from Jonathan Klotz
| Published
The Muppets had a rough decade after theirs was canceled The office-inspired show, The Muppetsby ABC in 2015. There are no new Muppet movies on the horizon, and their last two shows, Muppets now and Electrical chaoswere buried in Disney+ with the approximate marketing budget of two boxes tied together with string.
The current state of the Muppets franchise gets even worse as Disney pulls MuppetVision 3D from Hollywood Studios, which is notable since it was the last project Jim Henson worked on before his death. This shouldn’t be too surprising since Disney never released either The Jim Henson Hourleaving him stuck in the vault on the side Song of the South and Ernest goes to the camp.
MuppeTelevision
The Jim Henson Hour was hosted by Henson himself, introducing each episode before entering MuppeTelevisiona modern take on the classic variety show with the gang in charge of a TV studio. Each episode featured a different celebrity guest, such as Louie Anderson and Ted Danson, with sketches ranging from Fozzie turning into a weatherman to an artificial nature documentary turning into a war between butterflies and caterpillars. As a lifelong Muppets fan, even I will admit that this part of the show was uneven and the new CGI Muppet, Waldo, never caught on, but it gave us Bean Bunny and that was only half the episode.
The back half of each episode of The Jim Henson Hour was or episode of The narratorwho adapts classic folk stories or a new fable for the show. These stories were darker and more serious than MuppeTelevision as they were trying to keep the feel and tone of the source material, which made for a strange viewing experience for kids who wanted to see Kermit.
The narrator first aired in 1987. and won an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program for the episode “Hans the Hedgehog.” You can stream the series today to check it out for yourself.
The mini-movies
Not every episode of The Jim Henson Hour included The narratorwith one following Miss Piggy as she attempts to interview celebrities in a segment that was later revived for the Covid era Muppets nowand three were one-hour films: Dog town, Life with dinosaursand Monster creator. Dog town was a noir film narrated by Rowlf featuring the Muppets involved in the mob and a protection racket that would become a Saturday morning cartoon in the 1990s, while Life with dinosaurs was a straighter tale about a stuffed dinosaur who comes to life to help a child navigate his fractured home life. While both are fun in their own way, it is Monster creator which left an impression on me when I first watched it that I have never been able to shake off.
In what I consider the second best episode of The Jim Henson HourHarry Dean Stanton plays a special effects master who takes on a young apprentice, but one of his latest projects, the Ultragorgon, which looks like a mechanical dragon, comes to life. Don’t riot; instead, he becomes the boy’s mentor, offering life advice to get him through school and deal with his father, but slowly, it takes a dark turn. The Ultragorgon, which Henson explains was brought to life by eight different puppeteers, is a massive piece of practical-effect wizardry voiced by Dumbledore himself, Michael Gambon.
You can find both Dog town and Monster creator on streaming as standalone films, without any The Jim Henson Hour framing devices. However, the best episode of the series released in 1992. as a stand-alone special, Muppet Secrets is nowhere to be found.
Henson pulls back the curtain and explains to the children how the Creatures Shop made the puppets for the show, how they operate on set, the magic that makes them ride bicycles, and then shows the puppeteers responsible for various Muppets, including Henson, as Kermit, presents Henson, the puppeteer. It’s one of the most enjoyable hours on television, explaining the magic of Hollywood to kids without talking down to them, which Henson excels at.
Disney should respect Henson’s legacy
You can stream The narrator free on Peacock, Amazon Freeveeand sendingwhile Dog town is on Tubi and Monster creator is included Pipes. It’s great that mini-movies are available to audiences today, but MuppeTelevision remains lost to time.
Also lost are what I consider the heart and soul of The Jim Henson Hoursegments with Jim Henson himself. These are not available anywhere. Henson was a creative genius, and although his work lives on forever, Disney, the owner of the rights to the Muppets, has denied people access to the last series he worked on before he died.
That’s why Disney’s announcement of the removal of MuppetVision 3D from Hollywood Studios has fans so worried: it was Jim Henson’s last work with the Muppets. Since the company will not release The Jim Henson Hourhis last series, there is no faith that his last creative work will be honored and remembered in any way by the corporation. It’s great that the Muppets house band, Electric Mayhem, is taking over the Rock’n’Roller Coaster, but it’s not directly related to Henson.
If Disney retains the Carousel of Progress, the last Magic Kingdom ride Walt Disney worked on, Jim Henson deserves the same level of respect.
