WEBVTT - SYSK Distraction Playlist: How Jim Henson Worked 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.320 Welcome to you Stuff you should know from house Stuff 0:00:04.320 --> 0:00:12.880 Works dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:17.639 Josh Clark with Charles W. Chuck, Bryant Cowdy and Jerry 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:21.760 for the last time this year. Yeah, it's just informed 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:25.920 us and she's all smiles. She is not very nice, Jerry. 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:31.840 How'd you like that presentation earlier? The sensitivity training? It 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.760 was great. Yes, people, because we worked for corporation, we 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:40.280 have things like sensitivity training, and in those trainings you 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:45.840 get shown video examples of various forms of harassment and 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.600 they are the best, most fun things to watch. Ever, 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:53.480 they're pretty overt. Yeah, I could watch those all day long. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:57.240 I was wondering how much that production company made from that. 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:01.120 You know they did, but like five little vignettes they 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.560 I'm sure they paid the actors like literal peanuts. They 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.160 were bad actors. They were like, there's the peanut bucket 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.840 over there, you can pay yourself. Yeah, the old The 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.320 one that really got me was the Actually they were 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.600 all really funny, but the one with the old guy 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:19.839 in the in the factory loading boxes like a shipping warehouse, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:21.880 and they were giving the old man a hard time 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.840 about everything because he was old. Yeah, because he's old, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:26.600 and you know, he'd they were giving a hard time, 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:28.880 so he'd, uh he was out of work for a 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.600 while and they had to cover for him, the old man, 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:33.319 and he had the back brace on, did you know what? 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:36.240 I said? And he just looked on his face. He 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.640 just kept getting a little more like pouty the whole time. 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:42.080 I was like, dude, that's good acting. Stick up for yourself. 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.320 Tell these young kids, you know what to do. The 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.000 back brace prevents him from it. Anyway. I just had 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:49.960 to bring that up because I just think that stuff 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.520 is so funny, And what's funny is people really do that, 0:01:52.560 --> 0:01:55.520 some of that stuff that you're like, what, there's some 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.360 creeps out there. Um, that was a really weird set 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:03.200 up for Jimson because he's the least harassing guy he 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:07.080 was probably ever. Yeah, he certainly comes across that way. 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.480 He's a genuinely good dude. It's not one of these 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:13.000 stories you hear about, like, uh, maybe some of your 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.280 favorite children's books writers or cartoonists or something, maybe we're 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.440 kind of bad people. No, apparently not at all. Um, 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:27.200 he was not. Only so there's a lot of quotes 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.959 in this article. John no John. I thought John Strickland 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.480 wrote it. It turns out that's not the case. I'm surprised, um, 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.880 because he's friends with or down with at least one 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:40.359 of Jim Henson's kids, I believe lives here in Atlanta. 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:44.160 And but in this article, it's one of those things 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:48.480 where everybody who compliments Jim Henson, who worked with him, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.400 they go to the trouble of complimenting him in a 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.520 way that's not just like, oh, he was such a 0:02:56.520 --> 0:03:00.959 great guy. They all back up just a little bit 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:04.320 because they're cognizant that that doesn't get it across, and 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:08.000 they want you to understand that they're talking about more 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.040 than just the great guy. Like, oh, he's dead and 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.760 I'm not going to speak ill of the dead, and 0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:16.040 he was a great guy. And that's a really thoughtless, polite, 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.959 inoffensive thing to say. So, like Frank Oz said something 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:25.280 like he was a he was a great guy, but 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:27.120 at the same time, you know, he was a human, 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:30.880 but he was still a really great guy. So like 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:33.000 what you're thinking of as a great guy, get rid 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.320 of that and actually replaced it with a genuine human 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:39.920 great guy. Yeah, because as a filmmaker, he's a puppeteer obviously, 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.040 but he was a filmmaker first and foremost, which a 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:47.120 lot of people kind of forget about. Um, oh yeah, 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:51.280 that's a tough, tough job, super stressful, and you and 