I grew up watching Sesame Street and the original Muppet Show episodes during the time when Jim Henson was alive and crafting magical puppetry. So, a new, original documentary about the man has piqued my interest and has me geeked to watch it on the Disney+ streaming service. Directed by Academy Award ® winner Ron Howard, “Jim Henson Idea Man” chronicles the story of this extraordinary artist and visionary entertainer. In his 36-year career, Henson created some of the world’s most cherished characters, including classic Muppets like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy and all of Sesame Street’s iconic residents, including Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster, and Bert and Ernie. Henson also directed beloved fantasy films like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
Produced with the full participation and cooperation of the Henson family, “Jim Henson Idea Man” is an unprecedented, intimate look at Henson’s illustrious, revolutionary career and complex personal life. Using never-before-seen personal archival home movies, photographs, sketches, and Henson’s personal diaries, as well as interviews with those who knew him best, the film is the definitive portrait of one of the world’s most inspiring and iconoclastic creator.The documentary will premiere May 31 on Disney+.
There is a new Humble Bundle that celebrates the magic and wonder of Jim Henson's imagination and creations. The Humble Jim Henson: The Jim Henson Company Comics Bundle provides the opportunity for people to enjoy Boom Studios print portrayals of puppets that have been beloved by generations of fans. You can name your price to purchase a basic bundle of The Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock digital comic books. HumbleBundle.com
allows consumers to purchase a bundle of video games or digital publications
for any price they choose with that money being split three ways amongst a designated charity, the publisher, and
the website. The focus of these bundles is normally to raise awareness and funding for charities, in this particular case it being the Center for Puppetry Arts.
In 1978, Kermit the Frog and Jim Henson cut the
ribbon to open the Center for Puppetry Arts. Since then, the Center has
inspired generations of children and adults through our performances,
educational workshops, and exhibitions.
The Center uses the art form of puppetry as a
means to provide educational experiences that encourage creativity,
support school-day learning, fuel holistic development, and provide
accessible, hands-on opportunities to participate in arts activities.
The Center’s live puppetry performances,
hands-on workshops, and guided museum tours provide creative arts
experiences to students that aren’t available in classrooms while also
providing teachers with opportunities to infuse the arts into their
curriculum goals. The Center for Puppetry Arts is opening a new museum space this year which will
feature expanded exhibit areas for both its Global Collection and the
Jim Henson Collection. This new space will provide immersive and
interactive, exhibitions allowing guests of all ages to explore puppetry in unique
ways, challenging preconceptions and giving a new appreciation of the
global scope and universal power of the art form. As part of this
project, the Center will be protecting and preserving hundreds of international
and Henson treasures for future generations to enjoy and understand.
If you spend more than the average amount people are paying for the basic bundle, you will get some extra bonus e-books added to your shopping cart which include Jim Henson's The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow and The Storyteller comic books and novelizations of Storyteller and Labyrinth.
Additionally, if you spend $2 more than the average amount spent on the basic bundle, the graphic novel Jim Henson's Tale of Sand will be thrown into your package as an extra thank you. Discovered in the Archives of the The Jim Henson Company, A Tale of Sand
is an original graphic novel adaptation of an unproduced,
feature-length screenplay written by Jim Henson and his frequent writing
partner, Jerry Juhl. A Tale of Sand follows scruffy everyman, Mac, who
wakes up in an unfamiliar town, and is chased across the desert of the
American Southwest by all manners of man and beast of unimaginable
proportions. A Tale
of Sand will allow Henson fans to recognize some of the inspirations and
set pieces that eventually appeared in later Henson Company productions.
These digital comic books are DRM-free which means that they aren't tied
to a particular website or computer program to be able to read.
Download them onto whatever device you want and read them at your
convenience where and when you want. I've heard that accessing these
comics works great from a PC or laptop but some people have had
difficulties with them on smart phones and tablets. Here's a hint...download these files to your PC, save them as .pdf and upload to your mobile device by dropbox. Voila! that has worked every time for me!
This deal, like all Humble Bundles is for a limited time so if you are a fan of Jim Henson's work beware because if you snooze you'll loose and this offer will be gone. Check out the clock in the top right corner of Humble Bundle deals right under the green Pay What You Want box to check out how much time is left before an offer expires.
