Jim Henson Essay example - 3116 Words

Jim Henson Jim Henson once said, â€Å"Follow your enthusiasm. It’s something I’ve always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing† (qtd. in Fionaurora). Jim did just that. He loved puppetry and made many others love it too. The creator and a performer of the Muppets, Henson is known worldwide for his creations, which include shows like Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, and characters such as Grover, Elmo, Big Bird, the Swedish Chef, Bert and Ernie, and Miss Piggy to name a few. Jim’s most famous character was Kermit the Frog. Kermit remains the Muppet with which Henson is most closely associated. Through television and feature films, Henson developed the art of puppetry to new heights†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"By listening to the radio and watching TV Jim had learned a lot about storytelling, comedy, and performing† (St. Pierre 23). Only three years after getting their television Ji m got his first chance at fame. He got word that a Washington D.C. station, WTOP-TV, was looking for a puppeteer for a Saturday morning children’s show. Although he had very little experience with puppets, he decided to audition. Jim and a friend made a couple of hand puppets and got the job. The show was called The Junior Good Morning Show. Jim was only seventeen years old when the show began. The show was cancelled after three weeks on the air (St. Pierre 22-29). After the show was cancelled, Jim began college. He attended the University of Maryland. He took studio art classes because he wanted to be a commercial artist. One of the classes he took was a puppetry class. The class taught Jim many skills that he used to create of his characters. He excelled in the class and began helping many classmates with their work (Andres). Jim was not deterred after The Junior Good Morning Show was canceled. He remained persistent and soon got a job at the local NBC affiliate, WRC-TV, on another Saturday morning children’s show. He worked hard and the owners of the station took notice. When he was just a freshman at the University of Maryland, he was offered his own show. The show was called Sam and Friends. Sam and FriendsShow MoreRelatedThe Character Of Sarah Develope From The Film Labyrinth ( Jim Henson )1702 Words   |  7 PagesSarah develope due to those surrounding her in the film labyrinth? â€Å"A complicated irregular network of passages or paths in which it is difficult to find one s way; a maze:† (Oxford Dictionaries:2017) In the 1986 fantasy/action film Labyrinth (Jim Henson:1986) The plot closely follows the story of the protagonist Sarah in this coming of age film. The story follows Sarah on her quest to find her younger brother Toby,   who has been kidnapped by the Goblin King, Jareth. Sarah is introduced to a varietyRead MoreJim Henson795 Words   |  4 PagesJames Maury Henson was born September 24, 1936, in Greenville, Mississippi, the second son of Paul Ransom and Elizabeth Marcella Henson. He grew up in nearby Leland, where his father, an agronomist, worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His childhood was a happy one, as he explored both his artistic interests and the local countryside, whether alone or with friends. One of his childhood friends, Kermit, would later inspire the name of Hensons most celebrated creation. When he was in fifthRead MoreMy Life as a Furry Red Monster by Kevin Clash954 Words   |  4 Pagesbring life and energy to Elmo. Elmo was not even a main character on Sesame Street until Clash took over. In 2011, he also release Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, which includes rare footage, and behind the scenes look at Sesame Street and the Jim Henson Workshop. However, in November 2012 his career came to a halt when he was accused of having sexually abusive relationships with underage boys. Sheldon Stephens was the first accuser and claimed they had a sexual relationship when he was 16 yearsRead MoreEdward Gordon Craig s Critique On Modern Theatre Essay1558 Words   |  7 Pagesfarthings† proving his point that puppets simply have a grace unattainable by man. Created to the utmost intended specification, these puppets have the ability to perfectly represent and recreate the performance for the role without fail. Although Jim Henson s muppets do in some regard fit Craig’s uber-marionette theory, they have more of an emphasis on the human element of performance. Unlike Craig’s uber-marionettes,the muppets are instruments, just tools for which man to use. The human controllingRead MoreA Monster Calls And Jim Henson s Labyrinth1128 Words   |  5 PagesPatrick Ness s A Monster Calls and Jim Henson s Labyrinth follows a protagonist and his/her struggle with a monster. In A Monster Calls Connor, the protagonist of the book, finds his monster to take the shape of cancer in his dying mother. In Labyrinth Sarah, the protagonist of the movie, has her monster take the shape of a goblin king. During the protagonists journey they learn to accept a truth about life. In A Monster Calls and Labyrinth, Ness and Henson use their protagonist to illustrateRead MoreLabyrinth Film Analysis734 Words   |  3 PagesIntroduction- The Labyrinth a fantasy/ action movie made by Jim Henson and Dennis Lee. Directed by Jim Henson about a Girl named Sarah who goes on a journey through a maze to recover her brother from the Goblin King before it is too late. This movie was released 4 December in 1986 in Australia this movie is a great piece of work which shows the excellent cinematography in that year it was a great film as it showed the key elements to cinematography costumes, Props, Special Effects, Music and CameraRead MoreCollege For Inmates At The Tax Payers1651 Words   |  7 PagesWilliam Ward Jr. (â€Å"Will†) Professor Jim Robison English Composition 1102 2 December 2014 College for Inmates at the Tax Payers Expense? The United States tax payer spends, on average, $60,000 per year per prisoner incarceration. Along with that, state and federal spending has grown 400% in the last 20 years and is among the fastest growing line items in state and federal budgets. As a result more tax payers are in inquiry about whether or not their money is providing the best public safety returnRead MoreThe Dark Crystal Film Analysis1233 Words   |  5 PagesMaking its debut 1982, The Dark Crystal, created and directed by puppeteers Jim Henson and Frank Oz, was a fantasy film that involved intricate puppeteers and animatronics. Aside from The Muppets and Sesame Street, which involves more comedic skits to relay their message to its viewers, The Dark Crystal was a different kind of muppet movie because it used fantasy, fiction and action to tell its story. With this change in Jim Henson’s usual way of story telling, the fantasy aspect of the movie becomesRead MoreHidden Figures Character Analysis1013 Word s   |  5 Pagesabout three confident, intelligent negro women who play a huge role in Nasa’s landing to the moon. Throughout the movie these three women are criticized often because of the colour of their skin. The lead role is played exceptionally by Taraji P. Henson who plays the role of Katherine Goble Johnson. Katherine was part of a group of ‘coloured computers’. This is the group for negro women mathematicians who help NASA explore space. Amongst the many women working in this group there is Katherine JohnsonRead MoreTomie Depaola s Stories.he 993 Words   |  4 Pageswhen SS launches Andy Sandy, his first-ever early-reader picture book series, with two volumes; a third installment followed in the Fall of 2016, and a fourth is scheduled for summer 2017. Jim Lewis(a friend and former producer and writer for Jim Henson Company with whom DePaola once worked on a TV project).Jim Lewis also help write the stories and illustrate by DePaola, the Andy Sandy books star two dissimilar best friends.†Andy and Sandy’s friendship reminds me of my own childhood,† dePaola says