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The Jim Henson Company
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The Jim Henson Company (also known at various times as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., Henson International Television, Kermit Puppetry Imagineering & Entertainment LLC and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.) is an American entertainment company, a leading producer of children's and family entertainment, and best known as the creators of the renowned Muppets characters. Founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson and performing partner and wife Jane Henson, the company is independently owned and operated by the children of its founders.
Henson has produced many successful television series, including The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Dinosaurs, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Farscape, and creates the Muppet characters for the long-running PBS television series, Sesame Street, produced by Sesame Workshop. The company has also produced many films, including The Muppet Movie, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Henson also operates Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a puppet, animatronics, and visual effects workshop, which has created characters and effects for Henson productions, as well as outside producers.
In 1989, the company entered merger negotiations with The Walt Disney Company, but the deal fell through following Jim Henson's unexpected death in 1990. Following Henson's death and the end of the Disney merger, the company was taken over by Henson's children, Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, John and Heather, with Brian at the helm. In 2000, Henson was sold to EM.TV & Merchandising AG, a German media company, but by the end of that year, EM.TV's stock collapsed, and the company was sold back to the Henson family in 2003. (EM.TV had previously sold the rights to the Sesame Street Muppets to Sesame Workshop in 2001.)
In 2004, Henson sold the rights to the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House to The Walt Disney Company, but retains the rights to the rest of its characters, program library, and assets. As of 2014, Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, and Heather Henson run the company (sibling and fellow co-owner John Henson died in February 2014). Brian Henson serves as chairman, while Lisa Henson serves as CEO.
Since 2000, The Jim Henson Company has been headquartered at the historic Charlie Chaplin Studios in Hollywood, California.
^ Gritten, David (1990-08-19). "The Next Muppetmeister?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
^ Jones, Jim Henson: The Biography (2013). p. 75.
^ Eller, Claudia; Philips, Chuck (1995-05-12). "Sony Nears Deal With Jim Henson Productions". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
^ http://www.henson.com/sesamestreet.
Best films
(1982)Filmography of The Jim Henson Company (25 films)
Production
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Follow That Bird (1985)
, 1h29Directed by Ken Kwapis
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Adventure, Musical, Animation
Themes Films about animals, Transport films, Films about birds, Musical films, Road movies, Children's films
Actors Caroll Spinney, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Sandra Bernhard, Alyson Court, John Candy
The members of the Feathered Friends' Board of Birds (consisting of the Madame Chairbird, a sparrow, a turkey, a puffin, a robin, and an owl) discuss their situation about Big Bird and hope that they can find a bird family to put him with. The group's social worker Miss Finch (performed by Cheryl Wagner and voiced by Sally Kellerman) is sent to Sesame Street to find Big Bird a worthy bird family and bring him to the selected family. After leaving Sesame Street, New York City, New York, Miss Finch brings Big Bird to the fictional town of Oceanview, Illinois to live with a family of dodos. The dodos think exactly the same, even saying he should have a bird as a best friend instead of Mr. Snuffleupagus (who is currently watching over Big Bird's nest). This causes him much distress.
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
, 1h34Directed by Frank Oz
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical, Romance
Themes Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities, Children's films
Actors Jim Henson, Art Carney, Frank Oz, Louis Zorich, Julianna Donald, Linda Lavin
Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the Muppets graduate from Danhurst College by entertaining their fellow graduates with their theatrical production of Manhattan Melodies. Upon the suggestion of taking the show to Broadway, the Muppets proceed with the idea, certain they will become stars instantly. Arriving in Manhattan, the group meet producer Martin Price but soon discover he is a con artist named Murray Plotsky upon the arrival of the police. Plotsky is arrested, leaving the Muppets’ hopes dashed. They try other theatrical producers but has no success, their morale and finances taking a nosedive.
The Dark Crystal (1982)
, 1h28Directed by Frank Oz, Jim Henson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about magic and magicians, Children's films
Actors Lisa Maxwell, Barry Dennen, Frank Oz, Jim Henson, Billie Whitelaw, Dave Goelz
A thousand years ago on the planet Thra, a magical crystal cracked, and two new races appeared: the malevolent Skeksis, who use the power of the "Dark Crystal" to continually replenish themselves, and kind wizards called Mystics.
