Jim Henson Idea Man is a documentary from Disney+ and director Ron Howard that takes a look at the life of Muppets creator Jim Henson. It’s a mostly positive look at Henson’s accomplishments in a life that ended too early, featuring interviews with those who knew him and behind-the-scenes footage from his personal archives.
The Muppets definitely were important in my life. One of my earliest memories from childhood is begging my parents to let me watch The Muppet Show on television. They despised the program, and the fact that it was on in prime-time meant there were more adult shows that they wanted to watch. I was 4 or 5 when the show went off the air (other than reruns). The only other program I can vividly remember watching during this point in my life is the Underdog cartoon series, but it paled in comparison, of course.
Then there was Sesame Street, which I’m sure contributed to my early education almost as much as all those story books my Mom read to me. The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth films blew my mind in the eighties, as well as The Storyteller TV series. And even though we didn’t have HBO or even cable growing up, the few times I saw Fraggle Rock at a hotel during vacation or at a relative’s house, it made such an impression on me that I still remember the show vividly and fondly to this day.
I’ve remained a Muppets fan as an adult, and I know a decent amount about Jim Henson and his creations, even though I was around 13 when he passed away, so I wasn’t sure how much new information there would be in this documentary. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a large focus on his early professional life and work, the things that led up to The Muppet Show. Sam and Friends is covered, of course, but so are Jim’s experimental short films like Time Piece.
The film also talks about some of the ideas Henson had that he never got to bring to fruition, like Cyclia, his nightclub concept where the walls, floors, and ceiling would have videos choreographed to the music playing. With modern technology, this actually wouldn’t be that difficult today, but in the 1960s, when he was trying to get funding for the idea, the costs were too prohibitive. One wonders what sort of projects Jim would have gotten up to in his golden years if he’d had the chance. I like to think he would have gotten back into his experimental film roots and projects like Cyclia.
The film also covers the large contributions to Jim’s early work and The Muppets made by Jane Henson, Jim’s wife. They were creative partners and co-creators of Sam and Friends and The Muppets, although Jane stepped back after their children were born and doesn’t really get the recognition she deserves. Disney should really do a documentary on her as well.
Something I didn’t know, because it came out 2 years before I was born, is that The Muppets pilot was called “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” and featured The Seven Deadly Sins. It’s a good reminder that The Muppets was a prime time show aimed at adults that also happened to appeal to children, but on a different level where the kids got the slapstick but not necessarily the innuendo (unless you were my parents, then you just rolled your eyes and changed the channel).
Anyway, “Jim Henson Idea Man” is an entertaining look at the life of the man that made puppets cool. If you haven’t seen it and are a fan of any of Henson’s creations, it’s definitely worth checking out. There’s also a lot more ground they could cover here, so hopefully Disney does some more documentaries focused on Henson and his art for those of us that like to see how the sausage is made.
