An Ode To Jim Henson
To the lovers, the dreamers, and me.
In honor of Jim Henson Idea Man coming out on Disney+ last month, I figured it was the perfect time to write a love letter to the creative I admire most: Jim Henson.
If we spend time together chatting about anything creative, you’ll quickly learn that Jim Henson is my Michael Jordan of universe-building. He’s simply one of the GOATs. He’s held a standing spot on my ‘dream dinner party list’ since the list’s inception*, so four years ago during the early pandemic I decided to pick up Brian Jay Jones’ 500-page biography on Henson to learn more about the life behind the man whose characters have made me feel so seen all of my life.
Where did my love for Henson's world begin? According to the photographic evidence below, it was on my 1st birthday. My big sister Allie, then four, gifted me a Miss Piggy doll, complete with a matching head of curls. I like to say my muppet love affair started with Miss Piggy.
Voiced by the wondrous Frank Oz, the determined, seemingly talentless Pig was my favorite when I was younger. The magic (and humor) of Miss Piggy was always in her confidence. Miss Piggy could be anything she put her mind to. She was my original Barbie. (Hi, Piggy!)
Her dynamic with the ‘everyman’ Kermit felt like two pieces of a puzzle fitting together. The yin to his yang, the perfect foil— and ultimately a beautiful reflection of the play between Henson and Oz during those early years of making Muppet magic.
While Missy Piggy may have audibly demanded the spotlight, Kermit was the real star. It may not have been easy bein’ green, but Kermit made it look as so. Kermit was an extension of Jim— literally and metaphorically. In reading the biography (or watching Idea Man) it’s engrossing to try and figure out where Jim ends and Kermit begins.
The funny thing about Kermit The Frog is that he didn’t always start as a frog. Named after a childhood friend (whose middle name was Kermit), the story of crafting up Kermit’s body from his mother’s coat and making his eyes out of a ping pong ball is the stuff of legends. It’s incredible to witness the early creation of these puppets and characters — starting with his first ever show in 1955, ‘Sam and Friends,’ which Jim created with his wife and partner-in-puppets, Jane.
Jane and Jim met in a puppetry class in the mid-1950s at the University of Maryland. Jane, two years his senior, immediately recognized his unique genius when they first started collaborating and took him under her wing. Before getting married in 1959, in 1958, they made it official and became business partners in Muppets, Inc., now known as The Jim Henson Company. From day one they divided the business— 60/40 : Jim/Jane.
As time went on, Jane, the mother of their 5 children, had to navigate the realities of being a creative entrepreneur and a mother during that time. It’s a sobering reality as you learn of the sacrifices she made during such a pivotal moment in the business. Both the biography and documentary thoughtfully highlight her contribution and the fact that there is no Jim without Jane— especially in the early days.
As a team they broke the mold: they elevated the art (and play) of puppetry and created innovative technology that would change television production and educational television programming, forever.
For those of you who watched one of the many Beatles documentaries or are familiar with the chronology of their rise, Jim’s rise took a parallel path. He went from 1950s clean-cut, American Bandstand and Tonight Show features to the extraordinary creative explosion and psychedelic visual literacy of the 1960s and 1970s within his work. The Beatles and Jim went on a beautiful creative journey that served as a north star and mirror to the times they were living in.
Jim, however, may have been doing the most important work of any artist of his time: saying the things that people couldn’t… with puppets. There’s something fascinating about puppets as a creative medium and tool for communication. Puppet therapy, in particular, can be a powerful approach to learning and healing. The concept is that children (and let’s be real, adults too) often struggle with communicating their feelings. Play through puppets allows an effective way to communicate, and the puppet provides a safe distance from uncomfortable feelings. Jim and his crew were able to address real, relatable, and educational topics through these characters we’ve come to know and love.
The first episode of Sesame Street aired on public television on November 10, 1969. Just a year and 9 months earlier, on February 19th, 1968, you could tune in on Monday mornings to Fred Rogers’ Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Something became clear in the late 1960s: children needed a new host of ‘friends’ to help them learn about and navigate the world around them.
Whether it was Fred Rogers as Daniel Tiger or Jim Henson as Kermit The Frog, for a whole new generation, on television: feelings became mentionable, which means they were manageable.
