Celebrating a genius - Happy 75th Birthday Jim Henson

[icon_uk]

Anyone looking at the Google homepage today will have seen that they are honouring the man too.

I've posted about him before, but make no apologies for posting to celebrate what would have been his 75th birthday, in some happy alternate universe where he is still with us, and probably still wowing us.

Alas, on our Earth, Mr Henson left the world over 20 years ago now, at an absurdly young age, but he achieved more creative output in his life than just about any other three artists you can name, and all thanks to a skill with puppets, a belief that children didn't need to be talked down to to be entertained and an unshakeable conviction in the fundamental decency of people.

Of course, he's still best known for the magnificent lunacy which was the (proudly UK financed and produced) magnum opus "The Muppet Show" which included everything from boomerang fish, to Peter Sellers playing the gypsy violin.

Of course, there was Sesame Street, which aside from actually being both educational AND fun, introduced the world to this marvellous little song, a testament to being who you are, and learning to be proud of it.

And I should probably apologise for posting this, a song which I am not ashamed to say makes me cry every time I listen to it, but as it's by our own filkertom it's apt for here and now.

And then there was Fraggle Rock, sort of like the Smurfs on psychedelics, but funnier to boot.



And movies too of course, aside from advising on the one true Yoda (and advising George Lucas to get Frank Oz to perform him), there was also "The Dark Crystal", crafting alien ecosystems twenty years before "Avatar" and "Labyrinth", which featured creative input from artist Brian Froud, Monty Python's Terry Jones, and David Bowie as an escapee from some sort of Renaissance Fayre/Asylum (The difference between the two may be less than we sometimes assume)

And there are two manga style comic series based on his works from Tokyopop; Return to Labyrinth, which tells the continuing adventures of Toby, the baby who kidnapped by Jareth, setting the events of the movie Labyrinth in motion, when he turns 15 and discovers that in some ways, he never escaped the Labyrinth, and it wants him back. Three issues were planned, four were eventually produced.

And also "Legends of the Dark Crystal", a prequel series telling adventures from the time after the Crytal was cracked, but before the Gelflings were wiped out by the Skeksis. Two issues were released, but a planned third one was cancelled.



I'd have embedded this one, but the youtuber has disabled it. It remains my favourite Fraggle Rock song; Here to There

Though it has to be said, that these are a close equal second; Convincing John and Let me be Your Song and both highlighting Mr Henson

There is no point to this post, no message, just a little invitation to remember the output of this most remarkable man

"Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling. May each of yours be that...Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It's a good life, enjoy it."- Jim Henson

Comments

[kirke_novak]

The green one... that one is traumatic T_T

[icon_uk]

You might want to avoid the video I've just added then...

[twospirit.blogspot.com]

"I'll miss you Dad..." T_T Doh! I was warned...

The video of his funeral is another tear-jerker...especially when Big Bird sings...

[icon_uk]

Apparently the primary Kermit muppet was at the memorial, sitting un-animated to one side, with a sign saying "I lost my voice" next to him.

[crabby_lioness]

I'm crying so hard I lost mine as well.

[rdfox]

...that one hurt. In a good way, but it really hurt. Like the rendition of his favorite song, "Just One Person," at the end of the Muppet special in his memory.

I can't do an embed in a comment, apparently, but here's the link: http://youtu.be/SRSptCfn5WY

[angelophile]

Oh.

[rdfox]

No, no, no complaint, just that it brought back a lot of old pain that'll never really completely go away, y'know?

And honestly, I felt a lot better afterwards--I'd been having a really rough week (starting with the utter bullshit that is Lobdell's take on Starfire and then getting worse with various bits of personal bad news), and once the tears started flowing, they didn't stop until I'd completely run out.

[rdfox]

I'd say that Jim Henson's vision can best be summed up in two lines from the end of the first Muppet Movie:

Life's like a movie, write your own ending
Keep believing, keep pretending

Words to live by.

[silverzeo]

Thanks Jim for the Muppets and Sesame Street.

Waka waka

[glprime]

I remember when a high school project involved us selecting a song that we felt defined us and our worldview at the time, whether lyrically or thematically (kind of a tall order, but most kids have a favorite song by that age).

I picked the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" (partially because of how in to Fight Club I was at the time); our eventual class Valedictorian and Homecoming queen picked Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem's "Can You Picture That?" from The Muppet Movie. And believe me, I did not question her choice at all.

From childhood to adulthood, the Muppets stay with you.

[nezchan]

I think you misspelled filkertom.

[icon_uk]

Thamks fron Icom_UK

[rebecky_mo]

Sesame Street
The Muppet Show
The Muppets Take Manhattan
A Muppet Family Christmas
Fraggle Rock
The Muppet Movie
Muppet Babies
The Great Muppet Caper
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
Dinosaurs
Dog City
A Muppet Christmas Carol
Brats of the Lost Nebula
Muppets From Space
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
The Muppets

Jim Henson, his characters, his legacy, and those inspired by him have been a part of my life since the day I was born, for nearly 27 straight years, the latest being this fall's Muppet movie.

He's been gone for 21 of those years.

His legacy will last far longer than I do; thank God.

[icon_uk]

And also, "The Storyteller"! :)

[fungo_squiggly]

Now I want to watch Labyrinth again.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Henson. Your awesomeness lives on.

[heckfire]

He's always been one of my idols, creatively and just in general; as a kid whose parents kept telling him to stop writing and drawing because I needed to find "a real career," someone who essentially made a living, and a GREAT one at that, essentially playing with toys and making people happy was INDESCRIBABLE to me. I wanted, more than anything, to be Jim Henson, or at least to work for him, but so-called "reality" kept getting in the way.

I feel bad...most of the stories I have involving how important he was to me are sad ones: crying on my high-school girlfriend's shoulder when he died, having my now-ex replace "Rainbow Connection" which was supposed to play during our wedding ceremony with some generic country song (knowing that I HATE country music) without telling me.

But...his work was always a refuge for me. The Muppets, the movies, the behind-the-scenes technical stuff I devoured like crazy, it all reminded me that, no matter how bleak my own life was, there was a place, a REAL, tangible, actually out there place that existed that, maybe, if I worked and tried hard enough, I could someday be a part of. I may be too old to follow that dream now, but it's still there, and knowing that makes each day seem a little less black.

Thank you, Mr. Henson, for letting me dream.

[icon_uk]

Damn, I wish we had a "Like" button on dreamwidth.

[thandrak]

I didn't know that was Filkertom. I don't know if he'll ever read this, but I want to thank you, Tom. I want to thank you for expressing everything so many of us feel in that song.

[kamino_neko]

One thing that really strikes me about Henson - the various characters he performed - Cantus, Convincing John, Kermit, Rowlf, Ernie... You can always tell it's him performing them, but...they always sound like very different characters.

They fall into groups - Cantus, Convincing John, and Rowlf all have a gravelly overtone, whereas Kermit and Ernie both have a nasal feel, for instance - but, within those groups, they don't sound like the same person, aside from a few exceptions.

It's impressive to do that many voices that feel different. It's even more so to do so while maintaining a...signature, I guess.

[icon_uk]

Agreed. The fact that he can have Rowlf and Kermit sing a duet ("I Hope that Something Better Comes Along" in The Muppet Movie) including close harmonising, and it never occurred to me that it was one person doign both voices until afterwards, always makes me smile.

I loved the Fraggle Rock comic which gave us a little more of Convincing John's backstory, that he's actually Cantus' son, but whereas Cantus brings out wisdom that already exists within others, John has sort of the reverse ability, he can make people believe what HE wants, so wasn't able to join the Minstrels, and had to find another outlet for his abilities.