With vibrant personalities, an unforgettable soundtrack, witty humor and colorful appearances, The Muppets (a wordplay combining marionette and puppet) have graced our screens for many decades.
As the 88th birthday of the man behind the puppets approaches, a lot can be taken from his journey and his influence on television.
Born Sept. 24, 1936, James Maury Henson (more widely known as Jim Henson), spent the early years of his life discovering and improving his artistic talents. Taking after his grandmother, Henson had a wild imagination and a gift for creativity.
This genius landed him his comedy show, “Sam and Friends,” at just 19 years old. The show featured a cast of puppet friends, among which included a green semi-aquatic lizard-like creature named Kermit.
According to the Los Angeles Times, those closest to Henson referred to Kermit as his “soft-spoken alter-ego.” It’s even written in Henson’s biography by Brian Jay Jones that, “The more Jim performed Kermit, the more the two of them seemed to become intertwined…it was becoming harder to tell where the frog ended and Jim began.”
Due to this relationship, it came as no surprise when Kermit the Frog went on to become the star of “The Muppet Show” in 1976.
Henson’s goal was always to entertain all ages, the Muppets were for adults just as much as they were for kids, if not more. Due to its adult humor yet family-friendly nature, the show was a major hit. Shown in over 100 countries around the world, “The Muppet Show” was claimed by Time magazine as both “the most popular TV show on Earth,” in 1978 and “give or take Saturday Night Live, the funniest show on Television.”
While creating pilot episodes for “The Muppet Show,” Henson and his Muppets were heavily involved in the first season of Saturday Night Live along with his closest collaborator Frank Oz hired by Henson in 1963 who went on to follow his mentor into “The Muppet Show.” Actor Nicholas Braun will play Henson in the 2024 film “Saturday Night” releasing Oct. 11.
Oz described Henson to Entertainment Weekly as patient and giving. “Jim was extraordinary in that he would always allow me to voice my opinion.” Oz originally studied journalism, never planning to be a puppeteer. Following Henson’s passing in 1990, he gradually pulled away from the field and invested more time into his directing career, his notable successes including the 1986 blockbuster “Little Shop of Horrors.”
While puppets from the 70s may seem irrelevant to today’s generation, the franchise is anything but forgotten. H-F junior Margaret Stapleton describes the Muppets as “classic, timeless characters with many entertaining movies and songs”. Stapleton credits “Rainbow Connection” as one of the best songs of all time, sporting Beaker car stickers and a Muppets lanyard.
Henson’s work is known for how he transformed the world of puppetry with his creative reinvention of puppet design; using metal bars to control their arms and legs and unique materials to craft their familiar faces.
