Joseph Scarbrough launched what he called "The Scarblog" as a way of cataloging his work over the years, as well as going into greater detail of things on his mind (known as "Unfinished Thoughts").
I often write about Jim Henson and/or his work with the Muppets, or other projects of his from on this blog - but can I help it? The man is my biggest hero; he's one of the reasons I was inspired to become a puppeteer. That isn't to say that he's my only inspirational hero, though. There have been other noteworthy puppeteers whose influence has rubbed off on me - such as ventriloquist Shari Lewis: that's such an amazing skill, and a tough one to master at that. But perhaps the ones who have been a significant amount of inspiration on me are the ones who practically owned Saturday Morning TV in the 70s and 80s with their psychedelic worlds of strangers in strange lands befriending all sorts of wacky foam rubber creatures, while always thwarting off some outlandish villain in heavy make-up.
I am referring, of course, to Sid & Marty Krofft.
Walt Disney always said to put your name on top of what
you produce.
As much as I admire Jim Henson for what he's done with the art of puppetry, I admire the Kroffts for not only that, but also for their consistent and protective business practises as well (well . . . evidently, Marty is the one with a knack for business; Sid, not so much): as independent producers who worked tirelessly to keep their enterprise afloat with meager budgets that didn't even begin to cover the costs for their lavish sets and life-sized foam rubber creatures, the Kroffts are really the poster boys for artistic entrepreneurs. Taking advice from Walt Disney himself, the Kroffts never sold out to bigger conglomerate corporations (lookin' at you, Jim Henson Company), never sold off their intellectual properties (still lookin' at you, Henson Company), and managed to hold onto everything they ever created over their decades-spanning careers (my eyes haven't left, JHC). This is why the Kroffts are among my biggest heroes: they're savvy enough to make sure that nobody out there takes anything away from them, and remain very protective of what they've created . . . something that Ross Bagdasarian, Jr. and Janice Karman learned the hard way after they sold the Alvin and The Chipmunks franchise to Universal Studios in the 90s. While much of what I've done to craft my puppetry comes from Henson, much of my business sense (or, what little sense I've been able to make of business) most definitely comes from Krofft - whatever I create, I intend to hold onto for dear life.
With dozens of shows, a number of specials, and even an odd number of movies under their belts, the Kroffts were recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 45th Daytime Emmy's this year!
If you can believe it, Sid & Marty Krofft are back in action! Just when you think they'd be spending time kicking back, relaxing, and enjoying the fruits of their labor from years past (Marty has said if you retire, and stay home watching daytime television, you'd be dead within a month), the Kroffts have brought in a surge of new projects, from their successful preschool series on Nick Jr. MUTT & STUFF, to digital reboots of SIGMUND AND THE SEAMONSTERS and ELECTRAWOMAN & DYNAGIRL, the Kroffts are certainly beginning to leave a mark on a new generations of fans to enjoy!
Not just ElectraWoman & DynaGirl . . . this is ElectraWoman & DynaGirl - ON STEROIDS!
Granted, I haven't seen much of their new work - aside from seeing a number of episodes of MUTT & STUFF on Nick Jr., their reboots of SIGMUND AND THE SEAMONSTERS and ELECTRAWOMAN & DYNAGIRL are on platforms I don't have access to, so all I've been able to see of these are online clips, trailers, promos, and what have you. From what I've seen, it's absolutely amazing to see what the Kroffts can do when they actually have budgets to work with! If you know your Krofft history like I do, their shows from the 70s were almost always over budgeted . . . I don't think networks realize that puppetry is not an inexpensive art form - and while the networks would budget the Kroffts' shows for a few thousand dollars, it actually took a few million to create their expansive puppets, costumes, sets, props, and everything else. This time, however, that doesn't appear to be the case. In fact, looking at examples of the Kroffts' recent outings, the difference is quite startling: the production values look almost cinematic, and the puppets and suits almost look like something you would except to see from Jim Henson's Creature Shop. It's almost as if the Kroffts broke free from the confines of limitations and stomped them into the ground.
