Take whatcha got and fly with it

A week ago today marked the 21st anniversary of the death of Jim Henson. I was flying home from Tampa on that day, and with my traveling adventures I had forgotten about this occasion. I had remembered the night I went to the movie theater with my brother to see Thor, and had seen seen a poster for the new Muppet movie due to come out.

21 years gone, and Henson still has an impact on this world in such positive ways. I think if anyone can make a new, quirky muppet movie work, I'm hoping Jason Segel can do it. I hate how Disney has taken the muppets and wrote Henson out of the picture.

I know these sound like musings of a person with nothing better to do than dote over a dead puppeteer, and maybe the magic of the Muppets isn't seen with everyone. To a lot of people, I realize, they are just foam and googly eyes and relics of decades past, like Spongebob or the Jersey Shore will be someday.

Think of it this way; Henson was just a basically good, kind person with a flair for creating and being silly. He saw imagination in every object and found a lesson in every creation. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Big Bird, Bert, Gobo, Red, Uncle Matt, and all of the other wonderful creatures weren't just puppets; they grew up in the conciousness of Americans and citizens around the world. To a lot of people, the Muppets were as real as any human being...of course you know they're NOT, but they kinda are. Work with me here. (On a side note, I've found that many people continuously enchanted by Henson find the same with Calvin and Hobbes; Hobbes is real, but he isn't. Nobody questions it, and it's fantastic that way).

In the Muppet special that aired after his death, the Muppets went on a bit of an introspective journey to find out who this "Jim" is that they're throwing a special for. As they get to know him, they are shocked and saddended to find out Kermit's closest friend has passed away.



The best summarization of Jim's legacy is submitted by a fan, read carefully by Scooter.
"perhaps the substance of Jim Henson's genius was the ability to see wonder far-off in crazy directions, and get people to follow him there"

This video also marks the first time Kermit speaks with a new, different voice. It's easy to spend an entire day watching the memorials, the tributes on youtube. I didn't know which one to post; all of them have their own special way of making people see why this man was, and still is, a role-model to all of humanity. The song that truly defines Henson and all he created is "Just One Person", a song that debuted on the Muppet Show with Bernadette Peters encouraging Robin to never give up.

I have very few inspirational heroes, but Jim Henson will always, always be one of the people I look to for finding a way in life. Working at Disney World, I met many people who found the same vein of inspiration from Walt Disney. I do not. I find Disney to be a cold, unapproachable icon, somewhat cutthroat and too business minded for my tastes, and I can't connect with him on a personal level. Henson always seems like an old friend, and the world is truly a better place because he was here, even though he didn't give us theme parks or crank out impersonal movies. He made the world better because of his passion for being silly, and showing us that sometimes being silly is okay, and being silly can have heart. He was always so involved in every aspect of his work, and it showed through to the people who worked with him.

This post is getting to be way longer than I had meant; I kinda just started typing and didn't really think to pull all of these thoughts together. I was barely 3 when Henson died. I do remember, though, being a child and being able to recognize him on tv or in magazines (it was probably the beard). My all time favorite muppet movie is "A Muppet Family Christmas", in which the Muppets, the Sesame Street gang, and the Fraggles all spend Christmas together. At the end Henson, bids farewell as he's drying dishes in the kitchen.

Jim was an all around good guy. Of course he was human, and I'm sure he had plenty of flaws. But he was not just a puppeteer; he was a friend to everyone, a creator, a teacher, a master of sentiment and personality. He was humble yet straight-forward. As Richard Hunt said of Henson, "he did not live for the moment, he lived in the moment...it's important that we all stop giving ourselves such a hard time; we've got to remind and push ourselves to let go." This is the kind of person I want to be.

This is why when I speak of Henson, I speak passionately. I speak of him the way the way others speak of their heroes, and to me he was so much more than "just an entertainer". To hear Richard Hunt, Frank Oz, his children, his co-workers and collaborators, he was so much more than just an entertainer. His world was one filled with color, and song, and perfect dynamics of teaching and learning. Frank Oz was correct in saying Henson was a singularity.



I close on my sappy, naive fan worship of Henson with the hope that I can also someday be a shining beacon of friendship to everyone that surrounds me. I know that's a tall order..I'm not much good at making things or making friends, and like Kermit I feel a bit too green, easily passed over... but maybe, if just one person believes in me...

So Farewell, Jim, wherever you are. Almost a quarter of a century later, and you're not forgotten. You've found that Rainbow Connection, and so will the lovers, the dreamers, and me.



Tom Smith's "A Boy and His Frog"