hospital in Greenville, Mississippi. Jim was the second son of Paul Ransom and Elizabeth Marcella Henson. He grew up in nearby Leland, where his father, an agricultural research biologist, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His father was busy working and his mother was more concerned with Jim’s brother Paul. As a result of this he was somewhat neglected. Jim turned to his grandmother, who he called Dear. She helped him develop his love of art and performing (“Biography”). He also enjoyed exploring the countryside near his house. He spent much of his time with friends by a little stream called Deer Creek. “Kermit always said he came from a small swamp in Mississi(WRITTEN BY ERIC G.*)ppi. Actually it wasn’t a swamp, it was a creek—Deer Creek” (St. Pierre 15). One of his childhood friends, nicknamed “Kermit,” would later become the name of Henson's most celebrated creation. When he was in fifth grade, his family moved to Maryland. At the age of fourteen, Jim’s life was changed forever after the Henson’s got their first television. He was fascinated. He once said, “I loved the idea that what you saw was taking place somewhere else at the same time" (qtd. in Collins). Jim loved puppet shows like Kukula, Fran, & Ollie. Every day he would rush home from school to watch ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. He loved TV so much all he wanted to do was work at a station. “By listening to the radio and watching TV Jim had learned a lot about storytelling, comedy, and performing” (St. Pierre 23). Only three years after getting their television Jim got his first chance at fame. He got word that a Washington D.C. station, WTOP-TV, was looking for a puppeteer for a Saturday morning children’s show. Although he had very little experience with puppets, he decided to audition. Jim and a friend made a couple of hand puppets and got the job. The show was called The Junior Good Morning Show. Jim was only seventeen years old when the show began. The show was cancelled after three weeks on the air (St. Pierre 22-29). After the show was cancelled, Jim began college. He attended the University of Maryland. He took studio art classes because he wanted to be a commercial artist. One of the classes he took was a puppetry class. The class taught Jim many skills that he used to create of his characters. He excelled in the class and began helping many classmates with their work (Andres). Jim was not deterred after The Junior Good Morning Show was canceled. He remained persistent and soon got a job at the local NBC affiliate, WRC-TV, on another Saturday morning children’s show. He worked hard and the owners of the station took notice. When he was just a freshman at the University of Maryland, he was offered his own show. The show was called Sam and Friends. Sam and Friends was shown twice every weekday. It was only five minutes long, but the time slots he had were during times when many people were watching. He was on at 6:25 and 11:25 PM. The 6:25 show was on just before the network news hosted by David Brinkley and Chet Huntley. The 11:25 show was on PM before The Tonight Show with Steve Allen (St. Pierre 25). Sam and Friends had “music, snarky humor, and technical tricks” that the Muppets became famous for (“Biography”). The Sam and Friends from 1959 was very different from the Muppets today. The puppets did not speak at the beginning. The only sound was odd distorted music composed by Jim, and sound effects. Originally, there were only two different endings. One ending was that all the puppets would be killed in an explosion. The other ending consisted of one puppet eating all the other puppets (Fionaurora). Sam and Friends was an adult oriented show. It was also where the first “Muppets” got their start. Jim was tired of the traditional painted wood puppet because he thought they were too stiff and not expressive. Trying to create something new, Henson began working on a new style of puppet. Jim shaped carved foam rubber into a shape then covered it with fabric. He called it a Muppet because he thought it was ½ marionette and ½ puppet. The puppets moved by wires outside the body (like a marionette) and by a hand inside the body (like a puppet). Later Henson claimed that he just liked the sound of the word Muppet and it was not because he thought it was a cross between a puppet and a marionette. No matter what the origin of the word is, these new puppets were special because they had large flexible mouths that could show emotion better than traditional puppets (St. Pierre 26). Kermit was one of the puppets created for the show. He was made of foam rubber wrapped with green fabric from a coat belonging to Jim’s mother. The eyes were each ½ of a ping pong ball. This early Kermit was not a frog. Jim said that Kermit, “was much more lizard-like . . . People would say, ‘Oh you’ve got a frog there,’ and I’d say, ‘No, it’s just a creature’” (St. Pierre 35). Over time, Kermit changed to look more like the frog he is today. Jim Henson continued to perform Kermit until his death. Kermit was the most famous Muppet. “Kermit may possibly be the leading children's character of the century, more significant than even Peter Pan or Winnie-the-Pooh” (Collins). Having his own show and being a full time student at the University of Maryland was too difficult, even for Jim. He recruited another student with an interest in puppetry to help on the show. Her name was Jane Nebel. Jim and Jane became very close working together and ended up getting romantically involved. They also created their own company called Muppets Inc. Jane’s work proved to be valuable. Sam and Friends was very successful in the Washington D.C. area and it became a stepping stone (ERIC G) to national fame. Soon, the two were making guest appearances on national network programs like The