AccessAtlanta: "Miss Piggy would never admit that she’s, well, a woman of a certain age. There’s no denying, however, that she and her fellow Muppets have been charming audiences of all ages for some 40 years — and still do.
Their enduring popularity is a testament to the creative genius of the late Jim Henson, whose imagination and accomplishments are the subject of “Jim Henson’s Fantastic World” opening Saturday at the Atlanta History Center."
10 comments:
I can't believe that it's already been 40 years since the Muppets were created, but I'm sure their popularity will last much longer than that. I remember growing up on shows, movies, and toys centered around the Muppets, and I'm sure many others have similar childhood memories. I'm glad that Jim Henson's creativeness is being documented in the "Jim Henson's Fantastic World" exhibit, although anyone who has seen the Muppet's timeless success will know how creative he must be.
I would really love to see this exhibit. In having to design and create a Muppet myself it is a lot harder than most people think. I'm not talking about the technical aspect of building one, but mainly of its design and personality. Muppets do not have as many details compared to other things. So their personally is shown through a few key characteristics -the eyes and hair.
This exhibit shows me that the Muppets clearly are still popular today, going against the claims of a New York Times article from a few weeks back. They claimed that the Muppets were losing their appeal and were no longer marketable. I do not think this is true at all. The DVDs of the TV show have sold fairly well, and exhibits like this are producing a fairly good amount of interest.
This is not the first of its kind when it comes to the Muppets ( I have a poster from a similar type of exhibit back from the 80s). There have been past exhibits similar to this showing the creation process of the Muppets. They are so popular it only makes sense that they be displayed. I wish I could see this exhibit though; the Muppets have always intrigued me.
I didn't realize that the same person created the Muppets and Sesame Street, although thinking about it they do have the same style. Personally, i only watched Sesame Street, but i loved it. The muppets/puppets had such character and life to them, a lot of which was created though the style of the puppet - the very simple colors and felt like texture. The simplicity allowed you to connect with them and find them adorable at the same time. i am glad his work is being exhibited since he influenced/ and continues to influence so many young generations.
I saw this in the Smithsonian and I was swept away by the amount of love and detail put into both the exhibit and the Muppets themselves. It was hugely nostalgic for me to see these puppets. Often times, learning about the entertainment media I grew up with is disillusioning but Jim Henson was even more incredible than I realized.
I clicked on this article to see pictures and was really upset to see that there went any. It is really interesting to see an artist and how they evolve but to see Jim Henson's drawings way before it was art or well known would be really different and ac completely different way of showing how he evolved.
I think that this "behind the scenes" look into the process of the design is a really interesting one. It touches on the different inspirations of Henderson and the many different incarnations of what he was working on. Sometimes looking at the process gives one a better understanding of the characters and how they were originally viewed by the designer. The evolution that a character takes in the design process is as important as (and mirrors) the journey that the same character takes during the play.
The Muppets and Sesame Street are very simple designs that are very interesting for how complex they appear and act on stage.
Go Muppets!
It's fun to see that Kenny isn't just making this Muppet making thing up. I loved the part that said they where made of foam and fleece because that's exactly what ours are made from. It's really amazing that the Muppets are still on tv and people still watch the films even after forty years of "just puppets."
The exhibit is AMAZING! Its wonderful to go through and see the creative genius in Henson!
Check out my blog to read more about the Exhibit:
www.iheartjimhenson.blogspot.com
Post a Comment