MuppetFilter: DefunctTV on Jim Henson
July 14, 2019 11:14 AM Subscribe
Defunctland's six-part series on the life and career of Muppet creator Jim Henson finishes today. The series in its entirety:
The History of the First Muppet Show, Sam and Friends |
The Curse of Sesame Street |
The History of The Muppet Show |
The History of Fraggle Rock |
The History of Muppet Babies | The Final Jim Henson Hour
Ha, synchronicity, I just got back from the museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, which has two wings: one for the broad history of puppetry all around the world, and one for Henson. Plus an extra exhibit of Dark Crystal stuff right now in a rotating gallery. The Skeksis and Garthim puppets are imposingly huge.
If you find yourself in Atlanta with an hour or two to spend it's a pretty good place to visit.
posted by egypturnash at 12:27 PM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
If you find yourself in Atlanta with an hour or two to spend it's a pretty good place to visit.
posted by egypturnash at 12:27 PM on July 14, 2019 [7 favorites]
I'm halfway through and this is great.
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:27 PM on July 14, 2019
posted by RolandOfEld at 7:27 PM on July 14, 2019
The Fraggle Rock episode goes into and amazing level of detail. I’m sure I've mentioned it somewhere here before that I went on a date with a puppeteer on the show who took me for a tour of the studio. It scares me now - that I remember as much about Jell-O 1-2-3 dessert puddings as I do about that visit.
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:53 PM on July 14, 2019
posted by bonobothegreat at 7:53 PM on July 14, 2019
Ha, synchronicity, I just got back from the museum at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, which has two wings: one for the broad history of puppetry all around the world, and one for Henson. Plus an extra exhibit of Dark Crystal stuff right now in a rotating gallery. The Skeksis and Garthim puppets are imposingly huge.
Oooh, nice and good to know. We spent last mother's day at the Museum of the Moving image, which also has an awesome Henson exhibit.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:05 PM on July 14, 2019
Oooh, nice and good to know. We spent last mother's day at the Museum of the Moving image, which also has an awesome Henson exhibit.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:05 PM on July 14, 2019
Defunctland! Generally enjoyable, but this series is particularly well done. I've watched the first 3, but I've been saving the Fraggle Rock episode for the right day. Mabye today is that day.
posted by monopas at 9:05 PM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by monopas at 9:05 PM on July 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've been eagerly keeping up with these as Kevin's been posting them, as my household usually follows his channel for the theme park stuff.
This final one in the series, that he just posted, I'll warn you, it hits like a hammer. All the episodes leading up to it have been straightforward documentaries of his various muppet projects, and this last one does lightly touch upon the show "The Jim Henson Hour", but interspersed with it are cuts to both Jim's memorial service and the posthumous TV special, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson.
Now Jim did outline some ideas for his own memorial service, and the memorial service inspired the TV special, so coverage of these isn't really out of place in this documentary series, but I know it had me crying about as bad as the last time that I listened to A Boy and His Frog. Have tissue at the ready.
posted by radwolf76 at 10:52 PM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
This final one in the series, that he just posted, I'll warn you, it hits like a hammer. All the episodes leading up to it have been straightforward documentaries of his various muppet projects, and this last one does lightly touch upon the show "The Jim Henson Hour", but interspersed with it are cuts to both Jim's memorial service and the posthumous TV special, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson.
Now Jim did outline some ideas for his own memorial service, and the memorial service inspired the TV special, so coverage of these isn't really out of place in this documentary series, but I know it had me crying about as bad as the last time that I listened to A Boy and His Frog. Have tissue at the ready.
posted by radwolf76 at 10:52 PM on July 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
Tonight was that day. And then I watched the rest.
Take radwolf76's advice and have the tissues ready for the last one.
posted by monopas at 2:42 AM on July 15, 2019
Take radwolf76's advice and have the tissues ready for the last one.
posted by monopas at 2:42 AM on July 15, 2019
If anyone is near Columbus Ohio there's a Jim Henson exhibit currently going on at COSI that is really really well done. Same one as PhoBWanKenobi 's link, I think.
posted by Poldo at 5:44 AM on July 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Poldo at 5:44 AM on July 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
I loved this series. I even enjoyed the muppet babies episode a lot more than I thought I would. Seeing other people talk about their Henson stuff makes me wanna recount one of the most magical things that ever happened to me.