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.720 I have seen it can make good guys and good 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:59.440 ladies be real jerks and you under stressful situations. You know, 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:02.080 it's it's it's a tough thing. There's a lot of 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.360 money on the line each day, and uh, it's like 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:08.320 everybody relaxed. It's just millions of dollars. But frank Oz, 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:10.120 I think that's the point he was making, like even 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.400 when he would get frustrated in a stress like that, 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:15.320 it was he was still a good guy behind it all. Yeah, 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.640 and I read a read an I guess there was 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:22.080 a book review of biography about him that that showed 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.440 that it was all somebody said it was all just 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.359 play to him, like work was play. Even though he 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:34.200 worked really hard, he was able to commit himself like 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.680 that to his work because to him he was having 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.599 the time of his life all the time. And apparently 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:42.640 like there was just there was no line between work 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:45.640 and play, which now that we've seen that sensitivity training 0:04:46.080 --> 0:04:47.840 could have gotten him in a lot of big you know, 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.200 a lot of trouble, but he, Um, he just enjoyed 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.080 the life that he had. From what I understand, love cars. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:56.520 He had like a lotus that was the same color 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.120 as Kermit the Frog. Um, he had a role is 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:06.360 Royce early on from his work. Yeah, Um, let's talk 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:08.760 about let's talk about the guy. Yeah, I mean, if 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:10.160 you haven't, I just need to go ahead and say, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:13.720 if you haven't listened to the episode on the Muppets, Um, 0:05:13.760 --> 0:05:16.159 this is a what I consider just a more in 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.840 depth part two on the man himself. But that's one 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.159 of our favorite all time episodes and from feedback, one 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.640 of the great all time fan episodes. Yeah, it was 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:27.479 a great episode. Yeah, it was just a lot of fun. 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.560 And so I hope this augments that one. I hope 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.480 you do it justice. So, um, that's actually one of 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.400 the reasons why we can do this episode because we 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.120 already did a Muppets episode and they tweeted about us. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.640 Do you remember the Henson Company did? Yeah, they did, 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.560 which was they approved, got their actual approval, right, man. 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:50.880 That was something. Um, the the Muppets episodes, it's own thing. 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:53.320 It's about Muppets. This is about Jim Henson. And it's 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:56.720 appropriate that we're doing this because he was more than 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:58.839 just the Muppets, even though everybody pegs him with the 0:05:58.880 --> 0:06:02.039 Muppets and like that is a huge thing. He was 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:03.760 more than that. Like you said, he was a filmmaker, 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.600 but originally started out as it a puppeteer, but kind 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.520 of a reluctant one. Yeah. He was born in uh 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:16.520 ninety six September James Marie Henson, m A U r 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:21.320 Y in Mississippi, and his grandmother, maternal grandmother was a 0:06:21.360 --> 0:06:24.599 painter and a quilter and a needle worker. And apparently 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:27.520 it was a big inspiration to him, uh, just to 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:32.560 seek out the creative in life, right, which is pretty great, um, 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.839 and one of the one of the things he got into. Well, 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.960 he was originally a kind of a fan of ventriloquism 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:42.680 a little bit, but he he said later on in 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.320 life that he was never he was never like obsessed 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.200 with puppets or anything like that like you would have 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.800 expected him to be. And as he went to college 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:56.359 I think in Maryland, he uh, he got into he 0:06:56.440 --> 0:06:59.640 started out as a studio artist, that's what he was studying. Yeah, 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.359 he loved television above all else. From the time he 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.560 was a little kid, he was just transfixed by the tube. 