Research Paper On Jim Henson

“Nobody has ever seen puppets like that, nobody, those are completely and utterly new,” (Oz qtd Creative, Prolific, and Influential, 7:42).

Jim Henson was one of the firsts to take full advantage of the framing of what was actually portrayed on the television screen.

The normal puppets on screen never seemed alive, so Jim Henson designed a new method in order give his creations lifelike qualities.

The Muppets are also innovative due to their vast range of characters and designs.

Refusing to stick to one audience, Henson tested his creativity with new, sometimes even darker stories.

Jim Henson revolutionized entertainment for not only children, but all ages, by reinventing puppets and character design with his suspension of disbelief.

In Washington

“...if you’re on a tv, the four sides of the tv screen are your puppet theatre,” (Creative, Prolific, and Influential, 10:46).

As stated above, there would be no need for a puppet theatre on tv, Henson thought using the tv set as the theatre allowed for the stage to be full of endless possibilities.

Although, truthfully Henson’s starting passion were not puppets themselves, but being on tv to tell stories, thus the Muppets were created to on a tv screen.

Muppets had a certain shape to their faces, and used the “magic triangle” to let them look as if they were looking out the screen.

“..if you look at the early tv sets [with the] rounded corners...its a Muppet shape,” (Brian Henson qtd CNN PEOPLE PROFILE,

This pilot eventually led to Henson’s great success, The Muppet Show, with various skits that didn’t aim for one age group or type of person, but had virtually something with everyone. After five years of The Muppet Show, he called a quits and moved onto new things, including another children’s show, Fraggle Rock, and a few movies. His 2nd Muppet movie was The Dark Crystal, which included only Muppets, no actors, and a set made from scratch. It took them 5 years to create from start to finish.

“People thought it was a little too out there, a little bit too weird, a little too serious, a little too heavy,” (Brian Henson qtd Creative, Prolific, and Influential, 37:00). Henson's son explains here how his father's first fantasy movie fell flat with mixed reviews, and little success in theaters. This hurt him, but never stopped him from continuing to create new fantasy movies and new projects, including the classic film Labyrinth, which was like no other seen before.

With these foundations, Jim Henson was able to change the entertainment industry through the use of puppetry for all