I was a kickstarter backer of the MOMI exhibit's permanent exhibition. I don't live anywhere near New York, but I backed it at some level that got me a guided tour of the exhibit. A couple of years go by, I'm going to be in NYC for my 10th anniversary last October. I send an email, they say they'll make it work. Right before I leave, they ask me to postpone a day. I agree to, because I really want to see this stuff, and talk to other Henson nerds. But it's now ON my anniversary, and I have a hoity toity 7pm dinner reservation.
The day arrives, they send me an email asking if I can possibly wait until later in the day to do the tour. I think 2 or 3pm. I grudgingly agree. But mention it's my 10th anniversary, and any further delays mean I may not make it to 11. My wife's a movie nerd, so wasting some extra time in the museum isn't really a problem. It's a great museum, and gave us an excuse to get out of Manhattan proper for a few hours. The time rolls around, and they ask me to meet them... by the way, turns out this is the day of Caroll Spinney (Big Bird & Oscar the Grouch)'s retirement party. That party is being thrown at the Museum of Moving Image that night. I joked with the person that met me that I could *maybe* change my dinner reservations if they wanted to invite me to that. They apologized, and said they couldn't do that.. but would I mind waiting a minute? Then they bring a lady around the corner and say she's actually going to give me the tour. This lady's name is Bonnie Erickson. And she BUILT MISS PIGGY, STATLER & WALDORF, DR TEETH, ANIMAL and lots of other stuff. And, according to my wife, I was a giggly school boy for the next 90 minutes while she walked me through the museum and told me stories of working with Jim.
posted by DigDoug at 12:57 PM on July 15, 2019 [10 favorites]
I was a kickstarter backer of the MOMI exhibit's permanent exhibition. I don't live anywhere near New York, but I backed it at some level that got me a guided tour of the exhibit. A couple of years go by, I'm going to be in NYC for my 10th anniversary last October. I send an email, they say they'll make it work. Right before I leave, they ask me to postpone a day. I agree to, because I really want to see this stuff, and talk to other Henson nerds. But it's now ON my anniversary, and I have a hoity toity 7pm dinner reservation.
The day arrives, they send me an email asking if I can possibly wait until later in the day to do the tour. I think 2 or 3pm. I grudgingly agree. But mention it's my 10th anniversary, and any further delays mean I may not make it to 11. My wife's a movie nerd, so wasting some extra time in the museum isn't really a problem. It's a great museum, and gave us an excuse to get out of Manhattan proper for a few hours. The time rolls around, and they ask me to meet them... by the way, turns out this is the day of Caroll Spinney (Big Bird & Oscar the Grouch)'s retirement party. That party is being thrown at the Museum of Moving Image that night. I joked with the person that met me that I could *maybe* change my dinner reservations if they wanted to invite me to that. They apologized, and said they couldn't do that.. but would I mind waiting a minute? Then they bring a lady around the corner and say she's actually going to give me the tour. This lady's name is Bonnie Erickson. And she BUILT MISS PIGGY, STATLER & WALDORF, DR TEETH, ANIMAL and lots of other stuff. And, according to my wife, I was a giggly school boy for the next 90 minutes while she walked me through the museum and told me stories of working with Jim.
posted by DigDoug at 12:57 PM on July 15, 2019 [10 favorites]
I guess Muppet Babies is basically totally unavailable permanently, due to all the film clips and such they used?
posted by Chrysostom at 3:21 PM on July 17, 2019
posted by Chrysostom at 3:21 PM on July 17, 2019
I see many episodes available on YouTube...
Thanks so much for this jocelmeow!
posted by Rash at 12:49 PM on July 19, 2019
Thanks so much for this jocelmeow!
posted by Rash at 12:49 PM on July 19, 2019
Rainbows, Frogs, Dogs, And 'The Muppet Movie' Soundtrack At 40: "His 'I Want' is not just for his own dreams to come true. It's for those who believe in the enchanting myths that we've all written together to be proved right. Someday, he hopes, we will find a thread that makes all this make sense. You know. Life. It's almost a 'We Want' song."
posted by jocelmeow at 11:21 AM on July 25, 2019
posted by jocelmeow at 11:21 AM on July 25, 2019
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posted by Canageek at 11:33 AM on July 14, 2019 [2 favorites]