Fred and Jim (and their teams) taught so many of us as children how to express ourselves, and most importantly: it’s okay like ourselves, just the way we are.
ps. If you’re interested in learning more about Fred Rogers I recommend the podcast, Finding Fred. It’s an excellent 10-part series hosted by Carvell Wallace; if you feel like taking a break from today’s algorithms and hopping into a time machine back to 2019, it’ll give you all the ‘before-time’ pre-pandemic empathetic vibes you might need right now.
Jim led with empathy and created from a place of imagination and kindness. Only Jim / Kermit could facilitate the magic that happens organically in the video below. Wait for the :53-second mark and cry a little with me :)
Like many of us, I started as a Muppet and Sesame Street fan who would soon fall deep into the Henson creative hole as I got older. I dove head first into the Land of Gorgs in Fraggle Rock (dance your cares away!) and eventually would (and still) dream to be a Gelfling, like Kira, in the World of Thra from The Dark Crystal.
pps. At this point in this Substack, I’m assuming you’re either fully with me or I’ve fully lost you and there’s little in between. So for those who dare to get 1980’s fantasy weird, let’s continue on…
If the 50s, 60s, and 70s were all about The Muppets and transforming education on television, then the 1980s were as experimental and magical as the movie posters above this sentence appear. This was the decade that Jim Henson birthed his two cult classics: The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986).
Labyrinth gets a lot of love because of the David Bowie (and Jennifer Connelly!) of it all (and rightly so), however, The Dark Crystal is seared into my mind’s eye as a core pillar of my visual literacy. The tone of this universe deeply permeated my brain as a child and I’ve been in the purple haze of the crystal ever since. During this era of Jim’s creative endeavors, he collaborated with brilliant illustrator, Brian Froud.
Froud was the concept artist for both films and his collaboration with Jim took their respective world-building to new heights. Froud is now considered the pre-eminent fairy artist of his generation, and in working with The Henson Company on bringing these two stories to life on film, they set new standards for design, puppeteering, and animatronics in film which are today, considered landmarks in the evolution of modern-day special effects.
As you can tell from the swipe above, I’m pretty obsessed with Kira. If you take a look at our earliest Crown Affair mood boards or some of our campaigns, you’ll find Kira easter eggs hiding throughout the brand. ‘Elf’ ear popping out and all.
It’s interesting to note that neither of these films, which are now considered classics, did well at the box office. Labyrinth (which had higher expectations given it was his second film and had real star power behind it) was a total bust. It’s a reminder that sometimes the most impactful work is created before the larger populace is ready for it— and that things of quality should have no fear of time. How many artists have museum shows that include films they made 40 years later? Not too many.
At this point, Jim had been working in London for years. The Muppet Show and both his films were produced and shot in the UK, which is where The Henson Company set up the Creature Shop, in Camden. Whether you’re a Henson head or not, The Creature Shop is where some of the most iconic characters of all time were created. Jim was very close with George Lucas and it was around this time that Lucas was working on Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. He went to Jim to collaboratively concept and create Yoda (Yoda!!) and all the creatures within the film.
I always find it incredible that Yoda and Miss Piggy are voiced by the same actor. A genius, Frank Oz, is.
With all this brilliance and accomplishment comes the double-edged sword: Henson worked all the time. All the time. At one point, at the height of his success, he would fly back and forth weekly across the Atlantic to film Sesame Street in New York and The Muppet Show in London, all while overseeing a merchandising empire, his creative side projects, and was attempting to be a present a father to five children. There would be days he would go without sleeping or seeing his family. It was a lot.
In the documentary, there’s a scene where an interviewer asks him during a photoshoot many years ago: “Is this a 9 - 5 job?”
Jim replies, with a laugh, “It’s every moment of one’s life kind of job, I suppose.”
He dedicated every moment of his life to building out his universe, so unfortunately, in 1990, just as he was negotiating the sale of his business to Disney, he fell ill with a strep throat bacterial infection. He was so focused on his work that he ignored his illness for a few days, which sent his organs into shock. By the time he arrived at the hospital, it was too late: on May 16th of 1990, Jim Henson passed away at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan at 53 years old.
