Jim Henson - Happy Birthday!

 

Today would have been Jim Henson's 85th birthday.

Anyone who knows me knows this is a holiday as far as I'm concerned. ;)

I remember vividly when this episode of "Great Performances" first aired on our local PBS channel in 1994.  I videotaped it.  And I watched it over and over again.

I still have the tape, and even converted it to a DVD a few years ago.
And I recently was given the "official" VHS release by by friend Rick.  I didn't even know it was actually released!  Nice little piece for the collection for sure.

I couldn't get enough of this show though.  Along with the other Muppet and puppet videos I had I watched it over and over.  Studying it.  Trying to learn from it.

And between this and the book "Jim Henson: The Works" that came out the year before I think I learned more about being creative, and being a good person, than I learned about puppetry.

1993 and 1994 were pretty dark times for me.  Even though I was smiling through so much of it.

Thank you Jim.
Not just for what you had done for the art I love so much, and not just for being an inspiration to generations of puppeteers and film makers.
But thank you Jim for bringing me joy and leading a path to being a good person.