All language subtitles for In.Their.Own.Words.S01E03.Jim.Henson.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-KAIZEN_track3_[eng]

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My name is Jim Henson
and I'm a puppeteer.

He just kept wanting to push
the boundaries of

what was miraculous
and magical and real.

(HENSON SPEAKING)

-I want one that fits.
-(CHUCKLES)

Is this the best you can do?

NARRATOR: He was an artist
of boundless talent
and imagination.

Jim was someone of terrific
curiosity, ambition and drive.

He was always going.

He was always working.

He was always on.

Help!

I was undoubtedly
a great deal
more comfortable...

(HENSON SPEAKING)

Hi-yah!

NARRATOR: Jim Henson's Muppets
won the hearts of fans
around the world.

He created a family of
unforgettable characters.

NARRATOR: Yet,
while the Muppets were
beloved by millions,

their visionary creator felt
restless and confined.

Jim had to fight against this
stereotype of, "Muppets
are children's things."

He had to fight
that battle constantly.

His idea was always to be more
experimental as a filmmaker.

That's what he wanted to do.

NARRATOR: Henson's soaring
artistic ambition

drove him to pioneering
work on the big screen.

Jim's focus became more
and more on movies.

NARRATOR: Then,
on the verge of a bold,
new creative partnership...

His life was cut short.

I was just in shock, in shock.

How? You know, what?
What? How?

This is like, "Whoa!
The center of our universe
is no longer there.

"What's going to happen."

FRANK OZ: What once was
can never be again.

It was a Camelot time
for us with Jim.

(HENSON SPEAKING)

NARRATOR: This is the story
of Jim Henson.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you! Thank you!
Hey, listen, it's another
great show, folks.

NARRATOR: With the
blockbuster premiere of
The Muppet Show in 1976,

Jim Henson finally achieves
his dream of prime time
Muppet success.

-Piggy, honey?
-Hmm?

-You can take the solo.
-Yes, my love.

-Here are the Muppets.
-(AUDIENCE APPLAUSE)

Hey, what are you doin'?

Oh, I'm taking a course on
visual thinking.

It teaches you how to
visualize your thoughts.
Watch.

Q!

NARRATOR: That dream
began during
the early years of television.

-Watch!
-Hey, a real watch.

As he brought a hip
cutting-edge humor
to a new medium.

(VOCALIZING)

Gee, I see.

The Muppets were not
Sesame Street.

They really did have
deep, deep roots
in early television,

in that kind of off-the-wall,
brilliant comedy.

What are the symbols for?

(CLANGING)

This is a very
symbolic commercial.

Jim was so
innovative in television

and was in early television,
and was such a
presence in variety.

The Muppet characters
really paid their dues.

-Cheese.
-(CAMERA CLICKING)

Got that?

He created a family
of unforgettable characters.

With real feelings
and real problems that

audiences could identify with,

that children
could identify with,

and grownups could
identify with.

* Who said that every wish

* Would be heard and answered

* When wished on
the morning star?

NARRATOR: Among
those characters was a
quirky green frog

with whom Jim Henson
became most identified.

* Look what it's done so far

WILLARD SCOTT:
Kermit was Jim's soul.

When you heard Kermit speak,
that was from Jim's heart.

* What's so amazing
that keeps us star gazing

All you have to do is, uh,
look at Kermit the Frog.

You know, that's Jim Henson.

He was a little frog growing
up in a small-town swamp.

And he had a dream of making
millions of people happy,

so he gathered up his friends
and went to Hollywood.

And then he shared that dream
with other people.

And it got bigger,
the more he shared it with.

* Someday we'll find it,

* The rainbow connection

* The lovers,
the dreamers and me *

NARRATOR: Jim Henson's fertile
imagination

was cultivated
in the farmland of
rural Mississippi.

BRIAN JONES:
Jim always called himself a
Mississippi Tom Sawyer,

talked about shooting
water moccasins
with his BB gun,

sort of had this quiet,
country upbringing.

NARRATOR: Born in 1936,

he spent his
boyhood in tiny Stoneville,

with his older brother Paul
and his parents,
Paul and Betty Henson.

The US Department
of Agriculture had a big plant

and that's who
his father worked for.

NARRATOR: Stoneville isn't far
from the larger town
of Leland, Mississippi

which is itself hardly
a bustling metropolis.

Leland was about
four or five thousand people.

A typical Southern town.

Every Sunday everything
shut down and everybody
went to church.

Jim was raised
Christian Science, his mother
was Christian Science,

his father wasn't really.

So Christian Science
sort of shaped his thinking
a little bit.

NARRATOR: The Church
of Christ Scientist emphasizes
healing through faith.

And while Jim's family will
seek medical help
for serious injury or illness,

they rarely go to a doctor.

He himself did not
practice the religion,

but he was very
affected by it.

NARRATOR: Jim will avoid
seeing doctors
for the rest of his life.

An attitude that will have
profound consequences.

NARRATOR: There's little to do
for entertainment in Leland,

so young Jim
finds creative ways
to entertain himself.

Jim, as a kid, loved to draw.

And he had,
I think at one point,

the idea of being
a cartoonist.

Him and his brother were
always building something.

They made model airplanes
and you name it.

They made
a little crystal radio

that you could
actually pick up the
nearest radio station.

NARRATOR: Among Jim's
radio favorites during wartime
in the early 1940s

are ventriloquist Edgar Bergen
and his dummies,

Charlie McCarthy
and Mortimer Snerd.

Charlie and Mortimer
are beautifully carved
characters in wood.

And, it's very shocking
that there's no life
in their eyes.

And yet, when
my father was operating them,

you thought there was.

Jim was
very respectful of my father,

and he dedicated
their first movie
to the magic of Edgar Bergen.

NARRATOR: In 1948,
Jim's dad is reassigned
from Mississippi to Maryland.

So 12-year-old Jim
and his family move to a
suburb of Washington, D.C.

