"The Unseen Work of Jim Henson" at MTR in New York

Hey all,

is it just me, but at Muppet Fest, and again on Wed, I notice when Jane speaks about the empire that she seems...er...bitter which makes me wonder why she appears at these things? I find it also odd that she kept refering to the children as 'Jim's heirs' or Jim's kids...they are hers too...maybe I am just too analytical but it seemed...awkward to me.

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I don't think it's bitterness as much as awkwardness. As Jane said the other night, she's not really a part of the company as much as she is part of the foundation. I think a lot of people tend to forget that when they ask questions like that one guy (the one who felt he had to give his life story before the question) the other night. He seemed to both know a lot and not know anything at the same time. Anyway, I think people tend to expect Jane to have some current corporate incite that she doen't really have. The other half of that is Jane (as I understand it) is very private as a person and not very comfortable with public speaking. that's just my 2 cents there.

And last, this is just opinion....but I was really disappointed that the panel didn't get to speak more, I wish the moderator just asked them all to speak freely about the footage so we could glean any and all insight, but I truly enjoyed the evening and feel very lucky to have been there!

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yeah I thought the Q&A part of it was poorly run. I thoght the moderator seemed unprepared a little. he didn't do a very good job of 'driving the train' so to speak. it woudl have been nice for each memebr of the panel to give a little of there background first. I think that would have helped set the pace of the evening a little better. even Jane and Jerry (although most of us know they're background a little). And then maybe break it down a little piece by piece and talk about the clips. How did some of the ideas come about? How much of the building did Don Shalin do? How much of the writing was jim and Jerry? Ask jane about how many of the clips was she involved in. I don't know. I just felt there was a wealth of knowledge there that never got tapped into.

Aside from that, it was a wonderful evening. Really a treat getting to see everyone. Enjoyed it a lot and what little history was tapped into was good.

--Matt

matleo said:

I don't think it's bitterness as much as awkwardness.

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Yes, I agree completely but there also seems to be something else on top of the awkwardness, she made some comment about wishing things hadn't gotten as big as they did in terms of the muppet's success...I know she and Jim were separated and that there were some problems there so I think that still lingers, but as my great uncle says 'it's neither here nor there'....

And yes, some questions were...er....not great, but I didn't wanna elaborate in case any of them were from MC folk...but we all know we are well learned in all that is Muppety anyway

I also caught Little Shop and Avenue Q so it was a Muppety week in NYC for me.

Lunatic Daring said:

Here's my questions....does anyone know why John Henson was in a neck brace?

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Yeah, does anyone have any info on this? Is he O.K?

Lunatic Daring said:

Yes, I agree completely but there also seems to be something else on top of the awkwardness, she made some comment about wishing things hadn't gotten as big as they did in terms of the muppet's success...I know she and Jim were separated and that there were some problems there so I think that still lingers, but as my great uncle says 'it's neither here nor there'....I also caught Little Shop and Avenue Q so it was a Muppety week in NYC for me.

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Nice to see someone else from T.O. made the trip down for for this. I too lucked in to some Avenue Q tickets and had a great puppetry-filled week in the big apple.

Just in general, I think we should all be careful not to comment/speculate on the personal lives of the Henson family as per the forum rules. It's true (and public knowledge) that Jim and Jane were separated at the time of his death. It's also true (and public knowledge) that Jane was with Jim in the last hours of his life, so regardless of whatever challenges they faced together they must have ultimately had a very close relationship.

Last week was the first time I've had the pleasure of seeing Jane in person and she struck me at the event as very warm and jolly. I don't pretend to have any special insight in to her or her life, but I think her comment that the Muppets "certainly wouldn't have gotten as big as it did if it was up to me," was merely to express how ambitious Jim was. I didn't intrept it as a statement of bitterness at all.

My impression is that Jane was not actively involved in the day-to-day business of the company for many years prior to Jim's death. It was the Henson children, not Jane, who assumed control of the company after his untimely passing. Since then Jane has thrown considerable time and effort (along with many of Jim's family and other associates) in to preserving his work, which is an invaluable service to puppetry and Muppet fans.

I think's its probably best we simply appreciate the wonderful work she has done with the Legacy and Foundation and avoid speculation on matters which she chooses not to publicly discuss.

Well said, Buck! I think Jane was an invaluable help to Jim with the Muppets in the early years but I think as things got bigger and better she did the right thing and stayed in the background to raise her children yet stay supportive of her husband's work. I have a lot of admiration for her and I think it's wonderful that she continues to keep Jim's legacy alive with others who are part of the Henson company. She was very kind to me after the seminar when I approached her and I think she was really surprised by how much myself and others who came up to say "Hi" were so thrilled to meet her. She took time with everyone who approached her, all different ages and I think Jim would be delighted by all the attention she was getting.
I agree we should not focus on what's going on in the Hensons' personal lives and just be glad that they keep bringing their husband and father's entertainment to us. I was also concerned to see John with the neckbrace but I didn't want to approach him or Heather as it was clear they were both there to observe and not participate in a respectful way.
Melissa

Yipes, I sure hope I haven't said anything to offend anyone...more curiosity than anything, I know verrrrry little in comparison to most of the MC folk so I figured there were things you all know that I do not...so sorry if I broke any rules....

I was too shy to approach any of them at the event, all of them seem very private and I didn't want to bother them, I was just happy to be there!

I am thrilled that the whole Henson clan seems involved, and more so that the co is back in their hands...it's the way it should be!

Sigh. unparalelled sadness that I did not get to go.....

But I may be switching to a different position now at Sesame by Nov so hopefully I will be back a-posting!

Hill

In case you missed the "Muppet Rarities: Unseen Work of Jim Henson" seminar, here is in-depth editorial by Andrew Young that you will want to check out.

[url]http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/editorials/unseen_work.shtml[/url]

great article! I wish I could have been there!