“It’s not easy being green.”
Who could forget that iconic
song? Kermit the Frog and other
memorable Jim Henson characters
can currently be seen at the James
A. Michener Art Museum in
Doylestown. The show is entitled
“Jim Henson’s Fantastic Voyage,”
and runs until Nov. 29.
Although Henson died in 1990
at the age of 53, his amazing work
lives on, both in TV and in feature
films. This exhibit chronicles
more than 40 years of his imaginative
storytelling. From commercials,
to the Sesame Street
crew, then “The Muppet Show,”
this exhibit pays tribute to the
wacky, sometimes snarky imagination
that this self-professed
shy man had to offer.
One area of the
e x h i b i t
houses the actual muppets used in
both Sesame Street and other projects.
On center display is a Kermit
muppet, used for years in many
different shows. It’s difficult to
imagine that the original Kermit
was created from Henson’s
mother’s spring coat, with two
halves of ping-pong balls for his
eyes; to small children around the
world, he was real.
Henson once said “the nice
thing about Kermit is there’s nothing
in that head. I mean, the whole
shape is merely just a cloth pattern
and so it takes the shape of your
hand inside, and so the whole
thing is really created by your
hand, which is why he’s a delightful
character to operate, too.” In
this one sentence, you get a feel
that Kermit was real to his creator
as well.
Another main attraction in the
exhibit is the children’s area.
Movie cameras are set up around
a puppet stage, and children can
both perform with the various
puppets, and pretend they’re actually
in the muppet world. Other
tables filled with art projects are
also located here.
The most popular area of
the exhibit seems to be
the small movie theatre
located near the entrance to the attraction.
Inside are benches and a large screen showing
clips of different shows that Henson
and his company were involved in, as
well as interviews with the man
himself. Whether it’s coffee commercials
in the early ’60s, or the
full-length movies “Labryinth”
and “Dark Crystal,” you’ll find a
little bit of it here.
Karen Falk, curator of the exhibition
and archivist at The Jim
Henson Co., said, “It’s such a treat
to get to know Jim Henson through his
doodles and drawings, his puppets
and his fantastic performances.
I’m delighted to be able to share this inspiring and entertaining experience
with people all over the
country. Seeing his original work
firsthand opens a window into his
visual thinking and provides both
an appreciation of Jim as an artist
and a reason to laugh out loud.”
And laugh out loud you will.