#it's on both the Muppets and Jim Henson Company's pages

[bobauthorman]

The Best Crossover of the Year

Muppets from Jim's big three brought back for his birthday.

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On May 9th, 1955, a peculiar new show aired on WRC-TV, Washington D.C’s NBC station.

(Image descriptions and sources under the cut)

This show, entitled Sam and Friends, had episodes lasting only 5 minutes, and often had their time slot changed, as WRC-TV seemed to struggle seeing the value in a show that mainly featured puppets lip-syncing to various songs. But the D.C public loved it. Strange sketches where a giant skull (Yorick) would eat everything around him, or a green creature (Kermit) would dress in drag and sing charmed the audience, and people across the country caught word of this odd little puppet show in Washington D.C – and they wanted more.

Jim Henson and Jane Nebel were the masterminds behind this show, although they would later be assisted by Bob Payne and Jerry Juhl as the show (and Jim and Jane’s responsibilities) grew. Although Henson’s puppets had appeared in segments of variety shows – like 1954’s Junior Morning Show (which ran a total of 2 episodes before being shut down for violating child labor laws), 1954’s Saturday, and 1955-1956’s Afternoon/Afternoon with Inga – it wasn’t until Sam and Friends that they were the focus, making it the first true Muppet show.

With the fame of Sam and Friends, the Muppets would get attention with segments on nationally-aired daytime shows and late night programs, and even earn Jim and Jane an Emmy for Best Local Entertainment Program.

59 episodes of Sam and Friends are known to exist. 15 have archived footage, 35 are documented in archives of The Jim Henson Company, and 9 are confirmed from many people’s memories. More episodes than those confirmed undoubtedly exist, and many more have been remembered by many people (though not confirmed), but Sam and Friends aired in the era of the kinetoscope, where recording television programs was not a common practice, so much has been lost to time.

The impact of Sam and Friends was enormous in ways that can barely be stated – it began Jim Henson’s career and legacy as a creative mastermind, yes, but perhaps more importantly, it officially began the decades long partnership (both romantic and business) between Jim Henson and Jane Nebel. Having met each other in a puppetry course at the University of Maryland, Jim and Jane would go on to marry, form Muppets Inc. (today known as The Jim Henson Company), and work together on various Muppet productions. While their romantic relationship would eventually fizzle out, Jim and Jane remained close friends and business partners until Jim’s death in 1990. When Jim died, Jane was by his bedside – the end of a 45 year partnership.

Jim and Jane likely didn’t know what would come from Sam and Friends, but the premiere on May 9th, 1955, would be the start of a long, prosperous career and legacy for the duo.

Images, left to right: Jim (L) and Jane (R), with Muppets Sam (farthest left), Yorick (middle left), Kermit (middle right) and Harry the Hipster (farthest right) / Handwritten script by Jim Henson for the final episode of Sam and Friends. Mostly illegible. / Jane (top left) and Jim (top right), with Muppets (from top to bottom, left) Hank, Omar, and Professor Madcliffe, Sam (middle), and Mushmellon (bottom right). / Photograph of a 1950s-style television showing Muppets Kermit and Frank performing a sketch spoofing NBC’s Chet Huntley.

Image Sources:

1-3. The Jim Henson Company Archives and The Jim Henson Legacy

4. My own image taken at the Center for Puppetry Arts, September 2021

Sources:

Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal by Karen Falk (link)

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (link)

Jim Henson’s Red Book: 9/-/1954 (link), 12/15/1961 (link), 1/13/1966 (link), and page 54 (link).

Kaptain Kidshow’s Extensive Sam and Friends Page (link)

The Unseen Work of Jim Henson by Andrew Young (link)

Archived ToughPigs Forum (link)

Jim Henson Friends, Where It All Began by Jim Naughton (link)

Defunctland’s The History of the First Muppet Show, Sam and Friends (link)

Lost Media Archive’s pages on Sam and Friends (link), The Junior Morning Show (link), and Afternoon with Inga (link)

[rodpupo2]

Research: Persona Project 

Ronin by Frank Miller

Ronin was a comic released by DC comics in 1983, and was created by Frank Miller, who besides having worked on the script, also worked on the illustrations.

Ronin is a internal evolution of the author, something that translates into a leap in quality in his work, transforming and aesthetically renewing his work.

It’s like stepping out of his comfort zone to face challenges to innovate.

Frank Miller stood out for his ability to break models, to shape a canon to a new look. And when he got to DC, he had a lot of new ideas involving the past and future, honor, society, discipline, technology, science and ecology. Miller’s mind amalgamated all this essence that culminated in this miniseries, overcoming any obstacles and marking the industry.

Ronin is the story of a past and a future that come together through science. From feudal Japan to the most decadent and technified New York, a samurai without a master, will return to solve the mistakes of the past, and do whatever it takes.