Unlike in the rural south,

many homes have
a rare and wondrous
modern appliance...

A television.

In the flickering
black & white images,

14-year-old Jim
sees his future.

What Jim wanted to do
more than anything else
was work in television.

He didn't care
what it was gonna be
that got him through the door.

BONNIE ERICKSON:
Jim didn't start out
as a puppeteer.

How he came into it
is just miraculous.

NARRATOR: Jim looks for work
at local stations,

but it's not until his senior
year in high school

that he finally
gets his chance.

JONES: I believe there was
a newspaper ad in the
Washington newspapers

looking for young people
to perform marionettes

on the local CBS affiliate.

ERIKSON: Jim went
and got a book,
built a couple of puppets,

and then went in
and got the job.

It was short lived, but it was
the beginning of everything
that he did from that time on.

HENSON: It's certainly
not a career
that one would plan.

You know, you wouldn't decide
to become a puppeteer,

I don't think, in your life.

NARRATOR: 17-year-old Jim
graduates from high school
in June of '54

and makes his first appearance
on The Junior Morning Show
at WTOP.

Featuring his very
first Muppet,
Pierre The French Rat.

Jim's soft, expressive Muppets
are a revolutionary departure

from TV puppet shows
of the time,

like Kukla, Fran & Ollie.

JONES: Jim didn't want
painted faces
with mouths that didn't move,

like Kukla was that way.

Jim wanted mouths that opened,

he wanted the eyes
to look focused.

He figured out
the Henson triangle,

it's the relationship between
the eyes and the nose.

There's a magic triangle.

Jim would always make sure
that that was something

that would focus when a puppet
looked to camera.

I love the notion that a piece
of felt and two, uh,

ping-pong balls, could turn
into something that was alive
and seemingly mobile.

LANDIS: Jim gave me
this great thing
about the Muppets.

Most people when they do
puppets, they open their
mouth like this,

like, "Hello, how are you?"

He said, "Muppets don't speak
the words.
They attack the words."

So a Muppet talks
like this because he is
attacking the word.

Good night, and good luck.

Nobody has ever seen
puppets like that, nobody.

Those are
completely and utterly new.

NARRATOR: In the summer
of '54,

Jim works at
NBC affiliate, WRC,

where he creates new Muppets
for Circle 4 Ranch with
Cowboy Joe Campbell.

Willard Scott works as
a deejay and weatherman
at the station.

I met Jim when I was 18,
he was 17.

NBC wanted to buy the Muppets.

And I gave him
some good advice.

I said, "Jim don't you ever,
ever sell these characters.
They're yours."

NARRATOR: Jim and his Muppets
are still appearing on WRC
in the fall of '54,

when he enters
the University of Maryland.

The shy, quiet, gangly
17-year-old

takes the only
puppetry class offered

in the Home
Economics department.

CHERYL: It actually
was a required course

for a lot of the mostly women,

um, studying art
and art therapy
and education in art.

Everyone would gravitate
to him because he already
knew how to do puppetry

and he was already
on television doing puppetry.

NARRATOR: Among those
gravitating to Jim
is Jane Nebel

a 20-year old senior
majoring in art and education.

They really enjoyed working
with each other and so they,

they started working together.

He hired her immediately
to come work for him

and that's how
their partnership developed.

Creatively they always
got along.

She had a kind
of unerring eye for talent

and in a way,
Jim Henson was
her first discovery.

NARRATOR: Jane joins Jim
at WRC in the
spring of 1955.

Their chemistry is immediate.

* That old black magic
has me in its spell

* That old black magic
that you weave so well

They were young together.

They were explosive together.

They had a really wacky
sense of humor.

* Aflame with such
a burning desire *

SCOTT: They worked behind
this curtain.

I always said, "I don't know
what went on
behind that curtain."

But... (CHUCKLES)

But they ended up
getting married
and having kids

so something went on
behind that curtain
we didn't all see.

(APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: While still
a college freshman
living at home in May of '55,

Jim creates Sam and Friends
for WRC.

Sam and Friends!

NARRATOR: Jim and Jane
perform five-minute
shows twice a day.

He got to, sort of,
create his own show.
Decide what the conceit was.

Sam was this sort of
vaguely human character
who never spoke,

and the friends
were these abstract figures

that may or may not have been
inside his head.

Why don't you
just call me Kermit?

JONES:
Kermit came out of that cast
of Sam and Friends.

But was sort of a vague,
abstract character.

Had his little padded feet,

um, didn't have
his frog collar.

Kermit was built out of
Jim's mother's coat,

uh, with ping-pong
balls for eyes.

Help! Help!

Help!

NARRATOR: But it's not
just Jim's characters

that make the Muppets
a game-changer
in the mid-1950s,

it's Jim's use
of the TV screen itself.

The difference between what
Jim was doing and something
like Kukla, Fran and Ollie

is Kukla, Fran and Ollie was
a puppet show on television.

What Jim realized
is if you're on TV,

the four sides
of the TV screen
are your puppet theater.

You can bring a puppet in
from the left, from the right,

from the top, from the bottom.

It immediately expands
the universe that
puppet lives in.

NARRATOR: Jane graduates
from the
University of Maryland

in the summer of '55,

along with Jim's brother,
Paul, who joins the Navy.

Paul is stationed in Florida
for training as a Navy pilot.

Meanwhile, Jim and Jane's
Muppets are a local
comedy sensation.

SCOTT: Everybody watched
the Muppets in Washington.

It put a smile on your face
and made you happy.

NARRATOR: By 1956,
beat poetry, jazz,
and rock & roll

are shaking up
the staid conformity of
post-war America.

And Jim's Muppets
are on the comic cutting-edge.

There are two young college
students, uh,
Jim Henson and Jane Nebel.

They got together
and they formed the Muppets.

Black Bart is coming in
on the next stage!

Mac, what are you doing
under the desk?

