Talk:Jim Henson

add this

for those interested, [1] should be added into this article. Kingturtle 16:12 May 7, 2003 (UTC)

it's dead, jim -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 02:56, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

funeral

I've heard (from several sources) that the muppets performed during the funeral (or was it the memorial service, if that's different in this case). I can't seem to find a decent first-hand account (other than the director's commentary for the movie Love Actually, which I've since returned to the video store). So if someone knows anything concrete about that, it would make a nice addition to the "died" paragraph. -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 02:56, 28 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The Muppet Show DVD that contains the Harry Belafonte episode also contains Bryan Henson's commentary about his dad's funeral, and I THINK I remember some footage of Mr. Belafonte performing at the funeral/memorial service. I believe this performance contained the "special" muppets that appeared in one number with Belafonte on the Muppet Show and never appeared again until the funeral.

Yes, Kermit the Frog and Big Bird did in fact preform at Jim Henson's Funeral. Kermit and Big Bird sang the song "It's Not That Easy Being Green."

Jabba the Hutt?

The article mentions Yoda, but I thought that Jabba the Hutt was also partly a muppet?

Julia Grownup?

Never heard of her (my Sesame Street years were probably 1980-1985 or so). Was this post-Henson? If so, it probably doesn't belong in the article, though it's definitely interesting. Jdavidb 20:48, 20 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Julia Grownup was an Electric Company phenomenon. That show ended in 1977 (though I hear rumor it may be back soon), so she's definitely during Henson's period. -- ke4roh 13:11, Jul 21, 2004 (UTC)

Was The Electric Company a Henson production? Was Julia Grownup a character he (and or his company) were responsible for creating? The Electric Company article doesn't mention Henson, although I found references online that say that Muppets "occasionally" visited the show. Jdavidb 15:38, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)

The Electric Company was done during the time Henson worked on Sesame Street, and it was done by Children's Television Workshop, but I don't think Henson had anything to do with it. Certainly the Muppets as such were not involved. And while I was a pretty regular viewer, I don't even remember seeing them as guests. Anyway, Julia Grownup was definitely not a Muppet, but was played by Judy Graubart.

Other things

This biographical piece is very US-centric. Jim Henson was very active in the European community in puppetry, but, unfortunately, we didn't get much information over here.

I'm asking someone who is more familiar with his overseas efforts to include some information regarding his accomplishments over there. I think it would help demonstrate his overlooked mature side. I understand, from what I heard, the productions over there were more risque'.

Why is there no article for Fraggle Rock?!?!?!?!?!?

There is.

Death

I read somewhere that Henson was a Christian Scientist, which is why he let his infection progress to the terminal stage. If this is true, would it be relevant to the article? DS 17:58, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Yes, but I'm not sure it's true.

(google)

From the People magazine article "Legacy of a Gentle Genius", which I found here:

By 2 A.M. Henson was having difficulty breathing and had been coughing up blood, though Jane [Henson] didn't know for how long. "I remember saying, 'Can we go to the hospital? Can we call a nurse, a doctor?' " she says. "But he said, 'just rub my back. Try to calm down my breathing.' At one point, he said, 'Maybe I'm dying.' He did say that. But, you know, whenever you're sick, you say, 'God, I feel like I'm going to die.' "

Still, he did not leave for a hospital. Part of the reason, says Jane, was his Christian Science upbringing. While he didn't practice the faith, "it affects his general thinking," says Jane. "Not that he mistrusted doctors, but he would rather just see it through by himself."

The more critical reason was that he just didn't want to bother anyone. "I think he knew there was a possibility he was dying," says Jane, "and that possibly was why he didn't want to go to a doctor. He really didn't want anyone else to be disturbed by his pain."

The impression I got from the overall thing (including the bits I haven't quoted here), "not wanting to bother anyone" was a much more significant factor than the Christian Science influence. Even "rather just see it through by himself" sounds like it could be not-wanting-to-bother-people as much as the other thing. --Paul A 23:56, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

That said, Henson's Christian Science upbringing is probably worth mentioning in the article somewhere. --Paul A 00:12, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

---

Just want to point out that I have no idea where the spammy link came from in this edit I made. I use an old Mac and iCab, not IE, so I'm not sure what's going on. —tregoweth 06:18, Dec 3, 2004 (UTC)

Request for references

Hi, I am working to encourage implementation of the goals of the Wikipedia:Verifiability policy. Part of that is to make sure articles cite their sources. This is particularly important for featured articles, since they are a prominent part of Wikipedia. Further reading is not the same thing as proper references. Further reading could list works about the topic that were not ever consulted by the page authors. If some of the works listed in the further reading section were used to add or check material in the article, please list them in a references section instead. The Fact and Reference Check Project has more information. Thank you, and please leave me a message when you have added a few references to the article. - Taxman 16:48, Apr 22, 2005 (UTC)

Jim Henson Memorial

I was actually at the memorial service at the cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan.

There was a musical performance by the core group of Muppet performers. A handful of "Jim's favorite songs" were performed by Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz,Steve Whitmire (wearing a Kermit green suit, as he was to be the future voice of Kermit) Kevin Clash and Richard Hunt. Songs included, Coddleston Pie, You Are my Sunshine, Lydia the Tattoed Lady and more. The performance culminated with the song If Just One Person Believes in You. This song was begun by Richard Hunt working the Muppet Scooter. As each verse progressed each puppeteer reached behind and revealed their Muppet to join in and as the song drew to it's final verses all the Muppet performers holding Muppets they made famous joined the core group onstage and finished the song to a tearful standing ovation.

Big Bird , earlier in the memorial service, sang, It's Not Easy Being Green alone, not with Kermit as mentioned on the site. He was wearing a Kermit green bow tie and at the songs conclusion, obviously broken up, he gazed upwards and said, "Thank you Kermit."

Hope this info adds to the page regarding Jim Henson.

Chris

Chris left the above comment on my talk page. I don't have any connection to this article other than the above request I made. Hopefully someone here has the resources to verify Chris's information. Thanks - Taxman ^Talk 02:19, August 15, 2005 (UTC)

Family?

There is no mention of his family, I understand he had a daughter, Lisa Henson, who also has made a name for herself; I imagine he also married and had other children. If someone can find out more about that, it would be a great addition to Wikipedia.