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:08.599 He almost kind of made himself destined to be on 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:13.440 television by being obsessed with it. But um, he kind 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:18.120 of stumbled into puppetry uh in college, and he started 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.000 out as a studio art major and ended up graduating 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:24.520 with a home X degree because home X was the 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:28.840 only degree that offered puppet making courses. Yeah, he he 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.520 majored h or He took a puppetry course at first, 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:35.200 and h then a bunch of textiles and crafts courses, 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:38.960 which is a great way to you know, start building 0:07:38.960 --> 0:07:41.720 and making your own puppets. Right. So, but he graduated 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.440 with the home X degree. But by the time he graduated, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:50.080 he was already extremely successful. The UM the Rolls Royce 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.320 that I mentioned he bought in time to drive to 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:58.080 his college graduation because he had already created successful shows 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:02.080 UM in his town. Yeah, I think he was in 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.160 high school. He was on the local TV station doing 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:09.120 little guest spots and then uh, in nineteen fifty five, 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:13.880 the show Salmon Friends debuted and that uh. You know, 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:16.040 he also did work on the side making money with UM. 0:08:16.240 --> 0:08:17.960 I think he did some of the like really cool 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:22.320 concert posters of the day, really color colorful silk screen posters, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.520 and salmon prints did really well. Uh, but he still 0:08:26.640 --> 0:08:29.000 wasn't quite sure, Like I still don't know if I wanted, 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.239 you know, I'm a filmmaker. I did. Did these short 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:35.720 films really sort of weird abstract short films, live action 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.959 experimental that totally experimental. Did you see the time Piece? Yeah, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.520 that one was pretty cool. It was great, um, and 0:08:42.600 --> 0:08:45.880 it's way and did you see the Cube? I watched 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.480 parts of the Cube that was did you see the end? Now? Oh, 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.360 you've got to see the end. I skipped the middle 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.719 because I was like, Okay, I get where you're going 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:56.400 with this. Yeah, well we should just set it up 0:08:56.440 --> 0:08:58.480 real quick. The Cube was a show on NBC. It 0:08:58.520 --> 0:09:02.439 was a one hour show um in nine. The name 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:06.040 of the show NBC did was called Experiment and Television, 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.160 and it was a different thing each week. And he 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:11.920 had one week's installment called The Cube, which was a 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:15.439 guy just stuck in a white room but other people 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:16.599 could come in and out of the room, but he 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.439 could not write yes, and he starts to go kind 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.000 of crazy and it has the look and feel of 0:09:23.040 --> 0:09:27.640 a color TV ad um, like all lots of overacting 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.440 and like Carol burnettesque characters and stuff like that, but 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:36.600 the sentiment behind it and like the everything behind is 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:41.600 really neat and it really gives you a good, an 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:45.680 eye opening example of like what Jim Henson was capable of, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.640 but also like what he was into, because you know, 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.600 when you think of him, you think of muppets and 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.400 Sesame Street in particular. Sure, and these are weird abstract 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:58.800 art films, um not unlike you know, you watch like 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:01.600 a Jim Morrison art film him from film school and 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:03.560 it's kind of the same style. You know, that was 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:05.719 what was going on back then. And he actually got 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:09.200 nominated for an Academy Award for time Piece. Uh. I 0:10:09.240 --> 0:10:12.560 think Jim Henson had Jim Morrison beat by a mile 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:15.640 as far as experimental films. When yeah, I'll agree with 0:10:15.679 --> 0:10:20.040 you there. Um So, like I said, he wasn't quite 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.920 convinced that puppetry was his future because he was a 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.640 filmmaker and he was like, puppets are still kind of 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:29.800 kids stuff. But post college he did the Old Tour 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:33.040 of Europe, and in Europe, puppeteering is a whole different business. 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.800 It was a lot more serious um and a lot 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:40.120 more um. I guess it was treated his art, Yeah, exactly, 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.719 and he said, you know what, I Am going to 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:46.720 give this a shot. Came back to the US, married Jane, 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:50.280 and even though he and Jane separated, they never divorced. 