I heard rumors that the Museum of the Moving Image was working on a permanent Jim Henson exhibit for years. Well, the Jim Henson Exhibition opened in July and I finally went to see it this past weekend! It was absolutely delightful and worth the wait. Winter is decidedly the best time for movies and museums. And muppets!

The Jim Henson Exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image!

The exhibition starts at the very beginning of Henson’s career, when he was just a teenager pioneering puppets on public television. It’s easy to love Jim Henson as the creator of the Muppets. Who doesn’t? You’ll go into the exhibition knowing that and come out stunned at the incredible influence he had on the art of puppetry. He revolutionized the art form, pulled it out of the cliché ashes of ventriloquist dummies and created so many phoenixes it’s jaw dropping. 

It was so cool to watch grainy black and white videos of his first commercials that used puppets. To see and old photograph where he’s juggling ping pong balls that you know are going to become muppet eyes! There are so many gems on display from scripts covered with notations and edits, behind the scenes trivia, and so many muppets on display.

When you’re looking close, it’s jarring to see the seams, to realized they’re made out of fabric. They look so real when they’re moving on screen!

There are icons of the Muppet empire.

Along with total unknowns!

“All of us under its spell, we know that it’s probably magic!” I could sing that about rainbows, and also this exhibit!

The Museum of the Moving Image always makes their exhibits interactive. There was a room with puppets and a camera so you could try it out yourself! Jim Henson and Frank Oz make it look so easy, but that’s why they’re geniuses!

I got so many surprises on this visit, learning things I never would have guessed. Did you know that Muppet sets are built about the puppeteers? I had no idea! I guess I’d never thought about it before! They even show where the puppeteers will stand in set designs!

See the little box the puppeteer in the red pants is standing on? That’s because the all had to be on the same level and the same height! That was one of my favorite trivia facts to learn. I’ll never watch another muppet movie without thinking about the arm strength and stamina required!

 

The Muppets and Sesame Street were definitely highlights, especially for me. I’ve never seen Fraggle Rock or any of Jim Henson’s later, darker puppet masterpiece movies. The man just kept evolving and pushing what could be done with puppets!

The face of “This doesn’t look like the Muppets I’m used too!” Who wants to watch Labyrinth with me?

Of course, you can’t help but wonder where Jim Henson would have taken puppetry if he hadn’t died at the heartbreaking age of 53. His legacy certainly lives on. With so many children viewing this exhibit, and ya know, watching Sesame Street every day, another little puppeteer genius could come along any day now. There’s no way they won’t be hugely influenced by the genius of Jim Henson.

I left this exhibition with a smile on my face, warmth in my heart, and the joy of netter understanding a true artistic genius. Definitely recommend you visit! For more info about visiting, check out the Museum of the Moving Image website here.