Jim Henson: The Biography
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35 “to worry about it” “Interview with Jim Henson,” The Muppets Take Manhattan DVD, Special Feature.
36 “Puppetry is a very wide field” Ibid.
37 “Jim started the Foundation” Allelu Kurten, quoted on the Jim Henson Foundation website.
38 “We see frequently puppets” JH, “Some Professional Ethics,” Puppetry Journal (1975): 24.
39 “Getting started was really difficult” Connie Peterson, quoted on “Jim Henson’s Red Book” website, July 6, 2011, http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/07/06/741983.
40 “be Jim when Jim wasn’t there” Bacon, 14.
41 “I was always chomping at the bit” FO interview.
42 “a really marvelous idea” John Cleese to JH, June 1, 1984 (JHCA 8708 corr). 365 “Your contributions to Labyrinth” JH to Terry Jones, October 31, 1983 (JHCA 9888).
43 “I filled sketchbook upon sketchbook” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary, transcript (JHCA, Labyrinth box).
44 “poetic novella” Owen Williams, “Dance Magic Dance: 25 Years of Labyrinth,” Empire, 201, 272.
45 “I sat at my desk” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
46 “You’re going to let kids” Arthur Novell interview.
47 “I’d always stayed away from Saturday morning” JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.
48 “the right way to meet our characters for the first time” JJ, archival interview.
49 “have a nice reason for being” JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.
50 “can be used to develop creativity” JH to Michael Frith, “Notes on Marvel Productions, The Muppet Babies,” circa 1984 (JHCA 8497).
51 “At some point in my life” Being Green, 159.
52 “recharged and re-inspired,” “The beauty of nature” Ibid., 139.
53 “One of my happiest moments” JH, “The Courage of My Convictions.”
54 “while we were considering” Adam Pirani, “Part Two: Into the Labyrinth with Jim Henson,” Starlog, August 1986.
55 “happening now” John Henson interview.
56 “Jim … outlined his basic concept” Labyrinth production notes.
57 “If you like the script” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
58 “I’d always wanted to be involved” Labyrinth production notes.
59 “I thought it was fair,” “We’ll see” FO interview.
60 “not original” Roger Ebert, review of The Muppets Take Manhattan, January 1, 1984, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19840101/REVIEWS/401010362.
61 “It doesn’t have enough lunacy” FO interview.
62 “a terminally sappy idea” Gary Arnold, “The Muppet Mope,” Washington Post, July 14, 1984.
63 “that brown film” Various Muppet performers and builders called it this.
64 “I was always keen” Bacon, 16.
65 “the first time my father” Ibid.
66 “The Mad Hatter’s face” Ibid., 17.
67 “The characters are just not Muppets at all” Harris.
68 “I feel I’ve always done well” JH Quotes.
69 “people say, ‘you really should’ ” Harris.
70 “more oriented to the Muppets” JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.
71 “Muppet performer” See Jim’s corrections to the Apple copy, 1984 (JHCA general correspondence A-C box).
72 “The terms that I mentioned” Robert Holmes à Court to JH, telegram, March 28, 1984 (JHCA 8808).
73 “We would have no company today” LH interview. In the final agreement, Jim purchased all 120 episodes of The Muppet Show, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and the television specials Of Muppets and Men, The Muppets Go Hollywood, The Muppets Go to the Movies, and The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show, as well as the rights to all original music in all of the above Muppet properties.
74 “simply heroic” Al Gottesman interview.
75 “[It was] about the world” Kim Johnson, Life Before and After Monty Python (Plexus, 1993), 210.
76 “We’ve got a live actress playing the part” See “Jim Henson’s Red Book” website, January 29, 2011, entry, http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/01/29/1291985.
77 “dark and cynical” Ibid.
78 “just right for the role” Labyrinth production notes.
79 “Puppets are a lot like masks” “Jim Henson’s Red Book” website, May 7, 2011, entry, http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/05/07/571983.
80 “I have a good group of people” JH, AFI seminar, April 14, 1989.
81 “hand out the ‘attaboys’ ” DL, archival interview.
82 “He didn’t wonder if his own work was good” LH interview.
83 “If you like one person” JH to Arthur Shimkin, March 11, 1981 (JHCA 17954).
84 “When you first encounter the kind of energy” JJ, archival interview.