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.319 Oh really I thought they did. No, they never uh 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:59.079 fulfilled the divorce. They just stayed separated and um. Then 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.800 he started making TV commercials and formed his own company 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:05.200 in nineteen sixty three with I don't know if he 0:11:05.320 --> 0:11:07.200 formed it with Frank Oz, but he hired Frank Oz 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:11.520 and Jerry Jewell, who ended up being obviously legendary puppeteers 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.800 and lifelong collaborators of his. Yeah. Yeah, But he started 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:19.880 out making a basically a puppet based commercial ad agency 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:24.320 in New York in nineteen sixty three. Yeah, and they 0:11:24.320 --> 0:11:26.560 weren't making funny commercials back then, so he was really 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.520 pretty revolutionary at the time. And they, I mean, they 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:32.280 did pretty well for themselves. And one of the smartest 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:35.960 moves he made early on was all of his contracts 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.160 said that he retained the rights to any of the 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.640 creations he made for these companies, So he was creating 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.920 what some of the things that would later become famous muppets, 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:50.160 Like the Cookie Monster was originally made for a chip maker, 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.880 and it was this puppet that couldn't get enough of 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:55.199 these chips. Yeah, he was the wheel steeler and he 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:58.200 stole cheese wheels. Yeah, okay, that's what it was. Um, 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.559 And he ended up being the Cookie Monster. The reason 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.960 he ended up being the Cookie Musters because Jim Henson 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:06.520 retained the rights to that creation. That was he was 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.800 a very savvy business guy too. Yeah, and he was 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:14.080 he was using somebody else's dime, these these advertisers like 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.560 Budgets to kind of hash out and form and make 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:22.680 his muppets. Yeah. Rolf the Dog started out on Purina 0:12:22.720 --> 0:12:26.000 commercials and was later a sidekick on The Jimmy Dean 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.679 Show in nineteen sixty three, which I remember that from 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:32.000 the Muppets episode Wolf was the first big Muppet. Then 0:12:32.160 --> 0:12:36.480 it's he's such like a bit character now that you know. 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:38.920 It's just mind boggling to think he was the one 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.600 that started at all, even before Kermit, before Big Bird, 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.480 it was Rolf. Kermit kind of stole the show. I think. Yeah, 0:12:44.920 --> 0:12:47.120 we'll talk a little more about Kermit and where he 0:12:47.200 --> 0:12:53.840 came from, right, after this. Alright, so it's nineteen sixty 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:58.840 nine and a very very big thing happens to Jim Henson. 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:03.360 He was invited to be on the pilot of a 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:07.360 show created by the Children's Television Workshop called Sesame Street. 0:13:08.280 --> 0:13:10.320 He did not create it, some people think he did, 0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.240 but he did make his mark by creating most of 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.480 the iconic characters. And if you were a fan of 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.560 the old Sesame Streets back then, all, not all, but 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.840 many of those little short films, the little claymation ones, 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.400 are the live actions. He directed those as well, which 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:30.040 is pretty cool. I never knew that. I think I 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.360 knew that, did you? Yeah, he was he was our restive. 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.439 Yeah he was there. Rustivick, that's right. Russevick is ours. 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:42.640 That's right. So um chuck. Uh. The whole thing that 0:13:43.559 --> 0:13:46.840 changed everything for him was Sesame Street. He's not a 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:49.360 he wasn't a creator of Sesame Street. They's hired him 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:51.760 on and they actually kind of went him over because remember, 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.840 one of the things that Jim Henson always struggled with 0:13:55.080 --> 0:14:01.560 his whole career was he wanted to explore places that 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:06.679 puppets had never really gone to. In themes that they 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.400 hadn't gone to at least not in the modern age. Um. 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.120 But he was fighting against them not being taken seriously. Yeah, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.640 it wasn't like he was anti puppet by any means. 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.360 He was or anti kids because one of the big 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:22.960 reasons he signed on with Children's Television Workshop was their 0:14:23.400 --> 0:14:26.640 goal to educate kids meant a lot to him. But um, 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:30.240 like you said, I think to merge those worlds successfully 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:34.000 was a big part of his goal and struggle for 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.840 a little while. Russ Vic, by the way, made the 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:40.440 little intersticial things for the stuff you should know television, 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.600 the animation, which is why I reference him. So the 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:47.440 Children's Television Workshop, which is now called the Sesame Workshop. 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.120 From what I understand, they want him over big time. 