A magical world of flat, cardboard scenery
With that being said however, I'm also sensing a feeling that what the Kroffts are gaining in budgets and advances in technology, they're losing in charm. Both Sid and Marty have joked that back in the day, the networks would see how much they could produce for as little money as possible, and as a result, if there's one thing that their previous shows are known for is their campiness: through all the limitations the Kroffts had to work through, we got show after show after show after show with sets looking like they were made out of painted cardboard; stiff-looking characters with mouths that didn't necessarily hit each syllable properly, or large googly eyes that had no focus; not to mention the primitive, low-quality video tape recording. Nevertheless, the World of Sid & Marty Krofft was something people hadn't ever seen before, so it can definitely be argued that it was those limitations, small budgets, and campiness that gave Krofft shows their charm - because what they lacked in financial stability, they made up for with adventurous stories, engaging plots, unique premises, and wacky, yet lovable characters.
But to reiterate, one of the main reasons for the Kroffts' campy look of the 70s and even into the 80s was meager budgets handed out by the networks. Now that we're seeing what the Kroffts can do when they have actual budgets to work with, who knows? Perhaps if they had this kind of financial backing way back when, this could be what Krofft shows were meant to look like all along. As I said, there's certainly a very grand, cinematic scope to their current work that was lacking from their older work (with, perhaps, H.R. PUFNSTUF being an exception, considering it was shot on film as opposed to video tape). Clearly, these aren't the Krofft shows of previous generations . . . but again, the Kroffts are garnering all new generations of fans now that they're back in action, and it's wonderful to see they're still going strong after nearly six decades of psychedelic and magical adventures in puppetry and live action; who knows where all this may lead them in years to come?
And again, after those six decades of Krofft magic, they more than deserved their Lifetime Achievement Award!
If you ask me, this is something that's been long overdue, but to coincide with what would have been Jim Henson's 77th birthday yesterday, as well as the release of the whoppin' new 600-page biography book, over twenty Muppet characters from SESAME STREET, THE MUPPET SHOW, and FRAGGLE ROCK have been donated by the Jim Henson Company to the Smithsonian (where the original SAM AND FRIENDS Muppets already reside).
If I ever had reasons for wanting to visit the Smithsonian, this is definitely the one, I would love to be able to see these first hand sometime, they all look to be in pretty good shape considering their age, despite some obvious wear and tear. You know what's really scary? I can almost pretty much pinpoint about what time period some of these came from (Ernie, Bert, and Elmo are definitely from the 1980s).
Miss Piggy in all her radient glory!
Two of my favorite monsters!
Ernie wouldn't go live at the Smithsonian without Rubber Ducky
Ol' buddy Bert!
It's time to play the music/it's time to light the lights/it's time to meet the Muppets on THE MUPPET SHOW tonight!
Fran Brill with Prairie Dawn!
Thank you Cheryl Henson for donating these to the Smithsonian!
Wish I was as close as this guy got! Wonder if he took that photo of Bert above?
Wowie kazowie! It seems like the internet is just buzzing today over the fact that it's Jim Henson's birthday, and it's such a spectacular sight to see that over twenty years after his untimely death, that he is still remembered to this day, and his creations of the Muppets, and other fantastic puppety creatures are beloved by generation after generation.
In fact, I don't believe it's any secret that Jim Henson pretty much changed the art of puppetry as we know it, and may in fact, saved it as well; even longtime colleague and friend Frank Oz has once said, "He just exploited puppetry. People accept it now as normal, but then it was like brand new."
Although we live now in a world so dangerous that you can't even step outside to get the mail without the need of a bullet-proof vest, I do believe that in some small way, Jim did manage to live up to one of his well-known quotes: “When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.”
To some, Jim Henson was a hippie. To some, Jim Henson was a dreamer. To some, Jim Henson was a puppet master. To some, Jim Henson was a genius. And to some, Jim Henson was an idol. Jim and his Muppets have certainly had a big impact on my life; it's hard for me to imagine a time where the Muppets weren't a part of my life, from growing up learning basics like the alphabet and numbers in entertaining ways from Sesame Street, to getting a kick of the antics that went on at the Muppet Theatre on The Muppet Show, to even darker, fantasy elements like The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Jim Henson is certainly the man I most admire, and look up; he is, in fact, the very reason why I became a puppeteer myself.
