Jim Henson: Idea Man

Jim Henson: Idea Man: This is so familiar to most of the individuals of my age range and is revolved around Jim Henson’s art, my younger years were so raised and captivated by it. “The Muppet Show” was crazy and completely different from the less interesting children program across the board at that time offered—a concept that is relatable to me even now—and loved by so many of its characters.

Statler & Waldorf, and Fozzie Bear the show women with an abundant supply of bad punchlines designed for a desired audience. My first real life crush came about during the “Muppet Show” when Kermit the Frog and Linda Ronstadt were together, much to the dismay of Miss Piggy who was eyeing them jealously.

I was about three or four years old when “Muppet Show” was aired and was bought by my father the entire series, my whole family was far keener than most people. Seeing Kermit the frog mouth the words ‘Come to the front, it’s going to be fun’ made everyone laugh even more. It was summer of 1979 when they released The Muppet Movie and my mother and father took me and a few of my friends to see it.

At first my understanding Muppet physics didn’t make me think that such a thing was possible, thus, I would like to get a clear view and try to understand how they accomplished it. (I didn’t, but that was soon forgotten when, at dinner that night, my dad unconsciously, he claimed, ordered frog’s leg for his meal.) And, of course, when it was announced that Henson died on May 16, 1990 at the age of 53 and as a result of a bacterial infection, it was like a part of my childhood died with this person.

As someone from my generation, I find it impossible to watch a documentary on Henson’s life and work with anything approaching neutrality. Let us, for example, consider Ron Howard’s film “Jim Henson: Idea Man.” In a way, it is an annoying movie—a documentary in a classic sense, with a lack of interesting facts about Henson and his work, and simply missing lots of material which could cloud the general upbeat tone of the film.

Nevertheless, the viewing of the hordes of archival footage which constitute most of the film—the film itself, scenes from projects he undertook and the making of the scenes—was for me the equivalent of eating one of Proust’s madeleine cakes in that it conjured up memories of watching Henson’s work for the first time.

For those who admire Henson and everything he left behind, probably, a good part of the account that is brought to the screen is already well-known. The documentary starts with his beginnings, attempts to create a puppetry that he pursued just to be able to get a job in television, and progresses through his establishing himself as one of the key figures of the massively popular Safely Establishing himself as one of the key figures of the massively popular “Sesame Street.”

Some years after, he set out to create a platform for his artistry – a children’s variety program that would highlight Kermit the Frog, one of the fan-favorite characters from “Sesame Street”, and a host of new Muppets, included the now-iconic Miss Piggy, who at the time was still in her infancy as a character.

When networks informed him that everyone was already accepted to the show, he was asked where it would be filmed, describing the atmosphere of a production that he later wanted to bring to the United States – where it became one of the most famous programs around the world and continued to air until 1981.

Then, his focus shifted towards motion pictures, with Muppet’s creations in familiar stories, such as “Muppet Movie” (1979), “The Great Muppet Caper” (1981), and “The Muppets Take Manhattan” (1984) to new stories that he developed: “The Dark Crystal” (1982) and “Labyrinth” (1986), which received reviews of befuddlement around the time of release but would soon develop into revered classics.

The films also reinforce the hagiographic side of Howard which is inevitable if he is allowed to serve as both filmmaker and biographical subject. It is a joy watching the different clips and even hearing the anecdotes of these people such as fellow Muppeteer and future film director Frank Oz and the teenage Jennifer Connelly who starred in the film/video production “Labyrinth.”

Howard has more recently embarked on a second career as a music and film maker, producing documentaries about Jay-Z, The Beatles, Luciano Pavarotti, or a town trying to rehabilitate itself from large scale fires in “Rebuilding Paradise.” This time, however, he appears to have some real emotional attachment to the material he is working on.

As a result, he appears to be uncomfortable in considering any such factors that may turn the thrust of the film into criticism. For instance, one minute of Henson’s surrealist potential could be centered on Henson’s involvement with “Saturday Night Live” in its formative years, one of those jumps between different approaches to comedy that had never merged.

In the same manner, although Howard does touch on ‘The Muppet Movie’, ‘The Dark Crystal’ and ‘Labyrinth’, his omissions of works such as The Great Muppet Caper which is particularly puzzling because it represented Henson’s first project as a director and The Muppets Take Manhattan come off as puzzling.

Lastly, Howard illustrates that just prior to his death, the Walt Disney Studios had intentions to buy Henson’s company. However, he remains silent about the litigation that ensued between the two when the deal collapsed and the Disney went on as if they actually did have the rights.

In an era when, it seems, every single noteworthy figure from the entertainment industry merits a concrete and intricate documentary series, attempting to squash a life of Jim Henson into a movie that lasts for less than two hours definitely implies a great deal of material will be omitted.

“Jim Henson: Idea Man”, while it is likely not to start any new trends within the realm of Henson Studies or even of documentary cinema, aims at providing something worthwhile to younger audiences who wish to discover the person behind so many iconic characters from their childhood. For their parents, many of whom I suspect will shed a tear during Henson’s memorial service footage, it is a bittersweet nostalgic trip. I hold the same sentiments therein as I hold for Henson’s oeuvre- there was much that I enjoyed about this film; there was just too little of it. To each his own. To borrow the words of a wise Muppet, “Meep!”

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