85 “dramatize the fact” “Fraggle Rock: Notes for Season Four,” circa 1984 (JHCA Fraggle Rock box).
86 “travel around the world” JH memo to Management Forum, “Re: After Fraggle Rock,” March 14, 1984 (JHCA 8497).
87 “It takes a lot of rehearsing” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
88 “Everyone has to work closely” Labyrinth production notes.
89 “didn’t feel that it was very much mine” Johnson, Life Before and After Monty Python, 210.
90 “stunned” CH interview.
91 “Jim was hurt” DL, archival interview.
92 “It’s a big one” JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.
93 “In the beginning it was hard,” “I found I could talk very straight to her” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
94 “Once I’d overcome the disorientation” Labyrinth production notes.
95 “[Bowie] has been wonderful to work with” JH memo to Management Forum, “London Update,” July 30, 1985 (JHCA 2460).
96 “a completely free hand” Labyrinth production notes.
97 “a spoiled child,” “[He’s] a very normal” Ibid.
98 “Supposedly, David Bowie went around looking for us” John Henson interview.
99 “Jim is undoubtedly” Labyrinth production notes.
100 “Late in the story” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
101 “this was the most complicated thing,” “I suddenly had this idea” Ibid.
102 “It’s certainly one of the most bizarre” Labyrinth production notes.
103 “When you’ve had an idea” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
104 “I never leave the studio” BH interview.
105 “Rather than laying everyone off,” “By keeping a group of people together,” “He had tried to approach the problem,” “it would have almost been nepotism” Bacon, 19.
106 “He was the first one” BB, archival interview.
107 “He was a modest guy” Susan Schindehette, “Legacy of a Gentle Genius,” People, June 18, 1990.
108 “He was very conservative” BB, archival interview.
109 “My dad was naughty” BH interview.
110 a meeting with a Swedish filmmaker This story was constructed from interviews with Duncan Kenworthy, Brian Henson, and Dave Goelz.
111 “was really quite beautiful” JH, AFI seminar, April 14, 1989.
112 “money were no object,” “Television is one of the greatest connectors around” Muppet Voyager proposal (JHCA 21272).
113 “Those last four shows” Larry Mirkin interview.
114 “We who were totally involved” JJ, archival interview.
115 “I think we all cried” Jerry Nelson interview.
116 “This whole project has been a joy from the beginning” See video footage of Fraggle Rock wrap party, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3kUKjym1nw.
117 “Jim wanted to make a difference” Being Green, 152.
118 “When I go see a film” “Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.
119 “fabulous” Nina Darnton, “Screen: Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth,’ ” New York Times, June 27, 1986.
120 “[It’s] obviously made” Roger Ebert, review of Labyrinth, Chicago Sun-Times, June 27, 1986.
121 “[It] has quite a lot going for it” Nick Riddick, review of Labyrinth, Cinema Papers, June 1986.
122 “A crashing bore” Review of Labyrinth, Variety, June 1986.
123 “Jim Henson knows what he’s doing” Gene Siskel, “Henson’s Wizardry Lost in ‘Labyrinth,’ ” Chicago Tribune, June 30, 1986.
124 “series of incidents” Ebert, review of Labyrinth.
125 “loses its way” Review of Labyrinth, Variety, June 1986.
126 “I didn’t give a fuck” Jerry Nelson interview.
127 “costly bore” Review of Labyrinth, Variety, June 1986.
128 “I was stunned and dazed” Therese L. Wells, “Henson: From Muppets to ‘Storyteller,’ ” Hollywood Reporter, January 30, 1987.
129 “[It] was a real blow” Schindehette, “Legacy of a Gentle Genius.”
130 “I think that was the closest” Harrigan, “It’s Not Easy Being Blue.”
131 Arthur Novell, Jim’s publicist Markham/Novell Communications Ltd. was Jim’s agency of record. Novell was the primary liaison with Henson Associates and would become a trusted confidant.
132 “[It was] really despair” Arthur Novell interview.
133 “absolutely the closest project to him” Jane Henson interview.
134 “That movie looked exactly” Larry Mirkin interview.
135 “Take a look at Labyrinth” FO interview.
136 “Life is a kind of labyrinth” Labyrinth production notes.
137 “You know” Jerry Nelson interview.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: STORYTELLER
1 “wasn’t the movie audiences,” “obviously, the picture,” “I work in one capacity” Wells, “Henson: From Muppets to ‘Storyteller.’ ”
2 “these huge, grandiose visions” CH interview.