I can remember ten years ago, when A&E broadcasted an episode of Biography, about the impact that Sesame Street had made on young children since it's debut over forty years ago in 1969... naturally, Sesame Street wouldn't be as big of a hit as it had become, had it not been for Jim contributing such characters as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster, Grover, The Count, and countless others. Of course, the special featured quite a bit of behind-the-scenes footage, showing all of the hours of draining and demanding work - from researching curriculum, to testing it with young audiences, to finally making it to the air - that goes into making the show ("We used to be able to tape two whole shows everyday, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon," Muppeteer Caroll Spinney once said, "we take longer now because we have much more special effects, and much more competition."). At eleven-years-old, seeing the work of people whose names may be more recognizable than their faces, like Caroll Spinney, Kevin Clash, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Martin P. Robinson, etc, was such a mezmorizing experience; I was glued to the TV watching how these people brought our favorite characters to life for television... it looked like so much fun, and to think, they also get paid to do this... who doesn't want that in a career? To be able to do something that you enjoy, and get paid for it? Needless to say, although I had toyed with the idea of possibly becoming a cartoonist when I grew up, I made my mind up from that moment on that I would be a puppeteer, and I'm happy to say that I have been for seven years now, and it's thanks to the inspiration and influence of a genius like Jim Henson.
It's still sad to think how Jim's life ended so soon, at the age of 53; I have no doubt that if he were still with us today, the Muppets, in general, would also probably be in a better place. I'm certainly glad that his legacy has been continued and has been kept alive for all these years, and even without his guidence, we have gotten some wonderful projects, ranging from movies, to TV shows, to TV specials, though without his guidence, I do believe that has caused some mild suffering in the big picture: Disney has made more promises than they've kept about the Muppets, all the while slowly erasing Jim's name from the franchise, and replacing it with their own (it's sad to me to see lesss and less of "Jim Henson's Muppets" on products), and although it's taken them all this time to finally give us a new (theatrical) movie, I still personally have some reservations about the film (mainly and specifically because of having Jason Segel at the helm). But beyond that, even without Jim, the Muppets continue to be a large part of our lives, and in fact, continue to influence the art of puppetry for newer mediums, such as the internet. I'm sure that would have made him proud.
I know that I, myself, and my friends and family from Muppet Central are always celebrating Jim's birthday every year, it's still really nice and touching to see that just about everybody out there is celebrating him and his work this year. All I can say at this point is: Happy Birthday Jim, thank you for sharing your visions and dreams with us, and for living up to your ambition for making the world a little better for having been here.
You often hear stories about child prodigies, mostly in the music industry, such as musicians, singers, songwriters, etc... but how often do you hear about child prodigies who are, of all things, puppeteers? And what an amazing story it is: 11-years-old, already has created over twenty different characters, and on top of all that, has been invited by Leslie Cararra-Rudolph and Kevin Clash, to perform in a bit for the upcoming 42nd season of Sesame Street. I really believe Jim Henson would be so proud.
There's even more to the story of Tau Bennett, read more about him and his craft from The Augusta Chronicle:
Many people know that I never was crazy about the purchase of the Muppet franchise by the Walt Disney Company years ago, but one of my growing concerns is the possibility of future generations not even knowing who Jim Henson was.
One thing that Walt Disney himself always encouraged creative people to do is to put their name on everything they create, and since the Disney purchase, I've seen Jim's name slowly disappear from various Muppet products, with the exception of DVDs that retain "Jim Henson's" or "Jim Henson Pictures/Productions/Home Entertainment Presents"... but you look at Muppet merchandise and such at, say, the Disney Store, you might see ONE product with Jim's name on it, whereas everything either has no name of it, or says "Disney's The Muppets". Even when you watch Sesame Street today, the closing credits no longer lists the Muppeteers under the title of "Jim Henson's Muppets" or "Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets", but rather "The Muppets of Sesame Street".
We lost Mr. Disney years before Jim even made it big with the Muppets, but to this day, his company lives on with booming business, and just about every knows who he was, and those of the future will probably know who he'll be... but would the same be said for Jim Henson? Naturally, Muppet fans know who he is, and continue to keep his legacy alive, but as far as the majority of the future generation is concerned, will they even recognize the name Jim Henson when they see it?