NARRATOR: They appear
as guests on late
night talk and variety shows,

playing to a sophisticated
adult audience.

My next move
will be your last, Black Bart!

Just try it!

Okay, here it comes.

My pawn takes your bishop.
Checkmate!

Oh, you got me, Marshal.

NARRATOR: But as his
professional career is taking
off in the spring of '56,

Jim suffers a deeply
personal loss,

when his brother, Paul,
dies of injuries
suffered in a car accident.

CHERYL: Anytime
you're faced with death

that life and the time
that you have here

on this Earth become
that much more precious

and I do feel like my father

felt that this life
was precious

and that the time
that we have is never enough.

And he was always making,
making, doing, doing, making.

And I think there was
a sense of wanting to live
in the present.

NARRATOR: Jim is indeed
making and doing,

turning to work to cope
with the loss of his brother

and adding to his
ever-increasing workload.

Let's go up to the surface
for some Wilkins Coffee.

-I never touch the stuff.
-(GULPS)

You should,
it's a whale of a coffee!

NARRATOR: Jim makes his first
commercials in 1957

for the Washington, D.C.
based Wilkins Coffee Company.

When did you have
your last cup of Wilkins?

My last cup wasn't Wilkins.

He's had his last cup.

One of the people
who was putting together
the commercials

had seen Sam and Friends,

liked it, thought it
was hilarious,

really wanted to take
that sort of mentality
and put it into commercials.

-Got your parachute?
-I forgot it.

How about the Wilkins Coffee?

I forgot that too.

You'll never forget this.

Everything always ended
with an explosion,

something really outrageous.

JONES: Once the Wilkins
commercials caught on,

people selling coffee
in Boston and Louisiana

wanted the Muppets
selling their coffee.

Want some Red Diamond
Coffee with your pie?

No, just give me the pie.

The numbers for Kraml Milk,
once the Muppets started
selling it,

apparently went
through the ceiling.

Want some Kraml Milk
with your dinner?

No, give me some water.

The commercials are paying
the bills.

And it really sort of gave him
the opportunity to buy
his artistic freedom.

NARRATOR: Eager to move
forward in his
life and career.

Jim incorporates his company
as Muppets, Inc.

And on May 28, 1959
he and Jane are married.

He said, we're going to build
this company and we're going
to get married

and you know, sort of laid out
their agenda for
the next decade.

NARRATOR: Jim is
a prodigiously successful
college senior in 1960,

having earned over $100,000
in the past year.

In May, Jim and Jane's
first child, Lisa, is born

and later that year,
the Muppets make
their first appearance

on NBC's Today Show.

They're called Muppets
because they're neither
puppets nor marionettes

but kind of a combination.

I'm honored to be
in the studio with two very
distinguished NBC newsmen.

First we have...

Chet Huntley,
NBC News, New York.

From my very early childhood
I remember

the feel and the smells
and sounds of
the puppet workshop.

Well, what would
you like me to call you?

Chet Huntley.

Oh, okay, Chet Huntley.

We could see the latest
appearance on a variety show
or Ed Sullivan.

This program is come
to you from...

NBC News, New York.

No, no. This program
is coming from...

NBC News, Washington.

New York.

-Washington.
-New York.

Washington.

NARRATOR:
Flush with early success,

Jim drives to his June 1960
college commencement

in a Rolls Royce bought with
Muppet money.

CHERYL: He had a wife,
he had a baby,

he owned his own house

and he drove that Rolls Royce
to his college graduation

to pick up his degree
in home economics

and there you go,
he was a self-made man.

I met Jim
when I was 17 years old

and Jim was in his early 20s.
(CHUCKLES)

NARRATOR: In 1960,
Jim meets Frank Oznowicz

at a puppeteer
conference in California.

Jim asks him
to join his Muppet team,

but the teenager
is still in high school.

After graduation in 1963,

Frank Oz
begins work at Muppets, Inc.

I remember being in front
of a mirror with Jane Henson
and Jim

teaching me how to do
the Muppets lip-sync
technique.

I didn't do voices
for about four years.
I was too scared.

Jim was about
to give up on me.

NARRATOR: But he didn't.

Take off that moustache!

Take off that...
(GRUNTS)

Double...
Double-face tape.

Take that tape off. (GRUNTS)

The story of the Muppets
is the story of Jim and Frank

as this incredible,

uh, once in a
lifetime comedy duo.

OZ: Jim was the boss,
but he was my
best friend, too,

and I know how

devastating his brother's
loss was to him.

CHERYL: My dad had
an older brother who died

and I think that having
a younger brother like Frank

was just fantastic.

Their relationship was very
much like brothers.
They're competitive,

they're feisty,
they're funny...

-Get your hand off me.
-(CHUCKLES)

It's the sort of relationship
that has highs and lows,

and you have times
when you work
very well together

and times when, you know,
you're slightly brushing
against each other.

It's like a marriage, you have
fights sometimes. (CHUCKLES)

But Jim was
extraordinary in that

we would always allow me
to voice my opinion.

I think he should have fired
me many times. He was
extraordinarily patient.

(SCREAMS)

Now there was such a closeness
that I can't explain.

NARRATOR: Another
key team member is puppeteer,
Jerry Juhl.

Who takes over for Jane
on Sam and Friends

when daughter Cheryl is born
in August of '61.

CHERYL: Most of my
childhood memories

with my dad are more
about making things

and also
about telling stories.

NARRATOR: Restless to tell
new stories,

Jim ends Sam and Friends

successful 6-year run in
December of '61

to pursue more
ambitious projects.

He tapes the TV special
Tales of the Tinkerdee in 1962

and continues to appear
on daytime and late-night
TV shows.

All the while, his commercial
work flourishes.

Try Purina Dog Chow, right?

Right.

NARRATOR: Jim hires
puppetmaker, Don Sahlin,

who builds Rowlf the Dog
for Purina.

The first of countless numbers
of Muppets Sahlin will build

over the next 15 years.

