Jim Henson: The Biography (91 page)

125
“
A VERY MAJOR BIG YEAR”
JH RB, undated, final entry of 1979.

1
“Back in the sixties,” “When you try to get people”
JH Quotes.

2
“too big to handle”
JH, American Film Institute seminar, with Jim Henson, Elton H. Rule Lecture Series in Communications, April 14, 1989 (JHCA 7974).

3
“It was the juxtaposition”
Anne Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes (JHCA 14-0260).

4
“perhaps a lodestone”
Treatment for
Mithra
, August 4, 1977 (JHCA
Dark Crystal
box).

5
“Normally you write the script first”
Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes.

6
“struggle through terrible dangers”
“The Crystal: A Fantasy Adventure Film conceived by Jim Henson, designed by Brian Froud, dimensionalized by The Muppets” pitch book, circa summer 1979 (JHCA 770).

7
“I felt that if we gave too much time”
DL, archival interview.

8
“He was always interested in the idea”
CH interview.

9
“Jim wanted to do
The Crystal
” DL, archival interview.

10
“The idea of doing very naturalistic creatures”
JH Quotes.

11
“In England, while we were making”
Rinzler, 71.

12
“Working with S
TAR
W
ARS
on Y
ODA”
JH RB, November 1978.

13
“It became a mutual thing,” “I thought he was the best puppeteer,” “Jim called me into his trailer”
Rinzler, 71.

14
“it was acting, not just performing”
FO interview.

15
“They were building a special effect”
Kathy Mullen interview.

16
“really fuckin’ heavy”
FO interview.

17
“It was
very
hard”
Kathy Mullen interview.

18
“It was just the sort of thing”
Michael Stein and Jessie Hortsing, “Muppeteer Jim Henson and Star Wars Producer Gary Kurtz Talk About Their Newest Project:
The Dark Crystal
,”
Fantastic Films
, February 1983.

19
“loved”
JH RB, January 1980.

20
“beautiful suits”
BB, archival interview.

21
“How much do you think that costs?”
DL, archival interview.

22
“Was that all right?”
Arthur Novell interview.

23
“The long range product”
Skow, “Those Marvelous Muppets.”

24
“After five seasons”
Judith Feingold, “An Interview with Jim Henson,” circa 1980, unmarked clipping (JHCA
Muppet Show
box).

25
“because I so enjoy those movies”
Production notes,
The Great Muppet Caper
(JHCA
Great Muppet Caper
box).

26
“joyful”
JH, “Thoughts on MM2” (JHCA 10616).

27
“There are a great many problems”
JH to Martin Starger, February 11, 1980 (JHCA 17932).

28
“not looking good”
JH RB, March 1980.

29
“We were really interested in nonlinear storytelling”
LH interview.

30
“Lord Grade’s office chartered a flight”
Being Green
, 144.

31
“I thought it [Cannes] was trashy”
DL, archival interview.

32
“[It] seemed to do a shimmer dance”
Being Green
, 144.

33
“That’s the money”
FO interview.

34
“And he just said to me”
Jocelyn Stevenson interview.

35
“I want to talk with him about an idea I have”
Ibid.

36
“I said, ‘She’ll be great!,’ ” “You were right”
BH interview.

37
world is coming to an end
When the fifth season of
The Muppet Show
finally aired, the Gene Kelly episode would actually be televised first, further obscuring the “end of the world” joke.

38
“All at Elstree hope the Muppets will return”
Jack Greenwood to John Krawiec, August 1980 (JHCA correspondence box).

39
“We finished our 120th
Muppet Show
” Feingold, “An Interview with Jim Henson.”

40
“was a great adventure for all of us”
CH, email to author.

41
“really didn’t like being by himself”
Jane Henson interview.

42
“somewhat public,” “It horrified him”
Ibid.

43
“I think [Jim] was evaluating”
Steve Whitmire interview.

44
“For the life of him”
LH interview.

45
“make or break someone’s day”
DL, archival interview.

46
“I feel a little distant from you”
Ossie Morris to JH, July 14, 1980 (JHCA 17934).

47
“It has taken me twenty years,” “Usually the cameraman insists”
The Great Muppet Caper
, production notes (JHCA
Muppet Caper
production box).

48
“My dad wanted me to just figure it out,” “Brian, you did a really”
BH interview.

49
“something new—something to talk about”
See Jim’s handwritten notes on
The Great Muppet Caper
(JHCA 10616).

50
“If I had to search out”
JH, “Guilty Pleasures,” November 1982 (JHCA 10242).

51
“So as soon as Frank”
Caroly Wilcox, archival interview (JHCA 10356).

52
“He had no patience for”
BH interview.

53
“so the whole place,” “It was quite elaborate”
JH, AFI seminar, April 14, 1989.

54
“it was difficult at times”
FO interview.

55
“Jerry, that’s what insurance companies are
for
” Jerry Nelson interview.

56
“It [
Dark Crystal
]
had become overblown”
Kathy Mullen interview.

57
“It was the focus”
CH interview.

58
“He had it in his head”
DL, archival interview.

59
“a prospect for perennial usage”
Variety
, December 24, 1980.