The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
, 1h30Directed by Jim Henson
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about films, Musical films, Heist films, Children's films, Gangster films, Escroquerie
Actors Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Jack Warden, Joan Sanderson
Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo the Great play newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle. Kermit and Fozzie, specifically, are playing identical twin reporters, which becomes the source of a running gag - supposedly, nobody can tell they are twins unless Fozzie wears his hat. While Gonzo is too busy taking pictures of a chicken, prominent London fashion designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg) gets robbed of her jewels. The trio are eventually assigned to investigate the theft of the valuable jewels from Lady Holiday, which they have to beg for after their supervisor Mike Tarkenian dismisses them following the Daily Chronicle 's headline about the twins joining the staff (while the other papers report on the jewel heist).
The Muppet Movie (1979)
, 1h35Directed by James Frawley
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Adventure, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Films about films, Films about music and musicians, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Films about dogs, Films about pigs, Mise en scène d'un ours, Musical films, Road movies, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Milton Berle, Richard Hunt, Mel Brooks
The Muppets have gathered in a theatre to screen their new biographical film, The Muppet Movie.
Time Piece (1965)
, 9minutesDirected by Jim Henson
Origin USA
Genres Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
Actors Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Juhl, April March, David Bailey
The fast-paced scenes in Time Piece are edited together in a rhythmic pentameter, with an underlying use of sounds and repetitive beats. The film begins with a young man (who provides only four brief words of dialogue who just quotes "help") sitting patiently in a hospital bed. An unidentified doctor enters the room and checks the man's heart rate, which begins to pulse rhythmically.
Distribution
Muppet Classic Theater (1994)
Directed by David Grossman
Origin United-kingdom
Genres Comedy, Musical theatre, Musical
Themes Films about animals, Films about music and musicians, Films about dogs, Films about pigs, Mise en scène d'un ours, Musical films, Children's films, Mise en scène d'un mammifère
Actors Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Julianne Buescher, Bill Barretta, Brian Henson, Jerry Nelson
It consists of six stories from the fairy tale tradition, all performed by the Muppet characters and narrated by Rizzo and Gonzo at the Muppet Theater:
Origin USA
Themes Musical films, Children's films
Actors Kevin Clash, Fran Brill, Richard Hunt, Rick Lyon, Joey Mazzarino, Jerry Nelson
Billy Bunny sings his way across the forest where he runs across a swamp full of frogs, a cave filled with rapping bears (which were recycled from the generic bears from The Muppets Take Manhattan), and a singing porcupine.
The Christmas Toy (1986)
, 50minutesDirected by Eric Till
Genres Fantasy, Musical, Animation
Themes Christmas films
Actors Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Brian Henson, Zachary Bennett
When no people are around, the toys still play in the playroom. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful. It's Christmas Eve, and Rugby the Tiger remembers how he was the favorite Christmas toy last year and wants to be the favorite again this year, as not to be replaced by another toy. However, he doesn't stop to think that if Jamie unwrapped him again this year, she'd see him out of his normal place that she usually puts him and he'd be frozen forever. It's up to Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, to tell him what's in store. But Rugby won't believe her, and tries to get into the Christmas package and lets Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she doesn't know she's a toy, and thinks she's landed among aliens. And it's up to Apple, Mew (the Cat's toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they're found and frozen forever.
The Tale of the Bunny Picnic (1986)
Directed by Jim Henson
Genres Comedy, Musical
Themes Musical films
Actors Richard Hunt, Jim Henson, Steve Whitmire, Kevin Clash, Karen Prell, Mike Quinn
Bean Bunny (Steve Whitmire) wishes he could help with the preparations for the Bunny Picnic, but he is told by his older brother Lugsy (Richard Hunt) that he is too small and will only get in the way. Feeling very disappointed, Bean wanders off alone into the lettuce patch, where he imagines himself as the king of the bunny picnic and community and then encounters a farmer's dog (Jim Henson), who chases him around the patch. Bean runs away and escapes the dog and warns the village, but none of the other bunnies believe him. They conclude that there is no dog and that Bean is simply making up the story for attention. At first, it seems that the farmer's dog is the story antagonist, but it is revealed that it is his master the farmer (Martin P. Robinson) that wants him to get the bunnies for his stew. The dog is only trying to protect himself from the wrath of the farmer by hunting the bunnies.