3 “looking to all the world” JH, introduction to The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.
4 “it was really fun to make puppets again” CH interview.
5 “Having done the Muppet stuff” JJ, archival interview.
6 “See how Jane reacts to all this,” “were sizing each other up” Arthur Novell interview.
7 “She was spirited, outgoing” Al Gottesman interview.
8 “Jim really used his hands” Mary Ann Cleary, email to the author, April 12, 2012.
9 “that really capture the flavor” LH interview.
10 “Most folktales” Wells, “Henson: From Muppets to ‘Storyteller.’ ”
11 “the words, and the sound of a man’s voice” Alan Jones, “The Storyteller,” Cinefantastique, circa 1987.
12 “He was the absolute top of the heap” LH interview.
13 “[Jim] told me he had an idea” Anthony Minghella, archival interview.
14 “ ‘sculpted foot syndrome’ ” Duncan Kenworthy to JH, July 9, 1986 (JHCA 18521).
15 “I really don’t think we could sustain,” “some of the prettiest television we’ve ever done” Diane Haithman, “The Muppet Man Joins His Cuddly Crew; Henson Variety Show Will Debut Tonight,” Los Angeles Times, April 14, 1989.
16 “As much as he loved objects” CH interview.
17 “[Tartikoff] loves it” Duncan Kenworthy to Brian Froud, November 12, 1986 (JHCA 12140).
18 “I thought it was just terrific” JH to Paul Reubens, September 15, 1986 (JHCA 14067).
19 “we’re going to have great fun” JH to Phil Ramone, August 20, 1986 (JHCA 14067).
20 “broken-family Christmas” John Henson interview.
21 “consistently dark, victimized, and pessimistic” Larry Mirkin to JH, “re IN TV,” January 2, 1987 (JHCA 14067).
22 “It’s time to stop thinking of him” Wells, “Henson: From Muppets to ‘Storyteller.’ ”
23 “When a show arrives” Walter Goodman, “John Hurt Stars in ‘The Storyteller,’ ” New York Times, January 30, 1987.
24 “one of Jim Henson’s finest moments” Matt Roush, “Henson’s ‘Storyteller’ Is a Beautiful Beast,” USA Today, January 29, 1987.
25 “It is our responsibility” “A Message from Jim Henson,” The Storyteller.
26 “it’s very hard to just visit” Anthony Minghella, archival interview.
27 “I think Jim felt” Richard Hunt, archival interview.
28 150 employees Francis X. Clines, “Mr. Muppet’s Empire Is Thriving,” New York Times, October 25, 1987.
29 idealist JH Myers-Briggs results (JHCA 10249).
30 “work for common good” JH notes (JHCA 23509).
31 “I’ve never particularly wanted” Monika Guttman, “Father of Muppets Diversifies,” Kenosha News (Wisconsin), December 13, 1987.
32 “The lawyers would all fight” Jane Henson interview.
33 “many of whom” JH, HA Quarterly Report, June 23, 1987 (JHCA 14067).
34 “It’s almost like the early days” Jones, “The Storyteller.”
35 “in the same grand tradition” Proposal for The Jim Henson Hour, late 1987 (JHCA 15814).
36 “In the many years we’ve been on television” JH, The Jim Henson Hour pitch reel, December 1987, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oALgQAEH_Ok.
37 “The Muppet Show of the future!” Lead-Free TV proposal (JHCA 15814).
38 “unlimited potential,” “We’re tremendously excited” Proposal for The Jim Henson Hour, late 1987 (JHCA 15814).
39 “I thought that was a wonderful way” Kevin Clash interview.
40 “Imagination is what this show is all about” The Jim Henson Hour pitch reel.
41 “quite well,” “lovely” JH, HA Quarterly Report, September 29, 1987 (JHCA 14067).
42 “He doesn’t do a lot of puppeteering anymore” “Jim Henson Organizes a Reunion of Muppets,” News-Press/Gazette (St. Joseph, Missouri), December 1987.
43 “cherished,” “There’s a nice, naive quality” Matt Roush, “Warm Your Spirit in a Muppet Wonderland,” USA Today, December 1987.
44 “I think people relate” Candace Burke-Block, “Kermit, Miss Piggy, Henson, and Company Host Holiday Flick,” Westsider (Goodyear, Arizona), December 17, 1987.
