As a huge fan of Sesame Street and the Muppets, it was truly marvelous to see Henson's work, from the posters he did for the theatre department whilst he was at the University of Maryland, to the commercials and corresponding storyboards he created prior to the development of the Muppets that he is most famous for.
We were thrilled to see life-sized puppets, including of course of Bert and Ernie, Kermit and my favourite - Miss Piggy in wedding dress from the Muppets Take Manhattan. I couldn't help but sing along to the Fraggle Rock opening theme whilst walking through the very fun and happy exhibit. I was particularly amused when I found out Oscar from Sesame Street was initially purple and then orange, before Henson decided that he preferred the famous grouch in green!
Screenings of Henson's movies complement the exhibit and we managed to catch a lesser-known Dark Crystal. There are screenings taking place every weekend and I am tempted to return to the museum on 18 September, when Jane Henson (a puppeteer herself!) will be in attendance.
The exhibition will be on view until Jan 2012. I foresee McQueen at the Met -like numbers when the new Muppets movie is released later this year:
My OOTD:
Vintage pleated dress from Portobello Road, London; Anthropologie Endless Plains belt; Target pink wedges; Rebecca Minkoff Morning After clutch and Modcloth mint necklaceAnd just because I can, I leave you with this:
As no photos are allowed within the Jim Henson exhibit, all images in this post (apart from the gift shop picture and OOTD) are courtesy of the Museum of the Moving Image
We had every intention of going there today because of the rain, but deferred when it ended up being beautiful! I can't wait to check it out. I remember I was SO sad when he passed away prematurely.
ReplyDeleteKate, it was really a lovely exhibition - it was so refreshing to learn that he was kind and he was (generally) happy - none of this "tortured artist" rubbish so common amongst the talented.
ReplyDeleteI just re-read his wiki page and couldn't help tear when I came to the part of his passing and the funeral.
I want to hear your take after you visit - I, for one, am already looking forward to going back to the museum again soon.
Oh Muppets! I have very vague (but happy) memories of watching the Muppets Show when I was little. BF and I still randomly break out into the theme of Fraggle Rock all the time! I must make a note to visit this exhibit next time I'm in NYC!
ReplyDeleteLisa it's on for quite a while so you must see it if you can!
ReplyDeleteI found out that this is part of a traveling exhibition and it was in Atlanta in 2009! http://www.sites.si.edu/henson/locations.html
ps - I have Fraggle Rock in my head now - not a bad song to get through the day!