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.280 He makes all of these characters from like Big Bird, 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.080 and I think Kermit came before Sesame Street, and he 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.120 started out I think we talked about this in The 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:03.760 Muppet episode two. He started out looking really weird, not 0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:07.040 cool at all, like really kind of freaky, which is 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:09.120 something that I now that I know a little more 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.600 about Jim Henson, I think maybe he might have even 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:15.320 been going for. But one of the things that Sesame 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:19.200 Street allowed him to do was to really kind of 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.640 explore something that he'd long been obsessed with, which was 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:29.760 television and where it converged with puppets, which was all 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.280 new territory, and Jim Hanson was at the bleeding edge 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:35.360 of it because if you think about it, when you 0:15:35.400 --> 0:15:38.800 go to a puppet show live, you know, you're you're 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:43.000 looking at what's essentially a mechanism for hiding the human 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.920 and there's just a little area that the puppet can 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:53.359 move around in. Yeah. So Jim Henson stepped back and said, Okay, 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:56.880 the television is that little tiny area that the puppet 0:15:56.880 --> 0:16:00.120 can stay, can move around in. But it all so 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:03.080 opens up the whole world for a puppet because you're 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:06.680 using camera angles and there's editing, and it's not in person. Yeah, 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:09.480 just frame out the people. So and again we talked 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.120 about this in the Muppet episode. He created something called 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:16.440 platforming up to where the the puppeteers no longer had 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:21.520 to like crouch down and in to to to maneuver 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.160 the puppets. Because he was a tall guy, yeah, tall 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:26.720 and lanky man. He was skinny. Those running shots and 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.320 time pieces because he was in it, they were hysterics. Yeah, 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:32.600 and he weighs about seventy pounds somehow big lanky legs. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:36.320 But um, so yeah, the performers could stand up, which 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.480 was a huge weight off. But at the same time, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:42.720 because you're working with cameras and stuff like that, and 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.200 they have the whole universe to move around in and 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:48.000 Jim Henson wanted him to move around as much as possible, 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:51.200 it also put him in some weird positions. Yeah, if 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:54.680 you ever well, some people might think it's like kind 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:57.080 of ruining the thing, but I think it's really neat 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.280 if you if you just look up on Google images, 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.960 mupp Spot, Muppet Show behind the scenes pictures, and it'll 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:06.880 show the stage sets you know, like uh, six ft 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:10.760 off the ground and all the people standing beneath. Um. 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:13.240 I think it's awesome to look at. But some people don't, 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:15.280 like you know, they want to keep that illusion alive. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:17.720 So depending on what kind of person you are, either 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.000 seek that out or don't. And we gave that warning 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:22.720 in the Muppets Episode two, did we. Yeah. I think 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.119 they're really cool pictures because you know, a lot of 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.480 times they're looking at they're looking at video monitors. UM, 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:37.320 standing there contorted using both hands. Um, like the way 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.200 puppeteers work together, to me is is just a miracle 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:45.160 because they're acting as the puppets, but they're moving still 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:48.840 moving among one another as humans underneath, which can be 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:52.359 really complicated. We, in fact, we know some really really 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:55.760 talented puppeteers here in Atlanta. Yeah, the Center for Puppetry 0:17:55.880 --> 0:18:00.199 Arts is yeah, I think the nation's largest puppet puppeteer organization. Yep. 0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:03.960 And that is where we had our TV show debut party, 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:08.000 premiere party. Like, it was a really cool experience, Like 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:09.760 emmett Otter and the gang are right there on display. 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.520 I think the Hintson and Kermit cut the ribbon for 0:18:12.520 --> 0:18:17.080 the grand opening back when it opened, and UM ended 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.199 up donating like five hundred puppets and muppets to the 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.240 Center for Puppetry Arts. So if you ever visit Atlanta, 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:25.399 people always email us and say what should we do? 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:28.680 Highly recommend going and checking out the Center for Puppetry Arts. Yeah, 0:18:28.680 --> 0:18:31.400 because they have a museum with, like you said, emmett Otter, 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.719 like a full size life size s yeah behind glass, 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:39.440 scary as you can imagine. Yeah, But I was talking 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.439 about Raymond Carr, our friend who I hate to keep 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.160 bring up the TV show, but it all kind of overlaps. 0:18:44.200 --> 0:18:46.879 He was a production designer for Stuff You Should Know 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:50.480 on Science Channel, and he and his friends Brandon and 0:18:50.520 --> 0:18:54.000 the Gang are amazing puppeteers and they're doing some really 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:58.359 really leading edge, like cool stuff here in Atlanta, Like 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.280 these giant puppets operate, like, you know, fifting foot tall 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.199 puppets operated by like six and eight people. Have you 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.560 ever seen the spaceman that they do. No, man, it's unbelievable. 