Steve Allen Show, The Jack Paar Show, and The Today Show. Wilkins Coffee hired Muppets Inc. for a ser(ERIC G)ies of commercials featuring the Muppets. The commercials were eight seconds long. Jim and Jane created almost 160 commercials in all (St. Pierre 34). Jim and Jane made a substantial amount of money from these commercials. Jim enjoyed puppetry but he did not want to do it full time. He wanted to be a commercial artist. To him puppetry was just a way to get a job as an artist. He planned to quit puppetry when he was financially secure. Jim thought he could make a little money to get his start. When he did make the money, he realized he loved puppetry and it became his life for the next thirty years. In 1958, Jim graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in art. In 1959, Sam and Friends won an Emmy for Best Local Entertainment Program. The same year, Jim Henson and Jane Nebel married. In 1960, Jim and Jane celebrated the birth of their first child. They named their daughter Lisa. The following year their daughter Cheryl was born. In 1961, Jim ended Sam and Friends to expand Muppets Inc. That same year, Jim and Jane hired another puppeteer and writer named Jerry Juhl. Juhl would later become one of Jim's major collaborators. Soon after that, Don Sahlin and Frank Oz began working with the Hensons. Frank Oz later became the voice and performer of many Muppets including Miss Piggy. Frank became Jim’s best friend. The Hensons moved to New York in 1963 and television appearances grew to include The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan, The Jimmy Dean Show, and weekly appearances on The Today Show. Other companies also hired Muppets Inc. to create commercials. Jim created many short films at this time. One of these films was Timepiece, which received an Oscar nomination in 1964 for Best Live-Action Short Subject (Fionaurora). Jim did not win, but the nomination brought even more attention to his work with puppets. In 1968, Jim Henson’s first television special, Muppets on Puppets, aired. In 1968, Joan Ganz Cooney approached Jim with an offer to create puppets and write for a children’s television show that would mix education and entertainment. The show was being developed by the Children’s Television (*WRITTEN BY ERIC G.*)Workshop for PBS. They planned to use flashy imagery and quick pacing common in television commercials to teach preschoolers. “The show was an effort to give poor children whose parents couldn’t afford nursery school a chance to learn basic skills” (St. Pierre 54). Henson was reluctant to except because he did not want to be known as children’s entertainer. He eventually agreed and his company created many memorable characters. Debuting on November 11, 1969, Sesame Street was populated with Henson creations such as Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Grover, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird, each with distinctive personalities. In the first episode, Jim appeared as a juggler (Andres). Parents, critics, educators, and child psychologists praised the show for the mix of entertainment and information. Two of the most well known characters on Sesame Street were Bert and Ernie, two best friends. When Jim was creating Muppets for the show, he made Ernie to represent himself and Bert to represent his best friend Frank Oz. The original Ernie had a head made from a Nerf ball and eyes made from two plastic spoons. Sesame Street has been on the air ever since. The show recently celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. Since 1969, Sesame Street has aired in about 80 countries and has been watched by hundreds of millions of children (Collins). By 1970, the Henson family had expanded to include five children. Their son Brian was born in 1963, John in 1965, and their daughter Heather in 1970. His children loved Jim dearly, but sometimes he would be too busy working on Sesame Street to spend time with them. Jim solved this problem by taking his children to the set. They were often on screen in episodes of Sesame Street (Fionaurora). Impressed by the success of Sesame Street, Jim Henson set out to create a variety show starring his original Muppets. He went to NBC, ABC, and CBS to get financing and a time slot. All three turned him down. As determined as ever, Henson continued and finally got financing from a British producer named Lord Lew Grade. The Muppet Show was produced in England. The show was syndicated worldwide and it aired weekly. It was thirty minutes long (Andres). The first season was in 1976. Kermit hosted the show starring a large cast of both new and old Muppets. It soon became known for guest stars that included everyone from Steve Martin to Rudolf Nureyev. The show was an instant hit worldwide with children and adults. At its peak, over 235 million viewers watched it weekly. That was about the number of people in the United States at that time. It was the most watched comedy worldwide in the seventies. The show was still popular in 1981 when Jim decided to end production after 120 episodes. Over the six year run, the show won over one dozen awards including and Emmy in 1978 for outstanding comedy, variety, or music series. He ended the series so it would not lose popularity. He also wanted to concentrate on greater challenges (Collins). In the late seventies and early eighties, Jim’s company, now known as Henson Productions, focused mainly on movies. In 1979, he scored a hit with the first big screen Muppet movie, simply called The Muppet Movie. The show was a hit with both young and old fans. The Muppet Movie started an entire series of Muppet movies that consists of The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, A Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, and most recently Muppets in Space (“Biography”). Henson