Henson
Henson Today marks the 75th Anniversary of Jim Henson's birth. It should come as no surprise to the few folks still reading this that I am a major Jim Henson fan. Hell, my screenname is a Henson creation. For me, Jim Henson was my first celebrity idol. He is the answer to the "who, living or dead, would you have dinner with" question. He was the first major death of my life. His death hit me harder than my grandmother's (as I was only five at the time and barely knew her in some ways). Jim Henson was this massive creative force.
I can't remember a time when his shows weren't a central point to my life. From Muppet Show scenes, and Muppet moves on VHS - Sesame Street classics - My parents even only kept HBO until I was no longer watching Fraggle Rock religiously. At 13, I wanted to go see Muppet Treasure Island in the theater as I had never seen a Henson film on the big screen before. A course on him was the gravy that came with becoming a UCSC student, was one of my first classes 10 years ago, and the textbook for the course was a book I had owned for at least 10 years at that time and had practically memorized (I aced the midterm on the book without having re-read any of it).
There is just something so incredible about a man who took something that for him was at first a means to an end of getting on television, and revolutionized the art form for the modern television age. He said "I want to create a show that will cause world peace. I know it wont, but I want to create a show as if it could" and made Fraggle Rock. He understood that any family show needed to be more than just something kids liked but adults could tolerate - it had to work on multiple levels to bring everyone together. And you could still say something while not beating you over the head with it.
Even now, I tear up thinking about how deprived the world has been these last twenty+ years without him, and what wonderful new things he would have created. And I feel blessed that we have so much from him still. And that his legacy continues with a New Muppet Movie, and new graphic novels coming soon based on his unreleased work, and the google doodle inspiring digital puppetry.
The biggest thing I ever learned from his work: If you're pursuing your dream, your joy, you will achieve it. And you won't do it alone. Your dream, your joy, will infect others and help you make it a reality. -- That deep down belief, that truth, in the power of belief, was so inspiring to me. It's a level of optimism I forget about sometimes in my modern life, but remember each time I watch the Muppets. I never want to forget it.
I can't remember a time when his shows weren't a central point to my life. From Muppet Show scenes, and Muppet moves on VHS - Sesame Street classics - My parents even only kept HBO until I was no longer watching Fraggle Rock religiously. At 13, I wanted to go see Muppet Treasure Island in the theater as I had never seen a Henson film on the big screen before. A course on him was the gravy that came with becoming a UCSC student, was one of my first classes 10 years ago, and the textbook for the course was a book I had owned for at least 10 years at that time and had practically memorized (I aced the midterm on the book without having re-read any of it).
There is just something so incredible about a man who took something that for him was at first a means to an end of getting on television, and revolutionized the art form for the modern television age. He said "I want to create a show that will cause world peace. I know it wont, but I want to create a show as if it could" and made Fraggle Rock. He understood that any family show needed to be more than just something kids liked but adults could tolerate - it had to work on multiple levels to bring everyone together. And you could still say something while not beating you over the head with it.
Even now, I tear up thinking about how deprived the world has been these last twenty+ years without him, and what wonderful new things he would have created. And I feel blessed that we have so much from him still. And that his legacy continues with a New Muppet Movie, and new graphic novels coming soon based on his unreleased work, and the google doodle inspiring digital puppetry.
The biggest thing I ever learned from his work: If you're pursuing your dream, your joy, you will achieve it. And you won't do it alone. Your dream, your joy, will infect others and help you make it a reality. -- That deep down belief, that truth, in the power of belief, was so inspiring to me. It's a level of optimism I forget about sometimes in my modern life, but remember each time I watch the Muppets. I never want to forget it.
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