Jim Henson: The Biography (92 page)

115
“Holmes à Court was a cold”
FO interview.

116
as quickly as possible
While Henson Associates business manager Al Gottesman recalled Jim wanting to purchase the film from ACC immediately following the film’s premiere in Detroit in July, an April 29, 1982, letter from Holmes à Court to Jim reveals Jim and Holmes à Court had actually been in discussion for some time. See M. R. H. Holmes à Court to JH, April 29, 1982 (JHCA 9756).

117
“
Fraggle Rock
is the first show”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

118
“He just let it be what it was”
Steve Whitmire interview.

119
“I think of myself as fairly limited”
JH Quotes.

120
“Jim was a huge gadget fan”
Bacon, 14.

121
“
Dark Crystal
was a
$25
million R&D project”
Michael Frith interview.

122
“Neat”
This response was typical. See JH RB.

123
“it was very special”
Steve Whitmire interview.

124
“[Cantus] was great”
Jocelyn Stevenson interview.

125
“The idea”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

126
“completely endearing,” “fetchingly whimsical”
John O’Connor, “TV Weekend: Five Hours of ‘Lazy,’ ”
New York Times
, February 24, 1984; Tom Shales, “The Fraggle Factor,”
Washington Post
, January 10, 1983.

127
“unprecedented”
Associated Press, “Names in the News,” April 7, 1989.

128
“a very nice project”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

129
“to make final decisions”
JH memo to Everybody, “Sneak Previews—Dark Crystal,” March 10, 1982 (JHCA 9756).

130
“going on forever,” “What did you think?”
Michael Frith interview.

131
“close to being an epic”
JH Quotes.

132
“He was so proud of it”
CH interview.

133
“Not great”
JH RB, March 19, 1982.

134
As the theater emptied
FO interview.

135
“a big miscalculation”
LH interview.

136
“The movie went off”
FO interview. Memories are conflicted on when, exactly, executives from Universal first saw the film, with Oz recalling a viewing in Hollywood and Al Gottesman remembering a showing in London.

137
“He felt the studio”
Jane Henson interview.

138
“[There was] that sense of dismay”
CH interview.

139
“It was a huge overhaul”
LH interview.

140
“running a tape backwards and forward”
David Odell, “Reflections on Making The Dark Crystal and Working with Jim Henson,”
The Dark Crystal: Creation Myths
(graphic novel) (Los Angeles: Archaia, 2013).

141
“A bit better”
JH RB, July 12, 1982.

142
“too boring,” “He felt that the movie was about a balance”
Jane Henson interview.

143
Jim decided he’d had enough
Again, memories are foggy on whether it was his annoyance with Universal or ACC, following the Detroit premiere, that drove Jim to purchase the film from ACC. While Jim was annoyed with Universal, they had no financial investment in the film—at least beyond distribution—so Jim’s decision to purchase the film from ACC would have no direct impact on his relationship with Universal, making it unlikely the studio had triggered his response. However, Al Gottesman, whose memory is more reliable on these things, recalled Jim phoning him on the way back from Detroit and saying that Grade [
sic
] and ACC didn’t understand his film. Oz, too, recalled it this way.

144
“I can’t work like this,” “There was really only one thing he could do”
John Henson interview.

145
“I’m going to buy back
The Dark Crystal
” BB, archival interview.

146
Brillstein was stunned, “And most of the time he was right”
This section is
based on personal and archival interviews with BB, DL, CH, and Jane Henson.

147
“It was a huge gamble”
CH interview.

148
“It was a good deal”
FO interview.

149
“What happened to the Muppets,” “They’re not there,” “We’re not telling!”
John Calloway interview with JH, WLS-TV Chicago, November 23, 1982.

150
“With all of the developments”
JH Quotes.

151
“a watered down J. R. R. Tolkien”
Vincent Canby, “Review: Henson’s Crystal,”
New York Times
, December 17, 1982.

152
“Jim Henson and his colleagues”
Gary Arnold, “The Finest in Fantasy,”
Washington Post
, December 21, 1982.

153
“enjoyable [and] imaginative”
John Engstrom, “ ‘Dark Crystal’ Is Fantastic!,”
Boston Globe
, December 18, 1982.

154
“sketchy”
“Film Review: The Dark Crystal,”
Variety
, December 15, 1982.

155
“The
Dark Crystal
really polarized opinion”
Bacon, 15.

156
“I find that often”
JH Quotes.

157
“I felt sad for Jim”
FO interview.

158
“I thought I had failed miserably”
Kathy Mullen interview.

159
“The most impressive thing”
FO interview.

1
“We have been very pleased”
JH to Daniel Burge, January 27, 1983 (JHCA 9878).

2
“first time”
JH RB, March 2, 1983.

