The Muppets Take Doylestown

I had a wonderful afternoon earlier this week when I visited the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, where the exhibit entitled Jim Henson's Fantastic World is on view until November 29, 2009. I heard his youngest daughter, Heather, speak about growing up Henson and the entire day was magical.

What is absolutely apparent, especially after viewing the exhibit, is the fact that the man was a genius. The Smithsonian has mounted this touring exhibit that features his old sketch books, story boards for commercials that he did early in his career, posters he designed while in college and even the scripts for the first Sesame Street Counting films. You can see that the ideas for many of the muppets and other creatures had their origins very early in his career.

What many do not know is that Henson was an accomplished cartoonist, painter, and graphic designer--his grandmother also was quite artistic--and his gift for story-telling originated from family gatherings where, as a kid, everyone would try and outdo each other with a story. Also he credits his love of music to sing-alongs around his grandmother's piano.

All of his five children are artists and his wife Jane, who was also there, was his earliest collaborator. In fact the two met while in puppetry class at the University of Maryland. She said he was taking the course when he already had a show on television (he accomplished this while still in high school) and he knew more than anybody else. By the end, she admits, he was basically teaching the course.

As for growing up Henson, well it was a charmed life, for sure. There were mosaic projects designed by Jim and created by the kids on the bathroom ceiling, beautiful hand painted cabinets and incredible Easter Eggs, Christmas trees and Halloween decorations. Heather is an accomplished puppeteer in her own right as are all her siblings and she even had a cameo role in The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Two things struck home. The first is that it took many, many years for many of Henson's ideas to come to fruition. I believe he sketched the opening scene of the Muppet show while in college and there are many scripts in which he pitched the concept to various television stations to no avail. I think it took fifteen years to become a reality, but he kept plugging.

"You can't take no for an answer. You can't take no for an answer. You can't take no for an answer. No, no, no," says Dr. Teeth in the Muppets Take Manhattan.

The second was his incredible optimism. Jim Henson truly was Kermit the frog in many ways, according to his daughter. He was the one who calmed everyone down, gathered them all together and put order into what she calls a "house full of crazies." There are many times when I find that to me my role as well.

So I leave you with these words of wisdom from Kermit the frog:

"Here's one simple advice: Always be yourself. Never take yourself seriously. And be aware of advice from experts, pigs and members of Parliament."