From the S&S archives:
Jim Henson brings his Muppets to Frankfurt

Muppets, Fraggles and other fuzzy inhabitants of the world of puppeteer Jim Henson are on exhibit at Frankfurt's film museum until Jan. 10.

The "Muppets, Monster & Magic" exhibit is being shown outside the United States for the first time.

In a recent half-day visit to Frankfurt, Henson said the exhibit has existed in various forms since 1979, when it opened in New York's Lincoln Center.

"The Art of the Muppets" toured the finest museums in the United States, consistently delighting audiences and breaking attendance records.

The exhibit traces the history of the Muppets from their creation by Henson in 1954 for "Sam and Friends," a local television show in Washington, D.C., to their present worldwide television and movie house fame with "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street" on TV, plus such movies as "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth."

The Frankfurt show features a "touch wall" of materials used to make Muppets; videotape for each display showing scenes from "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock" in different languages; and behind-the-scenes views of "The Muppet Show," "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth."

Henson said he expects more technologically refined animation films in the future.

"The idea of totally creating puppets on the computer is fascinating to me, and we'll be moving in that direction next," Henson said. "But at the same time, there will always be the classic puppetry. In fact, some of the Muppets are just as expressive, and sometimes more so, than the most complicated ones.

"But I don't think we'll be making any big, complicated films in the future, because it doesn't seem possible to find the money for them."

Henson said the best-known Muppets are those of "The Muppet Show."

"They're seen by more than 235 million adults and kids in more than 100 countries. 'Sesame Street' is also shown in 100 countries and the 'Fraggles' is seen in 90 countries and is translated into 13 languages.

"I can only remember having trouble with the Muppets show in one country," he said. "In Morocco during, Ramadan, the Moslem fasting period, they took it off the air because of Miss Piggy — the pork connection!"

Henson has come a long way from the construction of his first green hand puppet, made from his mother's old coat, to the incredible creatures of his fantasy films.

He said his fascination for the art of the visual media began as a child, when his family bought their first television set. He began working in television when he was still in high school when he was hired by a local station looking for young puppeteers.

Henson progressed in his art through college, making films and shorts for television, but it wasn't until the advent of "Sesame Street" and his collaboration with the Children's Television Workshop in 1969 that the Muppets became a household word.

Henson captivated adult audiences in 1976 when Lord Lew Grade, one of England's major entertainment figures, offered Henson the chance to produce "The Muppet Show" at his London studios. Its success was phenomenal. Time magazine called it "the most popular television entertainment now being produced on Earth."

The show won numerous international awards, including three Emmy Awards, during its five years of production.

Henson said his wife, Jane, and five children were kind of a testing ground for his ideas. Jane is an integral and inseparable part of the Muppets for as long as they have existed, Henson said, They met when they were both students and found they shared an interest in puppetry. She is still active in many facets of Henson Associates, Inc.

"But now the children are grown up. One son is a performer in our team and the one daughter works for Warner Brothers. I sometimes consult. But. kids have always been at the heart of my work.

"I'm sometimes asked if my monsters don't frighten children. I create good, loveable monsters, and the kids soon recognize them for what they are, Like Miss Piggy, for example. People love going along with the idea of a beautiful pig. It's like a conspiracy."

Kermit the frog is not only one of Henson's favorite creations and a survivor of the original "Sam and Friends" show.

"Some people claim Kermit is my alter-ego. I'm; not sure I know what that means. I like to work Kermit because there's a lot of leeway for ad-libbing, which I don't have with most other characters but I'm not sure that I'm not Kermit."

Henson now runs a large company of puppeteers and specialists who share his philosophy: "Life is basically good and people are basically good. That's the message I'd like to express."