I'm the Muppets big, lovable,
shaggy dog, Rowlf
on ABC's The Jimmy Dean Show.

NARRATOR: Rowlf joins
country music
singer Jimmy Dean

on his weekly variety
show in 1963.

-Where's that other dumbbell?
-Hi!

And the Muppets make the jump
from late night and morning
show guests

to prime time TV stars.

-Ready, here we go!
-(BELL DINGS)

(GROWLING)

Would you cut it out?

Rowlf, no bitin'.

No bitin'?

You're taking away
my best punch.

NARRATOR: With seemingly
boundless energy,

Jim performs Rowlf every week
while directing his
expanding empire.

The Muppets have been seen
often on such network shows

as Jack Paar, Johnny Carson,
Steve Allen

Arthur Godfrey, Today,
and Al Hirt's Fanfare.

And this fall we're gonna
do The Hollywood Palace

and The Perry Como
Christmas Show.

NARRATOR: Amid all
the Muppet madness,

Jane gives birth to their son
Brian in November of '63.

Half of the time
that I saw my dad

when I was a young kid,
was being at the studios
while he was working.

Or being at the workshop
while he was
building puppets.

He was always working.

NARRATOR: The mid-1960s
are a time of bold
experiments in art and movies,

and while his Muppet
business is booming,

Jim is driven to be more than
just a popular puppeteer.

Jim always loved film.
He always wanted to do a film.

(COUGHS)

He made a film called
Time Piece that I saw at the
LA County Museum of Art,

and I remember going,
"That's Jim Henson!"

"That's
the puppet Jim Henson."

CHERYL: Time Piece is so
much my father.

It is right in where
his head was

and you watch that
and you go "Okay, that
is his autobiography."

(GROWLS)

(TARZAN YELL)

So, if you really
want to know about my dad,
watch Time Piece.

Help.

NARRATOR: Time Piece
earns an Academy
Award nomination

for short film in 1965.

But it's Jim's next project
that will change his life.

And the lives of
generations of children
all over the world.

NARRATOR: In 1966,
the Carnegie Institute

sponsors a study
that leads to the formation

of the Children's
Television Workshop.

They knew they wanted
to do something that kids
would respond to,

they wanted
it to be fast paced,

they wanted a children's
Laugh-In essentially.

NARRATOR: Led by
Joan Ganz Cooney,

the Children's Television
Workshop is developed

amid social
and political upheaval.

Martin Luther King was killed,
Robert Kennedy was killed,

the Vietnam War protests were
reaching a crescendo.

It was a really scary time.

NARRATOR: Director Jon Stone
recommends Henson

to Ganz Cooney for
their new children's TV
project, Sesame Street.

Jim was very
reluctant at first

because he was concerned
that he would be trapped

as a little
children's producer.

OZ: His idea was always
to be more experimental

as a filmmaker,
that's what he wanted to do.

We talked about it,
that this is not where
he wants to be,

with Sesame Street,
but he will go with it

because he sees value
in it and out of that value

could come other value.

NARRATOR: So, in 1969,
Jim joins the visionary team
at Sesame Street.

* Sunny day
Sweepin' the clouds away *

NARRATOR: His first Muppet
characters for the show

are a duo played
by Jim and Frank Oz.

I'm never going to eat
cookies in my bed again.

BERT: Okay, good.
What are you doing?

I'm gonna eat cookies
in your bed, Bert.

Ernie and Bert have this
funny relationship

that has developed
over the years.

It has something to do
with Frank and I, I'm sure.

OZ: Bert is not me,
Ernie is not Jim,

but there's an aspect
of Jim in Ernie and an aspect
of Bert in me.

At that time, I was very
neurotic and very uptight,

so it fit perfectly for Bert.

Jim was always playful,
so it fit perfectly for Ernie.

FRAN BRILL: The chemistry
between them
was just fantastic.

They were a great
Abbott and Costello,

Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis,
whatever team,

they were
right up there with
all of those guys.

Ta-da!

-Ernie.
-Yes?

You've ruined my whole day!

Hi-ho, Kermit the Frog here.

NARRATOR: Other characters
are soon brought into play,

including a frog who Jim
has been operating and voicing

since the early 1950s.

Jim had a piece with Kermit
telling kids what
it's like to be a frog.

Uh, frogs live
in apartment houses

with, uh, furniture
and televisions sets.

And I said, "Well, Kermit,
that's, that's not exactly
what all frogs do.

"I happen to have a Giant
American Bullfrog here..."

My goodness.

Jim's head happened
to be right below

where I was holding
the bullfrog.

(CROAKING)

Mr. Froggie went
a-peeing on Jim's head.

(HUMMING)

(CROAKS)

And I thought for sure
he'd say "cut" but

he finished the piece and then
we both looked at each other

(LAUGHING) and he was dripping
and we had an enormous laugh.
And it was a take.

I think Kermit made himself
a new friend today.

Getting to know Jim
was a really special thing.

He was so, uh, warm
and outgoing
and understanding.

He was not like a boss.

He told me he wanted me
to run two characters.

Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch.

Everyone on Sesame Street
is always talking about love.
Yuck.

Big Bird is kind of a child
who hopes people like him.

Oh, it's just silly saying,

"Hi, I'm Big Bird."

'Cause people can plainly see
that I'm just a big bird.

Jim gave me this little pink
puppet that already existed.

She was renamed Prairie Dawn.

That became
the first legitimately

female puppet character
on Sesame Street.

-Prairie.
-Yes?

What kind of cookies
are those there?

-Oh, well, Cookie Monster,
these are oatmeal cookies.
-(GASPS)

We were just really
encouraged to go for it.

To be as silly and idiotic

and stupid as you
possibly could.

(SHOUTING) Cookies!

(GOBBLING)

The show was
an overnight success.

The country and the world had
never seen before

anything like these Muppets.

Jim was very proud, of course

of the work that was done on
Sesame Street.