60
“charming”
John J. O’Connor, “TV: Whole New Cast of Muppets,”
New York Times
, December 15, 1980.

61
“I want to do a children’s television show”
Jocelyn Stevenson interview.

62
“we talked about doing a show”
Michael Frith interview.

63
“Something that [Jim] had been observing”
Jane Henson interview.

64
“[Jim’s] genius”
Jocelyn Stevenson interview.

65
“What the show is really about”
Woozle World
treatment, April 3, 1981 (JHCA 10650).

66
“Jim asked Jerry and Jocelyn and me”
Michael Frith interview.

67
“We sat around and talked”
JJ, archival interview.

68
“Fraggle Rock
was a true depiction”
DL, archival interview.

69
“I have wound up doing things”
JJ, archival interview.

70
“he’d make each one of you feel”
Jocelyn Stevenson interview.

71
“Nobody’s ever developed a television series”
JJ, archival interview.

72
“Creatively, I find I work best”
JH Quotes.

73
“there was some difficulty blending together”
Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes.

74
“I think it would be better,” “To Jim, that was the most important thing”
FO interview.

75
“You have all of these techniques”
JH Quotes.

76
“When we’re doing major characters”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

77
“My father had a unique way of working”
Finch,
The Making of The Dark Crystal
, 11–12.

78
“We knew when we went into this film”
JH, “Guilty Pleasures.”

79
“Mimes, Dancers and Actors”
Advertisement,
Stage and Television Today
, May 29, 1980.

80
“Performers were on their haunches”
The Making of The Dark Crystal
, documentary.

81
“I think the idea of conceiving”
Stein and Hortsing, “Muppeteer Jim Henson and Star Wars Producer Gary Kurtz Talk About Their Newest Project:
The Dark Crystal
.”

82
“We could never have tried”
JH Quotes.

83
“He was trying to reach out”
Jane Henson interview.

84
“I guess I’ve always been most intrigued”
JH Quotes.

85
“It has a lot of elements of fairy tales”
Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes.

86
“a story about genocide”
Michael Frith interview.

87
“We are working with primary images”
Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes.

88
“Well, we can’t all be perfect”
Michael Frith interview.

89
“had pretty much come to a common feeling”
JH, “Guilty Pleasures.”

90
“Things were
not
smooth”
FO interview.

91
“Jim didn’t tell you what to do”
Being Green
, 35.

92
“Jim had the head of a producer”
DL, archival interview.

93
“He saw the movie in his head”
FO interview.

94
“Everyone knows how a human moves”
Tasker, Approved
Dark Crystal
Production Notes.

95
“I’ve never done any performing”
Stein and Hortsing, “Muppeteer Jim Henson and Star Wars Producer Gary Kurtz Talk About Their Newest Project:
The Dark Crystal
,” 55.

96
“was just too damn busy”
Kathy Mullen interview.

97
“I really do believe”
Ibid.

98
“You see this character walking”
JH Quotes.

99
“You have to be concerned”
Finch,
The Making of The Dark Crystal
, 60.

100
“an exercise in logistics,” “This just never ends,” “It was massive”
FO interview.

101
“You went off and built this great career”
Joan Ganz Cooney, interviewed by Jim Henson for production of
The Jim Henson Hour
, October 26, 1988 (JHCA 7965).

102
“grueling work,” “had a wonderful time,” “It was just so great”
JH, AFI seminar, May 6, 1986.

103
“sure hand in guiding”
Film Reviews,
Variety
, June 25, 1981.

104
an old Hollywood power couple
Vincent Canby, “Screen: Miss Piggy Stars in ‘Great Muppet Caper,’ ”
New York Times
, June 26, 1981.

105
“humanity, tenderness and intelligence”
Rex Reed, “Musical Muppets Merely Marvelous,”
Daily News
(New York), June 26, 1981.

106
“[Jim] was just like a little kid, beaming”
DL, archival interview.

107
“Yeah, she was absolutely no bullshit”
FO interview.

108
“We said, ‘All right’ ”
Michael Frith interview.

109
“But I really have to thank Jim”
Karen Prell, interviewed by Kenneth Plume and Phillip Chapman, “Animateer Karen Prell: An Interview with Puppeteer, Animator and Writer,” MuppetCentral, September 11, 1998,
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/prell.shtml
.

110
“I think we went through the motions”
Dave Goelz, interviewed by Kenneth Plume, “Gonzo Puppeteerism: An Interview with Dave Goelz,” MuppetCentral, January 28, 2000,
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/goelz3.shtml
.

111
“I really pushed to do that character”
Steve Whitmire, interviewed by Kenneth Plume, “Ratting Out: An Interview with Steve Whitmire,” MuppetCentral, July 19, 1999,
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/whitmire1.shtml
.

112
“just kind of finding out who they were”
Kathy Mullen interview.

113
“I like to think”
“Two Days with Trevor Jones at the Phone,”
BSOSpirit
, June 2004,
http://www.bsospirit.com/entrevistas/tjones_e.php
.

114
“It was a clash”
“Robert Holmes à Court, 53, Dies; Australian Built Business Empire,”
New York Times
, September 30, 1990.