Later career[edit]
Though he was still engaged in creating children's television, such as the successful eighties shows Fraggle Rock and the animated Muppet Babies, Henson continued to explore darker, mature themes with the folk tale and mythology-oriented show The Storyteller (1988). The Storyteller won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program. The next year, Henson returned to television with The Jim Henson Hour, which mixed lighthearted Muppet fare with riskier material. The show was critically well received and won Henson another Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program, but was canceled after 13 episodes due to low ratings. Henson blamed its failure on NBC's constant rescheduling.[34]
In late 1989, Henson entered into negotiations to sell his company to The Walt Disney Company for almost $150 million, hoping that, with Disney handling business matters, he would "be able to spend a lot more of my time on the creative side of things."[34] By 1990, he had completed production on a television special, The Muppets at Walt Disney World, and a Disney World (later Disney California Adventure Park as well) attraction, Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D, and was developing film ideas and a television series titled Muppet High.[7] He also made a Disney show called Little Mermaid's Island.
The Natural History Project and Dinosaurs[edit]
In the late 1980s, Henson worked with illustrator / designer William Stout on a feature film starring animatronic dinosaurs with the working title of The Natural History Project. In 1991, news stories written around the premiere of The Jim Henson Company-produced Dinosaurs sitcom highlighted the show's connection to Henson. "Jim Henson dreamed up the show's basic concept about three years ago," said a New York Timesarticle in April 1991.
A New Yorker article said that Henson continued to work on a dinosaur project (presumably the Dinosaurs concept) until the "last months of his life."[36]
Illness and death[edit]
During production of his 1990 projects Henson traveled continuously. By late Spring, Henson began to experience recurring flu-like symptoms.[7] On May 4, 1990, Henson appeared with Kermit on The Arsenio Hall Show, one of his last television appearances. At the time, he mentioned to his publicist that he was tired and had a sore throat, but felt that it would go away.[7]
On May 12, 1990, Henson traveled to Ahoskie, North Carolina, with his daughter Cheryl, to visit his father and stepmother. They both returned to New York on the evening of May 13, and Henson cancelled a Muppet recording session scheduled for May 14.[7]
Henson's wife Jane, from whom he was separated, came to visit and sat with him talking throughout the evening. On the morning of May 15, at 2:00 am, Henson was having trouble breathing and began coughing up blood. He suggested to his wife that he might be dying, but did not want to take time from his schedule to visit a hospital.
She later told People magazine that it was likely due to his desire not to be a bother to people.[7] Although it is rumored that his Christian Science faith prevented him from visiting the hospital, his stepmother and others deny this, as he had ceased practicing in his early 20s.[37] Jane thinks that his Christian Science upbringing, while not directly responsible, "affects his general thinking."[38]
Two hours later, Henson finally agreed to go to New York Hospital in New York City. By the time he was admitted shortly after 4:00 am, he could not breathe on his own anymore and an X-ray revealed he hadabscesses in his lungs. He was placed on a mechanical ventilator to help him breathe, but his condition deteriorated rapidly despite aggressive treatment with multiple antibiotics. Less than 24 hours later on May 16, 1990, Henson died at the age of 53, ending a 36-year career in puppeteering.[39]
The official cause of death was first reported as Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterial infection that causes bacterial pneumonia.[8] It was later classified as organ failure resulting from streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (caused by Streptococcus pyogenes).[4][5] S. pyogenes is the bacterial species that causes strep throat, scarlet fever, and rheumatic fever. It can also cause other infections.[5]
On May 21, Henson's public memorial service was conducted in New York City at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Another was conducted on July 2 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. In accordance with Henson's will, no one in attendance wore black, and The Dirty Dozen Brass Band finished the service by performing "When the Saints Go Marching In". Harry Belafonte sang "Turn the World Around," a song he had debuted on The Muppet Show, as each member of the congregation waved, with a puppeteer's rod, an individual, brightly colored foam butterfly.[40][41] Later, Big Bird, performed by Caroll Spinney, walked out onto the stage and sang Kermit the Frog's signature song, "Bein' Green".[42]
In the final minutes of the two-and-a-half-hour service, six of the core Muppet performers—Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, Kevin Clash, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, and Richard Hunt—sang, in their characters' voices, a medley of Jim Henson's favorite songs, eventually ending with a performance of "Just One Person" that began with Richard Hunt singing alone, as Scooter.[43] Henson employee Chris Barry writes that during each verse, "each Muppeteer joined in with their own Muppets until the stage was filled with all the Muppet performers and their beloved characters."[42] The funeral was later described by Life as "an epic and almost unbearably moving event."[22] The image of a growing number of performers singing "Just One Person" was recreated for the 1990 television special The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson and inspired screenwriterRichard Curtis, who attended the London service, to write the growing-orchestra wedding scene of his 2003 film Love Actually.[44]
Henson's body was cremated by Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, and, two years later, his ashes were scattered in the desert near Taos, New Mexico.[citation needed]
Legacy[edit]
The Jim Henson Company and the Jim Henson Foundation continued after his death, producing new series and specials. Jim Henson's Creature Shop, founded by Henson, also continues to build creatures for a large number of other films and series (e.g. the science-fiction production Farscape, the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the movie MirrorMask) and is considered one of the most advanced and well-respected creators of film creatures. His son Brian and daughter Lisa are currently the co-chairs and co-CEOs of the company; his daughter Cheryl is the president of the foundation. Steve Whitmire, a veteran member of the Muppet puppeteering crew, has assumed the roles of Kermit the Frog and Ernie, the most famous characters formerly played by Jim Henson.[45] Whitmire also assumed the roles of Link Hogthrob, from the "Pigs in Space" "Muppet Show" sketch, starting with the video game "Muppets Racemania" from 2000, as well as The Muppet Newsman, starting in 2008, with Muppet.com viral online videos. Muppeteer veteran Bill Barretta has taken over for Henson's fairly deeper voiced roles, such as the Swedish Chef, Mahna Mahna, Rowlf the Dog, and Dr. Teeth. Guy Smiley, in recent years, has been taken over by Eric Jacobson, and the role of Waldorf, in 1992, was assumed by Muppeteer veteran Dave Goelz.
On February 17, 2004, it was announced that the Muppets (excluding the Sesame Street characters, which are separately owned by Sesame Workshop) and the Bear in the Big Blue House properties had been sold by Henson's heirs to The Walt Disney Company. However, as a result, Sesame Workshop (formerly the Children's Television Workshop), also lost the rights to Kermit the Frog, and thus he would not appear on new material on Sesame Street for some time. However, Sesame Workshop has since obtained permission from Disney to use Kermit, allowing him to make an appearance on the premiere of the show's 40th season on November 10, 2009. In addition, Sesame Workshop has made many of Kermit's previous segments on the show available for viewing on their YouTube account.
One of Henson's last projects is a show attraction in Walt Disney World and Disneyland featuring the Muppets, called Muppet*Vision 3D, which opened in 1991, shortly after his death.
The Jim Henson Company retains the Creature Shop, as well as the rest of its film and television library including Fraggle Rock, Farscape, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.[46]
In 2010, it was announced that the first major biography of Henson, sanctioned by the family and the Jim Henson Legacy, was underway.[47] The biography by Brian Jay Jones was published on September 24, 2013, Henson's 77th birthday.[48]
On February 14, 2014, Henson's son, John Henson, died of a heart attack after playing in the snow with his daughter. He was 48.[49]
No comments:
Post a Comment