But you could feel him
kind of bursting

in his quiet Jim "Hmm" way

to take that energy
and move it into other arenas.

I said, "Trust me, Jim,
it's just around the corner,

"you're not gonna be stuck
in little kiddie
entertainment."

The Ramadar.

NARRATOR: Determined
not be pigeonholed by
the success of Sesame Street,

Jim continues his
experimental projects.

He did shows for NBC,
one's called The Cube...

Hello.

Sort of this avant-garde
Twilight Zone- type episode

of a man
trapped inside a cube

and you don't know what's real
and you don't know what's not.

I'm still in the cube!

Of course you're in the cube,
but you're healthy and happy.

NARRATOR: But while Jim
craves new creative outlets,

it's the Muppets
who are in demand.

By 1971, Jim is juggling
a third season
of Sesame Street,

guest appearances
on prime time variety shows,

and a syndicated TV special,
Muppet Musicians of Bremen.

In 1973, the Muppet Valentine
special tapes at ABC
in New York.

It's executive
Michael Eisner's first
project with Jim.

EISNER: There's some people
you call and when they
answer the phone

it's like, "Oh, I'm so
glad you called,

"let's have a conversation."

Jim Henson was somebody
that you always felt
wanted to be engaged.

And if the conversation
turned into something creative
it was even better.

The Muppets Valentine Show!

And that was really a pilot
in disguise for ABC.

For a weekly show.

L-O-V-E.

Now what can we
say about love?

NARRATOR: When Jim's sweet
Valentine's special

doesn't lead
to a weekly series,

he takes an edgier approach
with his next ABC pilot,

striving for that
elusive hit formula.

ANNOUNCER: Presenting
the end of Sex and Violence
on television.

-(LOUD EXPLOSION)
-(LAUGHING MANIACALLY)

I thought the Muppets with
a provocative title like that

would appeal
to an adult audience.

Oh, well, uh, I might be
able to get you a job on an
educational show for kids.

(CLEARS THROAT)

That was a much more abstract
and a little more unhinged

kind of environment
and character group.

(GRUNTING)

MAN: Oh, no,
he bit his own arm!

(GROANING)

BRIAN:
He called it Sex and Violence

to try and tell the audience
this is not Sesame Street.

"Look it's called
Sex and Violence"

and still all the networks
passed.

I was with Jimmy Dean but
nobody remembers me anymore.

He really wanted to be
mainstream television.

That was his great
dream, his great goal
all of his life.

And, um, it eluded him,
uh, again and again and again.

He had a heck of a time
convincing the world

to let him
do The Muppet Show.

He felt like Sesame Street
had pigeonholed him.

And it was frustrating
to him. Very.

NARRATOR: Ever eager
to free himself

from the stifling confines
of children's TV,

Jim signs on in 1975

for the launch of a daring new
late-night show on NBC.

What developed
was this "Land of Gorch,"

um, with the king and his
wife and his girlfriend

and, uh, his henchmen
and the mighty Favog.

Nobody had ever seen anything
like those characters.

JONES: I remember seeing
the first, you know,
two or three shows

and going, "What in
the heck is this?"

'Cause I was looking for
Kermit and here's something

I'd never seen before.

I remember Jim
sort of being there

and just sort of this

island of calm in the sea
of chaos of the early
days of the show.

NARRATOR: Adding to the chaos,
some cast members

have problems with
Jim's puppets.

John Belushi called them
the Mucking Fuppets.

And they were never
really a good fit.

Fortunately, what happened was
Jim got The Muppet Show

right at the end of the first
season of Saturday Night Live,

so he could leave after
that first season,
no harm, no foul.

NARRATOR: Jim says
goodbye to SNL

and hello to legendary
British entertainment mogul,

Sir Lew Grade.

Lew Grade called from London
and said to him I've seen your
Sex and Violence pilot

for The Muppet Show,
I think it's fantastic.

Bring your people here to
London and we'll make it.

Coming to England gave him
the creative freedom

the resources, the financial
wherewithal to make the show
he wanted to make.

It's The Muppet Show!

NARRATOR: The show that
all the US networks
passed on

begins taping in London
in January of '76.

Jim's dream of a Muppet
series for all ages
is about to be realized.

Say, what's happening?

Hi.

NARRATOR: Jim crafts
a weekly variety show

featuring the Muppets
and their human guest stars,

presided over by the show's
amphibian host and director.

Scooter, get those
dancers off-stage!

Beauregard,
get that scenery offstage!
Come on now, move it!

BAKER: Kermit the Frog
was the leader,

Kermit the Frog was the guy
that the whole show
was built around.

Let's hear it for me!
Yay!

But you take Kermit away
and you've got very humble
Jim underneath it.

Kermit's function on the show
is very much like my own.

He's trying to hold together
this group of crazies.

(ALL SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)

-(SCREAMING) Watch out!
-(GRUNTS)

He was able to be controlling
and in charge through Kermit

in a way that he couldn't
ever when he was
just being Jim.

It was just a lot of fun.

A lot of hard work,
a lot of fun.

AS MISS PIGGY:
Oh, Roger!

Because, with Jim,
hard work and fun
are synonymous.

In order make it look
good up there

it has to be uncomfortable
down here.

There was a scene where Piggy
was supposed to slap Kermit

and in rehearsals,
I don't know quite
why I did it,

but instead of slapping him
I karate chopped him.

-Hi-yah!
-(SCREAMING)

He really chopped and
everybody was on the floor
laughing

and we all knew
that this was probably
gonna be the life of the pig.

Hi-yah!

-Hi-yah!
-Ah!

Jim encouraged collaboration
something fierce.

Like the janitor
could come up and say,

"Hey, wouldn't it
be great if Piggy did
such and such?"

And if he liked the idea,
he would use it.

OZ: He was not
about ownership,
he was about quality.

Yes!

He was about doing
the best job possible.