I remember when I was reading this part of the biography, I couldn’t control my sobbing. At that exact moment, my husband walked into the living room where I was reading and asked something along the lines of: “is everything okay? Did someone die?” I answered, “Yes… Well, 31 years ago.”
It was like I was processing his death for the first time, and it’s because I was. That’s when it hit me: I wasn’t even born by the time that Jim passed away. How wild that I grew up living on and for this man’s magic— and he wasn’t even alive when I was soaking it all in?
His sudden passing seemed so unfair—like a light was taken out of this world too soon.
I’ve thought more about his death over the last few years since reading his biography, and what I’ve come to realize (or rationalize) is that there’s something about Jim’s passing that keeps his puppets trapped in amber. It keeps them timeless, untouched by technology in the way that so many creative things were negatively impacted by the digital world in the 90s, 2000s, and beyond.
All of the Muppets are perfectly preserved and are relatively impervious to the rapidly changing times we live in now. Taking a stroll down Sesame Street today provides almost the same experience it did in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and for me in the 90s. Few universe-builders can say the same.
Earlier this week my sister texted me: “Help, Elmo is sleeping!”
I immediately knew what she meant: her HBO login wasn’t working and she had to tell our Little One (aka my niece Reese) that she couldn’t watch Sesame Street because Elmo was “taking a nap.” Within minutes my husband (aka our in-house IT support) troubleshooted the issue and Elmo was ready to wake up and play.
How remarkable is it that in 2024, my niece could be seeking the same connection with a sweet, 3-year-old, red character that I was in the early 90s (and I still do)?
Very remarkable— and proof that Jim’s legacy is deeper than one can express through words. His work is innately felt at all ages, in all decades.
I hope that today, wherever you are, you find your sense of play and come back to the things that made you feel loved and alive and creative when you were young. Thank you, Jim, for always making me feel that.
And now…
3 things I’m loving and a haircare tip
Broc Shot ($69.99, $61 with discount)— TMI but this has been a game changer for my gut health. The kit includes 30 sachets of whole broccoli sprout powder, with 15mg of Sulforaphane plus a stainless-steel shaker. It’s intended to help nurture your gut, detoxify the body and address inflammation. Let’s just say, I’ve never been more regular or had consistent energy. I’m on my 4th month of it and I cannot recommend it enough. I just made a code so you can get a 15% discount— DIANNACOHEN at checkout.
Toteme T-Lock Small Leather Clutch ($990) I was hesitant about this purchase because, as someone who wears down and uses the things I own, a white bag seems a little unhinged. However, the number of times I would wish I had a white bag living in Miami made this decision too obvious to ignore. I’m so happy I went for it. The size is perfect — it holds a lot while still being a smaller-size bag. It’s minimal, easy to dress up or down, I love that it has three strap options: no strap / as a clutch, fold the strap over inside to make it a shorter top handle, or a cross body / longer handle. I’ve worn it as all three and the optionality is amazing while traveling, too. It also comes in this beautiful Fawn color, but I preferred the pebbled leather.
Uniqlo Baby Tee Shirt ($14.90) Hands down the best baby tee for the price. The material feels substantial and holds up well after many washes. I love that it feels like a baby tee in the sleeve cut but isn’t cropped at the waist. The other baby tees I love from are LESET , Reformation, and ETERNE but they’re cropped, which doesn’t always fit the vibe I’m going for. I’ve worn this tee to everything from important investor meetings to simply running errands. I now have 6 of them, they’re a staple in my wardrobe. The black is great too.
1 Haircare Tip: It’s an Air Dry Summer People
Do less to get more out of your hair this summer — don’t reach for the heat tools and trust yourself, your hair, and your products. The Texturizing Air Dry Mousse is my new love affair. My hair has never looked and felt fuller or more voluminous while still being defined and texturized. It’s a weightless, crunch-free styling foam that adds texture to straight hair, enhances waves, and defines curls for an enhanced air dry. I apply a few small pumps of this with our Leave-In Conditioner and a little hair oil, voila, perfect effortless air dry. Give it a try and report back :)
* my always evolving ‘dream dinner party guest list’:
Jim Henson
Jane Goodall
Fred Rogers
Donald Glover
Sofia Coppola
Runner Ups: Brandon Flowers, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Ed Ruscha, Ashley Olsen, Fiona Apple, Richard Powers. Who are yours?
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