0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:10.480 It's really cool. It's like, I don't know how tall 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.280 he is. He seems like he's twenty ft tall. And they, 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:15.280 you know, do these at parades and stuff, and it's 0:19:15.320 --> 0:19:18.040 just really really cool stuff. That's awesome. Yeah, but Hinton 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.560 is a huge inspiration to them obviously. Oh yeah. I 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.360 think anybody who works even remotely in puppets has got 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.800 to be inspired by Jim Um. One of the other 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:30.480 things that he came up with was that was based 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:37.080 on putting muppets or puppets on TV. Was using softer materials. Yeah, 0:19:37.119 --> 0:19:41.240 everything else is like up to that point, stiff wood marionettes, 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.560 ventriloquist dummies, that kind of stuff. He used like foam 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:50.920 and it allowed the puppets themselves to have more expressive faces, 0:19:51.600 --> 0:19:55.040 which was great for close up on TV. Yeah. Absolutely, 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.840 and it also I mean now looking back, he just 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:01.359 are like, well, yeah, of course, it's what puppets do. 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:04.639 That's what I know. But that was Jim Henson that 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:07.200 came up with that, and it changed everything because it 0:20:07.640 --> 0:20:10.480 took something like, I mean, imagine, how do he dot? 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:12.399 It was like, yeah, it's cool, you know, it's how 0:20:12.440 --> 0:20:14.480 do he doty? Or whatever? But whether close up or 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:16.600 far away, he looked exactly the same. It was like 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.200 a wood head with like a moving lower jaw, and 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.399 you know, he gave you nightmares. But with the Termit, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:25.119 the frog or something like that. The fact that he 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:29.840 could have different expressions and react differently, and and his 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:33.440 emotions could be shown on his face, that made him 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.960 that much more popular, that much more approachable, uh, to 0:20:37.359 --> 0:20:42.200 people who were into him, absolutely, which is everybody. Yeah, yeah, 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:44.840 show me someone who doesn't like muppets in any form. 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.560 I get it. If you don't like it anymore, maybe, 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:51.080 but your heart is cold and dead inside um for 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.120 a while. And this is something I don't think I knew. Uh. 0:20:54.200 --> 0:20:57.159 He dabbled on Saturday Night Live in season one, h 0:20:57.240 --> 0:21:00.560 Lauren Michael's got him a deal to perform some sketches 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.800 and ultimately it wasn't a huge success and it wasn't 0:21:04.800 --> 0:21:07.800 the greatest marriage, but it was pretty cool that he 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:11.879 was uh seeking out, you know, different avenues to get 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.399 those puppets on television. It was and his big break came, 0:21:15.800 --> 0:21:19.639 um in nine he had it. He wanted to make 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:21.639 The Muppet Show. And he had a lot of trouble 0:21:21.640 --> 0:21:24.000 in the US still, even though he had his various 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:27.000 successes on commercials and stuff. Uh. So he had to 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.720 go to London and a TV producer named Lord lew 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:34.679 Grade gave him a deal with grades A TV Studios 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.959 and said, you know what, you can make your show. Uh, 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:40.680 and the Muppet Show was born. Oh yeah about it 0:21:40.680 --> 0:21:42.600 being about a boom, that was it. That was it. 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:46.000 And um you can really see Jim Hinson's love of 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:51.320 variety shows and just kind of um, well, just the 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:54.879 stage uh in The Muppet Show because if you think 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:57.840 about its set, the whole thing set backstage at a 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:00.400 variety show. It's such a great idea when look back 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:02.240 at it. Let me take it for granted a little 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:04.719 bit because we were kids, but now as an adult, 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.840 it's like, what a perfect way to frame this world 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:12.320 is It's basically like thirty Rock or thirty Rock was 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:15.680 the Muppet Show? Right? Well, the Muppet Show started all that. Yeah. 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:20.000 I don't know if Carol Burnett was before the Muppet Show. 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:22.480 Yeah it was before, was it? So she did a 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:26.000 lot of backstage stuff, didn't she. I wonder if who 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:29.000 started that. I don't know. He hurts was more sketch, Yeah, 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:32.320 but some of it was like backstage, wasn't I believe 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:36.600 So I don't remember that. I'm hallucinating right now. They 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:40.360 to have a good old fashioned variety show again, Yeah, 0:22:40.400 --> 0:22:42.639 they don't have those anymore. Those are big back in 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:44.680