And he valued
everybody who worked with him

as contributors and
not just employees.

I would like to now see,

you all starting to march
back towards the boat.

Yes. Fine.

You worked with Jim.
You didn't necessarily
work for him.

He got the best out of people

not from screaming
and shouting.

-I think it should definitely
be night.
-...with fireflies.

Yeah, it's moonlight
and fireflies.

He did it in his
own gentle way,

and because of
the way he treated people,

he got it back
in bucket loads.

Yes, he plundered
his plundering and he...

(ALL LAUGHING)

NARRATOR: The Muppet Show
premieres on US television

in September of '76.

Ladies and gentlemen,
The Great Gonzo!

-(ENGINE RUMBLING)
-Whoa!

Not only did The Muppet Show
go on to be the number one
show in the world,

it was also a huge hit
in America.

The Muppet Show was massive.
When I was growing up,

there were fewer channels.

And so when The Muppets would
be on it was a big giant deal.

-Where? Oh, this lever!
-This lever over here...

No, this lever!

(BOTH SCREAMING)

They were gigantic in the UK,

the US and Canada and Japan,

all over the world.

The Muppet Show backstage.

It was pretty exciting when my
father got the chance to make

The Muppet Show in London

The only sad thing,
in a sense, was that

he had to go and spend
so much time away
from the family.

We were all going back and
forth and visiting him there.

NARRATOR: The time spent apart

is a strain on Jim's
relationship with
his wife, Jane.

She had five kids
and it's, uh...

That's a full time job.

She took care of a pretty
large and chaotic family.

My mom's world
was the family life.

My dad would be there
sometimes, but it
was more like

he had his world of the
making of the shows.

(YELPING)

NARRATOR:
Henson and his Muppets are
on top of the world.

But for Jim, there
are always new
creative worlds to conquer.

The Muppet Show was the most
watched show in the world,

and now, next.

Jim's focus became more
and more on the movies,

first the Muppet movies.

You hadn't really had an
entire all-puppet cast

carrying a movie
out in the real world.

HENSON: Jim Frawley,
who was the director,
wanted to shoot in studio.

I was really trying to
talk him into shooting
outdoors and I said,

"Come on over" and he brought
a Super-8 camera and we shot

footage of the
characters outdoors.

Frank and Jim went out in the
countryside in England,

in front of a bunch of cows.

Have you ever been to Los...

Have you ever been
to Los...
Excuse me.

Have you ever been
to Los Angeles. (CHUCKLING)

(CHUCKLING) Okay, I think
I've milked this far
enough, right, guys?

NARRATOR: Jim and Frank's
experiment is a success

and The Muppet Movie
opens in 1979.

Yeah, well I've
got a dream too.

But it's about singing
and dancing and
making people happy.

Jim was always looking for
something that could be
done simple

but leave people saying,
"How did they do that?"

Gonzo, what are you doing?

About seven knots!

I remember watching and seeing
Kermit riding on a bike

and having just no idea
how that could be done.

He had an idea and then
nothing would stop him
from doing it.

If it was impossible,
he would make it possible.

The first day I came to visit
him on the set of The
Muppet Movie, "Where's Jim?"

"Oh, he's underwater."
Like, what?

Kermit was on a
log in the swamp,

and Jim's like
underwater in a tank.

NARRATOR: The Muppet Movie
is a smash hit,

as is
The Great Muppet Caper,

which opens in the
summer of 1981.

That same year,
Jim does the unthinkable.

Despite its
soaring popularity,

he ends The Muppet Show's
five year TV run.

We had a wonderful
time doing it.

You know, and I think
it was, uh, really,

five delicious
years in my life.

Jim wanted to stop
when we were at our best.

I realize now,
that was a golden time.

It was magical and
it was a grind.

Anybody who does
a series on TV

knows it is a
relentless thing,
every single week

and you're working like hell

and there's nobody, nobody
who worked harder than Jim.

CHERYL: The Muppet
Show was fantastic,

but he wanted to
keep experimenting.

He wanted to keep
trying new things.

He said, "You know,
we do cute really well."

But then, you know,
this whole fantasy world

was something that
he really loved.

Jim had this dream of

being recognized as an artist,
uh, and not simply
an entertainer.

And this led him into
the fantasy world
of The Dark Crystal.

Trial by stone.

Trial by stone!

Part of the desire was to
create a whole new world.

You know, to start all over
and design everything.

There is much to be learned.

And you have no time!

NARRATOR: Jim enlists artist
and designer, Brian Froud,

to collaborate on the
characters and environment

for his 1982 feature film,

The Dark Crystal.

We just were exploring the
possibilities of characters.

I was sketching first,

and then I made
little models of the
Skeksis and the Mystics.

The story wasn't
really defined until

Jim and Cheryl got stuck
in a blizzard at JFK.

We were stuck there
for a couple of days

and it allowed my dad the time
to actually think through a
lot of the ideas

that he had
brewing in his head.

The thing that is incredible
about The Dark Crystal,

is that everything you
see up there on screen
is made by hand.

We were, in those days,
pioneering.

We didn't know quite
how to do this and
how to manipulate them,

and what scale they
were going to be.

NARRATOR: Dark Crystal's
complex combination

of manual and remote-control
puppetry is daunting.

I said, "This is it!"
Jim's optimism has really
gotten beyond him this time.

CHERYL: The whole thing
was very complex

and my father really poured
his heart and soul

and his own personal money

into getting this
film finished.

We had such high expectations
for what it was going to be,

and it's almost as though
nothing could live up

to those expectations.

NARRATOR: The Dark Crystal
opens to mixed reviews

and fewer ticket sales
than Henson's blockbuster
Muppet movies.

BRIAN: People thought it was
a little too out there,
a little bit too weird,

a little too serious,
a little too heavy.

They're like,
"Where's the Muppets?

"We want the Muppets.
What is this thing?"

OZ: Dark Crystal
was not a huge success.

