Jim Henson's Muppets Monsters & Magic

Jim's Red Book "The Art of the Muppets Exhibit"

Michael Frith takes a peek at the exhibit.

Jim Henson's Muppets Monsters & Magic (also known as The World of Jim Henson: Muppets, Monsters & Magic and The World of Jim Henson: Art & Animatronics) was an international touring museum exhibit that ran from 1987 to 1995, featuring puppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Dinosaurs, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Mother Goose Stories, and The StoryTeller.

The international exhibit was a follow-up to the successful US tour, The Art of the Muppets, which visited 19 US cities between 1979 and 1986. Muppets Monsters & Magic opened in 1987 at the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, Germany, and then traveled to London's Museum of the Moving Image, followed by stops in Scotland, Ireland, Canada and one engagement in the US.

The puppets on display included Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and Camilla all dressed in Muppets Take Manhattan costumes; Uncle Traveling Matt, Sprocket, Junior Gorg, and a team of radio-controlled Doozers; Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover, The Count and Oscar the Grouch; Baby Sinclair; Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Gonzo, Baby Fozzie and Baby Rowlf from The Muppets Take Manhattan; Hoggle, a goblin guard and three Fireys; Mother Goose and her Goslings; Hans from "Hans My Hedgehog"; and the Ritual Master Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.

Hands-on displays included a touch wall, where attendees could feel many of the materials used to create the Muppets, a video demonstration, where guests could try their hand at video puppetry, and an "ask the expert" table where visitors could get information about the Creature Shop.

Also on display was concept art and photographs from various Jim Henson film and television productions, and movie posters from all the Muppet movies.

One wall exhibit entitled "Early Muppets" featured images from Sam and Friends, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, and commercials for La Choy. Towards the end of the exhibit was a wall display called "New Visions" that featured images from The Secret Life of Toys, City Kids, Dog City, Muppet Treasure Island, and the unfinished project Borgel.

Known venues

• Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany: November 29, 1987 to January 24, 1988 (Die Welt von Jim Henson: Muppets, Monster & Magie)
• Museum of the Moving Image (London): 1988 (The World of Jim Henson: Art & Animatronics)
• The City Arts Council Centre, Scotland: 1989
• The National Museum of Photography Film and Television, West Yorkshire, UK: March 27 to September 2, 1990 (Jim Henson's Muppets Monsters & Magic)
• Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito, California: February 16 to May 1, 1994 (Jim Henson's Muppets Monsters & Magic)
• Filmmuseum Potsdam, Berlin, Germany: June 2 to August 28, 1994 (Die Welt von Jim Henson: Muppets, Monster & Magie)
• Warrington Museum, UK: October 1, 1994 to January 4, 1995 (The World of Jim Henson: Muppets Monsters & Magic)
• London's Museum of the Moving Image (second showing), UK: May 4 to September 3, 1995 (Jim Henson's Muppets Monsters & Magic)
• Hannover, Germany: Date unknown
• Kilmainham Gaol, Dublin, Ireland: 6 October 1989-7 January 1990

Gallery

Museum of the Moving Image - Muppet Exhibition 1995

Footage from London's Museum of the Moving Image (1995)

German book Muppets, Monster & Magie (1987)

Brochure (1989)

UK Flyer (1990)

Bay Area Discovery Museum, CA (1994)

German poster (1994)

UK Flyer (1994)

1994 Badge

UK Flyer (1995)

At Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (1987)

At London's Museum of the Moving Image (1989)

At London's Museum of the Moving Image (1989)

At London's Museum of the Moving Image (1989)

Muppet touch wall

Sesame Street characters

Manhattan Melodies Muppets

A Skeksis

Junior Gorg

Hoggle

A Firey

Baby Sinclair

External links

• Muppets and Klingons invade Bay Area — Sunset, Feb, 1994
• Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main — exhibition archive (German)