Jim Henson Idea Man (Disney+ Documentary)

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DCBaker

Premium Member
Original Poster
A new documentary, Jim Henson Idea Man, will premiere May 31, 2024 on Disney+.

Here's the description from Disney:

"Jim Henson Idea Man" takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early years puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond. Featuring unprecedented access to Jim's personal archives, Howard brings us a fascinating and insightful look at a complex man whose boundless imagination inspired the world.

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Vanity Fair has a first look at the new documentary at the link below.

www.vanityfair.com

First Look: Ron Howard Enters the World of Jim Henson

The Oscar winner previews his colorful documentary ‘Jim Henson Idea Man,’ coming this spring to Disney+.
www.vanityfair.com www.vanityfair.com
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
This should be fantastic. Henson was an absolute creative visionary. Walt and him were cut from the same cloth. I'm a big fan of Howard so I really hope he does this justice. Hopefully they Oz was a part of this.
 
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Eric Graham

Well-Known Member
I thought this was a nice page about the groups that the Legacy Of Jim Henson Is Involved with:

The Jim Henson Legacy - Home

The Jim Henson Legacy is dedicated to preserving and perpetuating Jim Henson’s contributions to the worlds of puppetry, television and motion pictures
www.jimhensonlegacy.org www.jimhensonlegacy.org
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
It was really good. I'm glad they used Frank a lot. When Jim and Frank worked together, it was genius and they did a good job showing that. I would have liked them to go more in to how the partnership with Disney came about and developed. But overall they covered most everything. It's well worth a watch if you're a fan of his.
 
Meeko77

Meeko77

Well-Known Member
I agree that it was wonderful. At first, it started out a bit slow, but then I found it simply fascinating. I will say that I felt it was a blunder that they showed the Walt Disney Studios Burbank water tower during the section where they were obviously at Disney-MGM Studios in 1989 at the time of the park's opening and Muppet*Vision 3D. I really think they should have shown the Earffel Tower, but perhaps they were meaning that corporate Disney had bought the rights to the Muppets and that's why they showed the Burbank water tower? It just didn't seem to fit and looked like a mistake to me.
 
Heppenheimer

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
It was really good. I'm glad they used Frank a lot. When Jim and Frank worked together, it was genius and they did a good job showing that. I would have liked them to go more in to how the partnership with Disney came about and developed. But overall they covered most everything. It's well worth a watch if you're a fan of his.
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I appreciated this as well. Probably nobody understood Jim Henson more than Frank Oz, and we're fortunate to still have him to relate his stories and experiences.

I had forgotten just how wild and funky Sesame Street could be in the 1970s! I had also completely forgotten about the bits with the pastry chef always falling down the stairs, much less knowing that was Jim's voice. I was inspired to look up some of the old Muppet clips from Sesame Street and I was struck by not just how laugh-out-loud funny they were, but how much of the humor must have flown over the heads of children. I almost lost it hearing Guy Smiley saying "They call me Guy Smiley because I changed my name from Bernie Liederkrantz."
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Heppenheimer said:
I appreciated this as well. Probably nobody understood Jim Henson more than Frank Oz, and we're fortunate to still have him to relate his stories and experiences.
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Jim and Frank complimented each other extremely well. And it would be in Disneys best interests to take all the help with the muppets they can get from him. Especially if they want to continue to use them.
Heppenheimer said:
I was inspired to look up some of the old Muppet clips from Sesame Street and I was struck by not just how laugh-out-loud funny they were, but how much of the humor must have flown over the heads of children.
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That is one of the muppets greatest strengths. It's a testimony on just how good Jim and Frank were at what they did. I loved the muppets as a kid, and as I got older, I always found something new, that like you said, went over my head. It's one of the things that has been missing from most of the Disney muppets. Along with that comedic timing of Jim and Frank. They came as close as they ever have with muppets mayhem. So of course they cancelled it.
 
Heppenheimer

Heppenheimer

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
Jim and Frank complimented each other extremely well. And it would be in Disneys best interests to take all the help with the muppets they can get from him. Especially if they want to continue to use them.

That is one of the muppets greatest strengths. It's a testimony on just how good Jim and Frank were at what they did. I loved the muppets as a kid, and as I got older, I always found something new, that like you said, went over my head. It's one of the things that has been missing from most of the Disney muppets. Along with that comedic timing of Jim and Frank. They came as close as they ever have with muppets mayhem. So of course they cancelled it.
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Tellingly, one of the last Muppet projects Jim Henson ever did, and what has probably been the most enduring Muppet-Disney collaborations is Muppet Vision 3D. And it ends with the Muppets basically destroying the theater, in true Jim Henson Muppet fashion.

The Idea Man documentary hit up the "It's Not Easy Green/Rainbow Connection" sentimentality, but I'm glad it didn't neglect that Henson's Muppets were at their best when they were making things blow up, fall down, crash, and generally causing havoc.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Heppenheimer said:
Tellingly, one of the last Muppet projects Jim Henson ever did, and what has probably been the most enduring Muppet-Disney collaborations is Muppet Vision 3D.
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One of my only disappointments with the special was the glossing over that time. I would have loved to see more behind the scenes from that partnership.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Heppenheimer said:
Did they? Of all the people giving interviews in this doc, he easily has the most screen time.
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There was an interview with Oz where he talks about being snubbed when he offered to help out on Muppet projects. The only work he did with Disney was Yoda in the Last Jedi. He hasn't been allowed to work on any Muppet project for over ten years even though he has offered many times.

This documentary was done by Ron Howard so I don't think Disney had much say over being allowed to talk to Oz.
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
CinematicFusion said:
What happened?
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In short, Frank Oz has been very vocal on Disney's mistreatment on The Muppets for years now compared to Jim Henson. Since under Disney's ownership, Disney's been very inconsistent on what tone and demographic The Muppets should be. The ABC sitcom tried to have a more adult edge while other installments tried to tone down the certain edge present when Henson was alive.
 
CinematicFusion

CinematicFusion

Well-Known Member
brb1006 said:
In short, Frank Oz has been very vocal on Disney's mistreatment on The Muppets for years now compared to Jim Henson. Since under Disney's ownership, Disney's been very inconsistent on what tone and demographic The Muppets should be. The ABC sitcom tried to have a more adult edge while other installments tried to tone down the certain edge present when Henson was alive.
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That’s disappointing, Oz’s was/is a huge part of the muppets.
 

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