3
“was a huge undertaking”
JH to Daniel Burge, January 27, 1983 (JHCA 9878).

4
“In this business, there is nothing more compelling”
JJ, archival interview.

5
“He loved the good things”
BB, archival interview.

6
“He wanted my mom to be happy”
CH interview.

7
“I can’t come back here”
Jane Henson interview.

8
“handshake of a separation”
Ibid. Despite Jane’s kind categorization, the separation was, in fact, very legal.

9
“have an above-board independent life”
LH interview.

10
“escalated quickly”
Jane Henson interview.

11
“painful and inevitable”
Ibid.

12
“really upset,” “There was a part of me”
Heather Henson interview.

13
“I was looking at the year ahead”
“Interview with Jim Henson,”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
DVD, Special Feature.

14
“I had learned a lot about directing”
FO interview.

15
“The next one will be”
Leslie Stackel, “Jim Henson: Master of Muppets,”
Starlog
, August 1984.

16
“This time”
Froud,
The Goblins of Labyrinth
, 139.

17
“I immediately pictured a baby”
Ibid.

18
“What is the philosophy of [the] film?”
See Jim’s notes on “The Labyrinth” (JHCA 10732).

19
“We played around with various story lines”
Labyrinth
production notes.

20
“define and inspire”
Froud,
The Goblins of Labyrinth
, 14–15, 140.

21
“way too over jokey,” “I asked Jim”
FO interview.

22
“very precise in terms of his characters”
“Interview with Jim Henson,”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
DVD, Special Feature.

23
“There’s a sense of our characters”
Being Green
, 91.

24
“We did our first film in Los Angeles”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
production notes.

25
“We got a very nice, happy feeling”
“Interview with Jim Henson,”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
DVD, Special Feature.

26
“I thought, ‘Well, getting a degree”
BH interview.

27
“it was under an umbrella of safety,” “I fucked up”
FO interview.

28
“We sort of go up and down”
Stackel, “Jim Henson: Master of Muppets.” 359
“an opportunity to stretch”
“Interview with Jim Henson,”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
DVD, Special Feature.

29
“He’d say, ‘I can’t be expected’ ”
Steve Whitmire interview.

30
“I’m just an actor,” “The argument will continue on”
Stackel, “Jim Henson: Master of Muppets.”

31
“shooting
M
uppet babies in
M
ovie” JH RB, August 29, 1983.

32
“short, stubby arms and legs,” “very difficult”
FO interview.

33
“It becomes quite a game”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

34
“Things spring up in your head”
FO interview.

35
“to worry about it”
“Interview with Jim Henson,”
The Muppets Take Manhattan
DVD, Special Feature.

36
“Puppetry is a very wide field”
Ibid.

37
“Jim started the Foundation”
Allelu Kurten, quoted on the Jim Henson Foundation website.

38
“We see frequently puppets”
JH, “Some Professional Ethics,”
Puppetry Journal
(1975): 24.

39
“Getting started was really difficult”
Connie Peterson, quoted on “Jim Henson’s Red Book” website, July 6, 2011,
http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/07/06/741983
.

40
“be Jim when Jim wasn’t there”
Bacon, 14.

41
“I was always chomping at the bit”
FO interview.

42
“a really marvelous idea”
John Cleese to JH, June 1, 1984 (JHCA 8708 corr). 365
“Your contributions to
Labyrinth
” JH to Terry Jones, October 31, 1983 (JHCA 9888).

43
“I filled sketchbook upon sketchbook”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary, transcript (JHCA,
Labyrinth
box).

44
“poetic novella”
Owen Williams, “Dance Magic Dance: 25 Years of Labyrinth,”
Empire
, 201, 272.

45
“I sat at my desk”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

46
“
You’re going to let kids”
Arthur Novell interview.

47
“I’d always stayed away from Saturday morning”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

48
“the right way to meet our characters for the first time”
JJ, archival interview.

49
“have a nice reason for being”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

50
“can be used to develop creativity”
JH to Michael Frith, “Notes on Marvel Productions, The Muppet Babies,” circa 1984 (JHCA 8497).

51
“At some point in my life”
Being Green
, 159.

52
“recharged and re-inspired,” “The beauty of nature”
Ibid., 139.

53
“One of my happiest moments”
JH, “The Courage of My Convictions.”

54
“while we were considering”
Adam Pirani, “Part Two: Into the Labyrinth with Jim Henson,”
Starlog
, August 1986.

55
“happening
now
” John Henson interview.

56
“Jim … outlined his basic concept”
Labyrinth
production notes.

57
“If you like the script”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

58
“I’d always wanted to be involved”
Labyrinth
production notes.

59
“I thought it was fair,” “We’ll see”
FO interview.

60
“not original”
Roger Ebert, review of
The Muppets Take Manhattan
, January 1, 1984,
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19840101/REVIEWS/401010362
.