It hurt him that, uh...

Dark Crystal wasn't
received as
he thought it would've been.

The Dark Crystal
was considered to be
a bit of an aberration,

sort of a
a slightly weird cul-de-sac.

But, I could see it was
expressing the very
heart of who he was.

NARRATOR: After work on
The Dark Crystal
is over in London,

Jim returns to New York,

but it's no happy homecoming.

After nearly a quarter century
of marriage and five children,

he and Jane have grown apart.

And Jim has been
seeing other women.

They agree to a
formal separation.

Even when at times
they didn't get along,

very well personally
later on,

he totally trusted
her creative opinion

and she had an
impeccable taste level,

so they continued to
have that dialogue always.

-This is the touch
wall, right.
-Yeah.

NARRATOR: With the prime time
success of The Muppet Show,

Jim no longer fears being
labeled a kid's entertainer,

so he launches a new
children's show in 1983.

* Dance your cares away

* Worries for another day

* And let the music play

* Down at Fraggle Rock

Fraggle Rock was
his global show.

That was his show for
the whole world.

MAN: Fraggles
are a noble race.

-(WHOOPING)
-Fearless, dignified,
intellectual.

He said to us all,
let's make a series that's
going to stop war.

If we're going to make a
series that's gonna
stop war in the world,

well, you have to
start with kids because
adults, it's too late.

Well, I know what I'd do, if I
was faced with such a tragedy.

So do I.

So do I.

In fact, I've been preparing
for it all my life.

NARRATOR: Premiering in
January of 1983,

Fraggle Rock is the first
original series

on the new cable channel, HBO.

The Trash Heap knows all.

The Trash Heap tells all.

Let's face it, boys,
the Trash Heap is all.

NARRATOR: Fraggle Rock's
success reintroduces

the Muppets to
a new generation
of TV viewers.

But Jim hasn't given up
on his fantasy film vision.

We were exhausted by the
end of The Dark Crystal and we
sort of said, "Never again."

But we were at a showing of
Dark Crystal in San Francisco.

Jim just looked
at me and said,

"Should we do another?"

And I said, "Well, why not?"
(CHUCKLING)

NARRATOR: Responding to
criticism of Dark Crystal

as being too dark and
without human characters,

Jim revises his approach on
his 1986 film, Labyrinth.

He brought on
Terry Jones to write it

and he had that lighter
Monty Python-kind of feeling.

-He always lies.
-I do not.

-I tell the truth.
-Oh, what a lie!

(LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY)

There were some real actors

with David Bowie and
Jennifer Connelly.

Look what I'm offering you.

NARRATOR:
While technologically
groundbreaking,

Labyrinth is not a
commercial success.

He did take that hard
when Labyrinth came out
and the reviews weren't great.

It was kind of devastating.

CHERYL: He felt like
he had hit the
notes he needed to hit

to get people to like it

and it still fell flat.

He was uncertain.
He was disappointed.

His confidence was shaken.

FROUD: Jim was disappointed
but he was really proud of
them as a piece of art,

and indeed he
was right to be proud

that over the years
it's not just become
a classic, but it became

really influential.

I could see over the years
how fatigued he looked

'cause he was handling
so many projects

and trying to keep this going
and that going

and I began to see
it in his face
how exhausted he was.

NARRATOR: Between running the
company in New York
and the company in London,

Jim is looking for
much-needed relief by 1989.

OZ: He was just exhausted.

And he had a company
of 300 people.

So he would be
flying everywhere

because he had to
have his hand in
everything 'cause he was

the boss and he
had the vision.

It's...it's tough.

And so, he told me, you know,
he just didn't wanna

do that anymore.
He wanted a...

He wanted to just create.

FRITH: There were all those
layers of bureaucracy

that begin to build
up even in a little

funny organization or
disorganization like ours.

There was just a lot of stuff.

As he saw it,
Disney was gonna
take over all that stuff.

My dad had a
great relationship
with Michael Eisner.

They had known each
other for many years.

NARRATOR: Jim, who likes to do
business on a handshake,

begins merger negotiations
with Disney Company CEO,

Michael Eisner.

He looked forward to a company
that would be financing

all new products
and new movies.

And he loved the parks.

Jim was a tremendous
admirer of Walt Disney
and what he accomplished.

My father kind of thought
it was pointless to be
in any theme park

other than the Disney parks
because they were the best.

He needed to find a way that
the Muppets could thrive

without it taking so much
of his time and effort

'cause he wanted to
experiment with other stuff.

He was looking for protection
for his characters,

knew that I cared desperately
about the quality of his work,

knew that I understood
his work,

and that Disney would
protect his work forever.

We were starting to work
on projects as though
the deal had been done.

NARRATOR: Jim begins work
on the Muppet Vision 3-D
attraction at Disney World.

He was getting to play
in the third dimension.

We were gonna make more movies
and television shows.

He was gonna be
treated well financially.

Then came a terrible
negotiation period,

then came the lawyers

and that was very
draining on my dad.

OZ: It did wear him
down a great deal.

He was trying to make
something work

but he had to make
it work for himself,

for the characters,
for the Muppets

and for the people around him,
and it wasn't working.

He said something about
"The goddamn deal,"

referring to the
Disney negotiations.

And I was rocked
when he said that.

Because for him to say
"The goddamn deal"
was like

anybody else
letting off with a 10 minute
stream of expletives.

He was worn down.

His system, I think, was not
as strong during this time
period and he got sick.

But I don't think he wouldn't
have gotten as sick had he

not been worn down
by the deal that much.

We were in
Walt Disney World together.

He and I and his daughter.

And he got the flu.

My dad

very rarely got sick.

Um, but he did seem to have a
cold and he seemed exhausted.

OZ: He didn't know how
sick he was, I'm sure.

Whatever illness
he had, he thought he
could take care of it,

and he didn't think it
was that serious.

My dad didn't really like
going to doctors much.