Productions did not focus only on Muppet movies. They made live action movies starring people. In 1982, The Dark Crystal opened to decent reviews from critics. Critics said that the movie had excellent special effects and groundbreaking puppetry techniques. The movie used many of Henson’s groundbreaking puppetry techniques. In 1986, Labyrinth opened to similar reviews. George Lucas was the producer and the movie starred singer David Bowie. Both of these movies did poorly at theatres because audiences thought they were too dark compared to the friendly Muppets. They did, however, create a cult following that still continues today. Henson Productions expanded even further in the 80’s to include books, music, and educational materials. They also continued to produce television shows and specials. Shows such as Fraggle Rock on HBO and Muppet Babies on CBS were very popular with children. Fraggle Rock taught children teamwork because it had three very different groups that managed to get along with each other. Muppet Babies taught children about the power of imagination. It won four consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program. Other Jim Henson shows were Jim Henson's The Storyteller and Jim Henson's Greek Myths. They were original series created by Jim to tell ancient stories that had important messages. Both series were based on authentic myths and folk tales and produced by a strong literary research team. They were a good combination of ancient tradition and modern technological artistry. After nearly three decades together, Jim and Jane separated in 1986. They had five children together. They did not divorce. Jim and Jane remained close and continued to work together. After the separation, Jim dated many different women, but could not find true love as he had with Jane. In 1987, Jim received one of the greatest honors he possibly could. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. The Academy recognized Jim's influence in television through his shows Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. In early 1990, Jim Henson went to the doctor’s office because he did not feel well. The doctor diagnosed Jim with the flu. The doctor failed to notice that Jim had a rare form of pneumonia (Mc Farlin). Jim developed serious chest pains but remained at home. On May 13, the chest pains became unbearable so Jim was taken to the hospital. By that time, Jim’s body suffered serious damage. His blood could not form clots. He was diagnosed with a rare and very aggressive form of pneumonia known as streptococcus pneumonia. Antibiotics were useless. At 1:21 AM on May 16, 1990 Jim’s heart and kidneys failed. He went into shock and died. He was only 53 years old (Roush). The world was saddened at the loss of a great entertainer and an even greater person. After Jim’s death, opera singer Beverly Sillis said, “There’s a lot less sunshine in the world today” (Mc Farlin). Jim entertained millions (WRITTEN BY ERIC G.)through his work. He brought popularity to puppetry, and his characters continue to shape the lives of children through shows like Sesame Street. Jim Henson reached his life goals in many ways. He not only brought respect to the art of puppetry in the United States but also appealed to the child in all of us as he gave us characters to love in common bond with people around the world. In doing so he not only left the world a better place, but will continue to have a positive impact for generations to come. (Fionaurora) Jim’s memorial service took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. At the service Big Bird sang “It Ain’t Easy Being Green.” Muppet performers with their puppets sang a medley of children’s songs. Kermit was not there out of respect for Jim. Jim had performed Kermit for years, and no one could (or would) try to take his place. Jim Henson’s memory is not gone. His eldest son Brian now runs Henson Productions. Jim’s daughter Cheryl also works at Henson Productions. Since 1990 Henson Productions has released nine movies including Witches, Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppets in Space. The company currently has plans to launch a 24-hour cable network called “The Kermit Network.” It will feature family programming (Collins). Jim Henson is undoubtedly the most famous puppeteer ever. Over the course of his thirty year career, he received eighteen Emmy awards, seven Grammy awards, four Peabody awards, and numerous other honors. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. During his lifetime, he XXXXXXXXXXX created over 50 movies and television shows. He will be remembered worldwide for his work that taught and entertained at the same tim(ERIC G.)e. His shows Sesame Street and The Muppet Show are two of the most watched shows ever. Jim Henson has touched three generations with his artistry and will continue to for many years to come. Bibliography: Andres, Natalie. “A Man of Great Imagination.” Jim Henson. 1997. Online. Internet. 3 Jan. 2000. Available http://www.avana.net/~bandres/Nat/jim_henson.html “Biography of Jim Henson.” Henson.com. 2000. Online. Internet. 3 Jan. 2000. Available http://www.henson.com/creators/biography/index.html Collins, James. “Time 100: Artists & Entertainers: Jim Henson.” Time.com. 1999. Online. Internet. 2 Jan. 2000. Available http://pathfinder.com/time/time100/artists/profile/henson.html Fionaurora. “Jim Henson Biography.” Fionaurora’s Jim Henson Page. 1998. Online. Internet. 29 Dec. 1999. Available http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/3108/henson.html Mc Farlin, Jim. “Jim Henson.” Detroit News. 17 May 1990, 1A. Roush, Matt. “Like Deaths in the Family.” USA Today. 17 May 1990: 1A. St. Pierre, Stephanie. Jim Henson, Creator of the Muppets. NY: Dell Publishing, 1991.

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