61
“It doesn’t have enough lunacy”
FO interview.

62
“a terminally sappy idea”
Gary Arnold, “The Muppet Mope,”
Washington Post
, July 14, 1984.

63
“that brown film”
Various Muppet performers and builders called it this.

64
“I was always keen”
Bacon, 16.

65
“the first time my father”
Ibid.

66
“The Mad Hatter’s face”
Ibid., 17.

67
“The characters are just not Muppets at all”
Harris.

68
“I feel I’ve always done well”
JH Quotes.

69
“people say, ‘you really should’ ”
Harris.

70
“more oriented to the Muppets”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

71
“Muppet performer”
See Jim’s corrections to the Apple copy, 1984 (JHCA general correspondence A-C box).

72
“The terms that I mentioned”
Robert Holmes à Court to JH, telegram, March 28, 1984 (JHCA 8808).

73
“We would have no company today”
LH interview. In the final agreement, Jim purchased all 120 episodes of
The Muppet Show
,
The Muppet Movie
,
The Great Muppet Caper
, and the television specials
Of Muppets and Men
,
The Muppets Go Hollywood
,
The Muppets Go to the Movies
, and
The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
, as well as the rights to all original music in all of the above Muppet properties.

74
“simply heroic”
Al Gottesman interview.

75
“[It was] about the world”
Kim Johnson,
Life Before and After Monty Python
(Plexus, 1993), 210.

76
“We’ve got a live actress playing the part”
See “Jim Henson’s Red Book”
website, January 29, 2011, entry,
http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/01/29/1291985
.

77
“dark and cynical”
Ibid.

78
“just right for the role”
Labyrinth
production notes.

79
“Puppets are a lot like masks”
“Jim Henson’s Red Book” website, May 7, 2011, entry,
http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2011/05/07/571983
.

80
“I have a good group of people”
JH, AFI seminar, April 14, 1989.

81
“hand out the ‘attaboys’ ”
DL, archival interview.

82
“He didn’t wonder if his own work was good”
LH interview.

83
“If you like one person”
JH to Arthur Shimkin, March 11, 1981 (JHCA 17954).

84
“When you first encounter the kind of energy”
JJ, archival interview.

85
“dramatize the fact”
“Fraggle Rock: Notes for Season Four,” circa 1984 (JHCA
Fraggle Rock
box).

86
“travel around the world”
JH memo to Management Forum, “Re: After Fraggle Rock,” March 14, 1984 (JHCA 8497).

87
“It takes a lot of rehearsing”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

88
“Everyone has to work closely”
Labyrinth
production notes.

89
“didn’t feel that it was very much mine”
Johnson,
Life Before and After Monty Python
, 210.

90
“stunned”
CH interview.

91
“Jim was hurt”
DL, archival interview.

92
“It’s a big one”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

93
“In the beginning it was hard,” “I found I could talk very straight to her”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

94
“Once I’d overcome the disorientation”
Labyrinth
production notes.

95
“[Bowie] has been wonderful to work with”
JH memo to Management Forum, “London Update,” July 30, 1985 (JHCA 2460).

96
“a completely free hand”
Labyrinth
production notes.

97
“a spoiled child,” “[He’s] a very normal”
Ibid.

98
“Supposedly, David Bowie went around looking for us”
John Henson interview.

99
“Jim is undoubtedly”
Labyrinth
production notes.

100
“Late in the story”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

101
“this was the most complicated thing,” “I suddenly had this idea”
Ibid.

102
“It’s certainly one of the most bizarre”
Labyrinth
production notes.

103
“When you’ve had an idea”
“Inside the Labyrinth” documentary.

104
“I never leave the studio”
BH interview.

105
“Rather than laying everyone off,” “By keeping a group of people together,” “He had tried to approach the problem,” “it would have almost been nepotism”
Bacon, 19.

106
“He was the first one”
BB, archival interview.

107
“He was a modest guy”
Susan Schindehette, “Legacy of a Gentle Genius,”
People
, June 18, 1990.

108
“He was very conservative”
BB, archival interview.

109
“My dad was
naughty
” BH interview.

110
a meeting with a Swedish filmmaker
This story was constructed from interviews with Duncan Kenworthy, Brian Henson, and Dave Goelz.

111
“was really quite beautiful”
JH, AFI seminar, April 14, 1989.

112
“money were no object,” “Television is one of the greatest connectors around”
Muppet Voyager
proposal (JHCA 21272).

113
“Those last four shows”
Larry Mirkin interview.

114
“We who were totally involved”
JJ, archival interview.

115
“I think we all cried”
Jerry Nelson interview.

116
“This whole project has been a joy from the beginning”
See video footage of
Fraggle Rock
wrap party,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3kUKjym1nw
.