Talk:Jim Henson

Handedness?

If anyone knows for certain whether he was left- or right-handed, would you please add this to the article? And, did he tend to operate puppets on one hand instead of the other, or was he ambidextrous? - Brian Kendig 17:08, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Photos and footage of Jim performing were all right-handed. I want to say I've seen a few where he was holding up two puppets, as he would have to have done a lot of in the early days, but I can't recall where they were exactly. But yeah, it's pretty well documented that he was right-handed. —Scott (talk) 17:42, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

So glad they got the cause of death correct!

People used to insist that it was pneumonia. So glad you guys got this right! Peace.—MuzikJunky 09:28, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Sesame Street Directing Credits

I've noticed that the directors credits section of this article mentions some of the animated and film segments from Sesame Street. While I know of sources that confirm that Jim Henson worked on those segments, are there any sources that he actually directed them? I know that he wrote some, and I'm sure that he at least produced some. --Minor muppetz 22:00, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, we have sources, which is why they're also in Henson Films, and why they often show up at Henson retrospectives and festivals as examples of films he directed and produced, not just animated segments which were on Sesame Street. We know he did all of the animated ones listed himself (directing and animating, though no there may have been other artists assisting), and there seems to be a source for the number films too (though that one might need better citing). The only one in question is Doll House, where it's an assumption based on the DVD details. I think it's a fairly safe one under the circumstances (i.e. it's fairly unlikely for him to hire some outside director to come over and make a film with his kids' dollhouse), but that can be examined on an individual level. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:31, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I'm just checking. Unlike most of the other credits, the individual Sesame Street segments don't have credits. I don't think Jim Henson was ever credited as a dirctor on the show (though Jim Henson has received a directors credit for classic material on some Sesame Street videos, including videos where the only inserts are Muppet inserts), and even if he was I doubt the credits would have specified which segments he directed. But maybe the CTW archives has a box of files somewhere that lists the crew of each individual insert (I guess I should keep dreaming). --Minor muppetz 02:51, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Like I said, the info comes from festival playbills, website descriptions, and the like, which included the films in question. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 03:43, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

Memorial

Was this ever aired on PBS? There's claim it drew millions of viewers. I know there was the special with the Muppets, but I've never heard about the memorial itself being broadcast. -- Zanimum 21:38, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I know that a number of documentaries featured footage from the memorial, but I don't know if it ever aired as a full, stand-alone production. --Minor muppetz 05:13, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

The Wikipedia claim is mistaken. I've checked thoroughly, and have found absolutely no evidence to suggest it was televised in full, on PBS or anywhere else. None of the several articles on the memorial (and in fact, the "memorial" was two events, one in New York and one in London, mostly the same program thought) indicate anything about it being televised; this may have been an assumption based on the fact that bootleg VHS of the event have been floating around. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 22:26, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

The Bear

This article and Don Austen mention a movie called The Bear. I can't find information on that movie anywhere. Is there such a thing? -- Danny (talk) 04:24, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

There is. It's just because, for some reason, IMDB refers to it by the French title, L'Ours, apparently because the director is French. Anyway, it's this movie. Creature Shop provided an animatronic bear to fill in certain scenes, and No Strings Attached, which I don't have access to right now, discussed it at length, as an attempt by the Creature Shop to establish itself as a visual effects shop which could do work for other companies, but it was rushed and certain creatives felt unhappy with the results. It's on my unwritten to-do list. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:32, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah the Creature Shop is credited for doing effects for it. [1] There's probably more in No Strings Attached (which I don't own). — Scott (talk) 04:29, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Synchronicity! Anyway, yes, there is. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:32, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Ooh, that means we get a couple more animal actors. -- Danny (talk) 04:34, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm excited about getting to this one, since it starred Bart the Bear, the most critically acclaimed bear actor of all time. Forget Gentle Ben, Bart starred in Legends of the Fall, The Edge, White Fang'... He even received screen credit! He was beardom's answer to Jack Warden, a versatile, gruff character player who filled any need. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 04:36, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Attention

Seven months in, and our Jim Henson article is a crying shame. This article has two sentences about Sesame Street and two sentences about Fraggle Rock. Lame. There's lots of material -- in books, on the web, and in other wiki articles -- to fill this article out to the size and depth that it deserves. -- Danny (talk) 02:11, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

Needs work...

• I copied most of the text for this article from Wikipedia. It's a very good article, but it's clearly written for a non-Muppet fan audience, and it doesn't quite sound right as part of Muppet Wiki. Obviously, we ought to have a really good article on Henson. Can people take a look at this, and fix it up a bit more? -- Toughpigs 16:42, 21 Dec 2005 (UTC)

• Not sure if it's exactly what you're looking for, but I took a crack at it. Feel free to edit as you see fit. -- TomH 03:22, 30 Dec 2005 (UTC)

Sources for Henson quotes?

• Can we get some sources for the Henson quotes on this page? It feels like an overwhelming list without any sources to break it up. Also, "Simple is Good" doesn't sound like a Henson quote to me, unless it's part of a larger statement. He didn't really talk in slogans like that. -- Toughpigs 21:33, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)

• I think that "simple is good" was kind of one of the few rare Henson slogans or rules-of-thumb he would toss out there from time to time. I head it listed in quotes/interviews about him a few times and I found this quote from Jerry Juhl: "We always used to kid Jim that after telling everybody 'simple is good,' he would turn around and try to produce the most complicated work in the world and just about wipe out all of us - him most of all - in the process." -- GregJames 02:39, 13 Dec 2005 (UTC)

• Fair enough. Do you want to make separate quote pages for these folks? Tom's been adding a bunch of Muppet Quotes pages. Maybe we could make something like that for the production staff. I don't know what to call it, though. Behind the Scenes quotes? Or should we just have one big quotes category for everything? Either way, I think it would be good to source the quotes -- say who the interview was with, what year, etc. -- Toughpigs 02:57, 13 Dec 2005 (UTC)

Awards and Honors page?

Maybe the "Awards and Honors" could go on a separate page? -- Toughpigs 22:02, 12 Dec 2005 (UTC)

Politics of Jim Henson

Just out of curiosity, was Jim Henson a liberal? I know Sesame Street was a pretty progressive project of that time, and I know both Brian Henson and Lisa Henson are advocates for LGBT rights, but I could be wrong.