Matthew Turner | On 31, May 2024

Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Frank Oz, Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, Brian Henson
Certificate: U

Jim Henson, the creative genius behind the Muppets, gets the documentary treatment his life and career deserve, courtesy of Ron Howard. Having made films about The Beatles and Pavarotti, the director here profiles a fellow film and TV-maker for the first time. Fully authorised by the Henson family and granted access to an astonishing archive of material, the film celebrates Henson’s work and paints the man himself in an understandably positive light – although it avoids hagiography and doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of his life.

Using a combination of archive footage and contemporary talking head interviews with the likes of longtime friend and collaborator Frank Oz and various colleagues and family members, Howard tells Henson’s story more or less chronologically, from his early beginnings until his untimely death in 1990 at the age of 53. The story jumps off from a delightful interview (one of several great finds), in which Henson admits to an astounded Orson Welles that he never played with puppets as a child and never even saw a puppet until he was a teenager.

The section on Henson’s early career is especially fascinating, giving a sense of a whirlwind of creativity just waiting to find an appropriate outlet. Particularly notable in this respect is Henson’s 1965 Oscar-nominated short film Time Piece, in which he plays a man transcending time and space – an experimental, energetic work that several of the talking heads see as holding a clue to really understanding him.

The film gives appropriate credit to Jane Henson, Jim’s wife, for her part in co-creating the Muppets and developing the company they ran together. The couple got together when they were both at university and remained close even after they separated in 1986, and the film leaves you with the strong impression that, without her business sense, the Muppets as we know them might not have existed.

Needless to say, there is plenty of material here that will delight Muppet fans, whether it’s oft-played Sesame Street clips (Kermit doing the alphabet with a young girl who keeps saying “Cookie Monster” and giggling), a wealth of wonderful behind-the-scenes footage (Henson’s off-the-cuff comments during a photo shoot are especially revealing) or hearing Henson talk about the creation and evolution of his most famous creation, particularly when played alongside Kermit’s first appearances, with collaborators admitting that he wasn’t even a frog at first: he was just a green thing who started out as two ping pong balls and a cut-up coat that belonged to Henson’s mother.

Throughout the film, Henson is painted in the image of the film’s title, as a man constantly driven by ideas and boundless creativity. To that end, it’s heartbreaking when the film moves on to some of Henson’s post-Muppets failures (his reaction to The Dark Crystal’s poor reception is explored in depth) and his untimely death hits all the harder with the realisation that there was still so much more that he wanted to do.

On a similar note, Howard strikes a respectful balance in the film with regard to Henson’s relationships with his wife and his five children. Most of them are interviewed and although no one comes right out and says anything bad about him, it’s clear that his obsession with work lead to their parents’ separation, just as it’s telling that all their father-child relationship stories are framed as professional ones, with each family member adopting one creative aspect in the industry and receiving support from Henson as an encouraging mentor figure.

However, in terms of pure Muppet-based joy, the film more than delivers, with Howard ensuring that every few seconds there’s a clip or a moment that will have you grinning from ear to ear and yearning to binge-watch old episodes. However, it’s a shame there aren’t more anecdotes from actual guests on The Muppet Show, other than Rita Moreno. Didn’t anybody think to ask Steve Martin?

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