45 “taking them [the Muppets] on an archeological adventure,” “specific and explicit” JH to Brian Muehl, January 23, 1987 (JHCA 22024).
46 “figure out a way” JJ, archival interview.
47 “this cheesy, terrible plot” JJ, interviewed by D. W. McKim and Phillip Chapman, July 24, 1998, http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/juhl1.shtml.
48 “It’s going to be the kind of movie” FO to JH and Jerry Juhl, December 5, 1987 (JHCA 17236).
49 “a rich and mysterious” Proposal for The Jim Henson Hour.
50 “We should be creating a kind of basis” Andrew J. McCarthy, “Muppets on His Mind,” Total Television, December 1987.
51 “mixed feelings” JH, HA Quarterly Report, December 17, 1987 (JHCA 14067).
52 “I like working collaboratively with people” Being Green, 73.
53 “all the work that I do in television” JH, remarks at the Television Hall of Fame induction, November 15, 1987.
54 “It’s very exciting” JH, HA Quarterly Report, December 17, 1987.
55 “We were working on Storyteller” Diane Holloway, “Prime-Time Puppets: Henson and Children’s Pals Create an Unusual Mix in Hourlong Series,” Austin American-Statesman, April 2, 1989.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A KIND OF CRAZINESS
1 “[I was] in a meeting with NBC yesterday” JH to Bill Prady et al., January 19, 1988 (JHCA 15815). Prady would go on to develop such top-rated TV shows as The Big Bang Theory.
2 “nasty” Mira Velimirovic to JH, April 18, 1988 (JHCA 22030).
3 “I don’t like this” Roald Dahl to JH, December 2, 1986 (JHCA The Witches production file).
4 “for very valid reasons,” “
It is one of my favorite projects” JH to Roald Dahl, December 9, 1986 (JHCA The Witches production file).
5 “I will tell you” Roald Dahl to JH, February 28, 1988 (JHCA The Witches production file).
6 “While I am not an advocate” Amy Ash Nixon, “Witches Worry About Movie; Muppet Creator Working on Film,” Beverly Times (Beverly, Massachusetts), March 2, 1988. See also JH to Susan M. Baxter, February 11, 1988 (JHCA 8675).
7 “NBC is worried” JH memo, February 3, 1988 (JHCA 20775).
8 “I think they’re the best television shows” Patricia Brennan, “Jim Henson: From Muppets to Movies to Medieval Folk Tales,” Washington Post, October 25, 1987.
9 “When the cable is hooked up” “Jim Henson: The Future of Video and Cable,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoSutaKx0Ag&feature=related.
10 “I love working on this show” JH, HA Quarterly Report, March 16, 1988 (JHCA 14067).
11 “In broad strokes” McCarthy, “Muppets on His Mind.”
12 “The Disney Hour consisted” JJ to Jocelyn Stevenson, Mira Velimirovic, and Larry Mirkin, March 18, 1988 (JHCA 20864).
13 “I’m feeling quite good” JH, HA Quarterly Report, March 16, 1988.
14 “Isn’t this a romantic view?” Mary Ann Cleary interview.
15 “I think he was very much in love” Richard Hunt, archival interview.
16 “I was really quite fond of her” Heather Henson interview.
17 “I don’t think he ever wanted to marry” BH interview.
18 “it’s great for my reputation!” Arthur Novell interview.
19 “It was hard on him” Richard Hunt, archival interview.
20 “bitchy,” “pooper scooper” JH to Mark Shivas, March 17, 1988 (JHCA The Witches production file).
21 “I do think it would be courteous” Roald Dahl to Duncan Kenworthy, April 18, 1988 (JHCA 9002).
22 “AWFUL,” “STUPID AND USELESS,” “PL[EASE] SHOW TO JIM H.” Roald Dahl to Duncan Kenworthy, April 28, 1988 (JHCA The Witches production file).
23 “Things have been a little bumpy” JH, HA Quarterly Report, June 24, 1988 (JHCA 14067).
24 “OBVIOUS. It is also TRITE” Roald Dahl to Nic Roeg, August 2, 1988 (JHCA 9002).
25 “It is essential” JH, HA Quarterly Report, June 24, 1988.
26 “David, I don’t know what I would do,” “He gave the kids undivided love” DL, archival interview.