And it has
certainly something to do
with his upbringing

and his mother being
a Christian Scientist.

He would never go to a doctor
and get antibiotics.

Really, he'd just always
weather through it.

FRITH: He canceled
his sessions

on Sesame Street that day,
which was unheard of.

Everybody joked about Jim.

Jim the Iron Man,
you know.
No matter how

lousy he felt he
would always turn up.

GANZ COONEY:
He came home and was sick,
but he didn't want a doctor.

Then he called Jane
to come in and stay with him.

They were about
to get a divorce,

which showed you that he was
scared in some way at bottom.

I got called

as he was going
to the hospital, like,

"What do you mean,
he's going to the hospital?"

Jim and I shared an assistant.

And, um...

I came in and I said,
"Where's Jim?"

And she said he's in the
hospital, he's got a bad flu.

And I said, "Okay."

But then she said he's in
intensive care and I said,

"Wait a second" and
I was thinking to
myself something...

Something is wrong.

JONES: They put him in
the ICU almost
immediately

and he was unconscious
in less than two hours

and never regained
consciousness again.

NARRATOR: In the early morning
hours of May 16, 1990,

Jim Henson dies
of organ failure,

resulting from streptococcal
toxic shock syndrome.

The phone rang,
and it was Frank Oz

and he said,
"Joan, Jim is dead."

And I, you...
I had a hard time
staying on my feet.

I would vacillate between
profound grief and then anger

of why didn't you,
why didn't you
do the sensible thing?

But it was all too late.

I heard two doctors talking
about the fact that he just...

That he just came in too late.

They said another hour or two
would have helped, would
have made the difference.

One shot of penicillin
would have solved
the whole problem.

It took your breath.
You couldn't believe it.
He was a young man.

He was the heart
and soul of the family.

And the idea of him passing
was so unacceptable.

NARRATOR:
Five days after his death,

a memorial service is held at

the Cathedral of St. John,
the Divine, in New York City.

Six thousand people showed up.
We were all just shattered.

OZ: The loss was so great that
I think we just didn't
accept it at that time.

Our job was to honor him.

And I think that
carried us through.

And I remember the bishop
in New York saying,

"I've never felt closer to
the Kingdom of Heaven,
than I feel at this moment."

* It's not that easy

* Being green

Oh, my God, there was not a
dry eye in the place.

Thank you, Kermit.

KENWORTHY:
It was a company
built entirely around Jim.

People said,
what would
ever happen if...

You know, if Jim
wasn't here, well...

You knew the
company would fold.

It couldn't... It couldn't
go on. And then,

suddenly out of the blue
here was that very situation.

There was kind of a
threshold question of like,

"Oh, well, should it all
just be shut down right now?"

All of us said
we wanted to go on.

We just... We saw it
as a life's work,
and we would like to continue.

NARRATOR: When Jim's hero,
Edgar Bergen, passed away,

his puppet sidekick
Charlie McCarthy was retired.

Now, with Jim gone,

the fate of Kermit
is uncertain.

When Kermit dies,
what message do
you want to send?

I think you're trying to send
children a message that

in some way,
life goes on.

Because it would have been
unthinkable for kids.

It would have been
a death in the family.

A decision was reached

that if Jim could
have his say,

there'd not be a
doubt in his mind

that Kermit should come back
and Kermit should go on.

-Oh, a post card from
my uncle, Kermit.
-What's it say?

I forgot to tell you that the
big production number

is meant to be a tribute
to Jim Henson.

An emotional CBS
special, The Muppets
Celebrate Jim Henson,

airs on November 21, 1990,

six months after Jim's death.

I remember this
Jim Henson fella.

-Oh, yeah?
-Yeah, he was
always hanging around.

-Where, where?
-Where?

Uh...
Down there.

There were some heavy times,

but there were
moments in which
nobody could say anything.

"I feel very sorry
that your best
friend, Jim died."

What, died?

We were just starting
to get to know him.

(SIGHS)

I... I always felt like
his presence was around

in the characters.

And we'll be seeing you soon
with more Muppet stuff because

that's the way the
boss would want it.

NARRATOR: In September
of 2003, Jim's old friend,

Willard Scott, speaks
at the dedication of
a statue in Jim's memory

at the University of Maryland,

where Jim met Jane Nebel,

and their Muppet
journey began,

half a century before.

Little kids and
big kids like me

can sit in Jim's arm

and have pictures taken.

Anybody that loved Jim Henson
has got to see that.

NARRATOR: The next year,
15 years after
negotiations began,

the Disney deal
finally gets made,

insuring that Jim's Muppets
will live on.

As a family we asked Disney to
continue on the
tradition of the Muppets.

As a family we put
a lot of things into the
hands of Sesame Street.

My dad's legacy is being put
in a number of museums.

Jim has a legacy
like Charles Schulz
has a legacy,

like Walt Disney has a legacy.

It's the characters
that he left behind.

He didn't just open doors,

there was in the universe
a place where there
might be a door

that nobody had seen before.

And he recognized that door.
And he opened it.

He went in and he brought a
whole lot of people with him

who shared a
certain kind of vision.

* It's not easy being green

OZ: He was sweet and tough.
He was free
and had strong will.

He had a lot of fun
but he was very serious.

He was professional
but he was silly.

He was a very
good decent person

who had flaws
like anybody else.

But he always

had a higher calling
in mind, which is

to do good.

Everything about him was
to do good, be good, be kind,

be caring, help other people.

There's not a
week that goes by

that there isn't some
reason I don't think of

"How would Jim handle this?"

So, I carry him around.
I think all of us do.

He's gone,
but he's still around.

Jim was someone
of terrific curiosity,

ambition and drive and talent,

and it's extraordinary when
someone has a vision

and, and realizes it,

It's quite something when
characters you've created

have a life of their own.

It really is remarkable.

* I'm green

* It'll do fine

* It's beautiful

* And I think it's
What I wanna be *