Miller brings with Ronin his interest that he already showed in other comics, which is the Japanese tradition, molding a crucible in which the past and future are mix organically, when technology is the next step in evolution. New York is engulfed by artificial intelligence that replaces the obsolete, the rotten and the dead, with the new and pure.

But for me, the best part of the comic, apart from the script and the whole idea of setting, is certainly the art.

The art of Ronin, maybe not for everyone’s taste, because it looks quite experimental and surrealist.

However, Miller broke new grounds with new page layouts, playing with the text, the thickness of the lines, close ups, cut plans and pictures, violence, death and pain like never before seen and felt in a comic book.

With a super stylized, bold and almost surrealistic streak. This led to a rejection of the miniseries, but it was necessary because Miller opened up, a new path in terms of narrative and composition of art, and invented new graphic tools with which he went in the direction of the unknown.

Josan Gonzalez

Josan is a renowned for exploring themes related to science fiction, dystopia, and above all, cyberpunk. He has already stated in an interview that he is strongly inspired by big names like Moebius, Katsuhiro Otomo - creator of Akira - and Geoff Darrow.

Gonzalez likes to create characters full of personality and compose scenarios rich in details. Josan has a very characteristic artistic artistic style: he uses complex line arts, flat colors and limited color palettes.

Being born in Spain, Josan starts reading comics since he was a teenager and this will influence later in his artistic aesthetic.

Initially he adopted a more painterly style which evolved later in the line work. Despite being always passionate about art he never thought it would make a real career from it. He succeeds in publishing his own books and working for big names such as Dark Horse and Boom Studios.

People is considering Josan’s work as being part of Cyberpunk genre, but the artist doesn’t like to classify them. He enjoy creating illustrations without establishing rules, just giving shapes to a futuristic world. Many of Gonzalez characters are linked by cables, which are a perfect metaphor for linkage human-technology. For a lot of artwork the artist get inspiration from religious imagery. Providing his characters with catholic and Hindu symbols. Mostly this happens, because of his catholic background in Spain. Another aspect, is showing people’s addiction with technology, which keep them repressed. Even if the artist explores different social questions his main goal remains the illustration and making interesting and timeless.

some of his most recent works are, for example, is the cover of the new edition of the science fiction book Neoromancer, and the steelbook art of the game Cyberpunk 2077.

The Story of Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi was Japan’s most famous samurai. He is credited with authoring the most important treatise in Japanese strategy, the “Book of Five Rings”.

Musashi Sensei, as his disciples still call his fighting style, lived from 1584 to 1645.

Musashi dedicated his life to reach perfection through the art of the sword. He fought and won more than 60 life and death duels, and was never defeated. He made contact with other art forms, such as painting, sculpture, calligraphy and poetry, in addition to Zen meditation and Buddhism.

Musashi was born in the province of Harima during one of the most troubled periods in the history of Japan, when the last great battles of the time of the samurai took place.

At the time, it was common in Japan for the same person to change his name at different stages of life. In childhood, Musashi Sensei was called Shinmen Bennosuke. It is believed that he received the first Kenjutsu (famous Japanese martial art) instructions from his father,Shinmen Hirata.

At the age of 13 he won his first duel, and won the second duel when he was 16 years old, as reported in The Book of Five Rings.

In his book Musashi says that his strategy to deconcentrate the opponent and beat him was to arrive late at the place of the duel. On the way, Musashi carved a sword out of a broken paddle and with this sword  he dealt a blow to Kojiro winning the duel,  which, although fast, is one of the most famous in the history of the samurai. The duel was immortalized in a monument on the island of Funajima representing the figure of the two warriors.

The Funajima duel was a turning point in Musashi’s life because from then on he began to reflect on how he had won so many duels and to dedicate himself to the task of leaving a legacy for future generations. It was from there, too, that Musashi began to dedicate himself to other arts such as painting and poetry.

He worked primarily with a style of ink painting, creating minimalist, monochromatic works portraying nature.

The last years of his life, Musashi spent as a guest with his friend, and then isolated himself in the cave of Reigando where he dedicated himself to meditation and practice of his art writing his Book of Five Rings right there.

Ned Bear Mask Artist

Sculptor Edward (Ned) Bear has combined study in Native education with an Honours Diploma from Vancouver college.

He has an extensive knowledge of Native art and culture, Bears has also made contributions to change as a curator, guest speaker and juror.

Bear was born in the town Frederecton, New Brunswick, Canada. When he was young boy he was inspired by a Native elder carver, and later on he received a formal training at New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, where he became the first aboriginal student to graduate. Bear received additional training at a Indian Federated College in Nova Scotia.

Bear created sculpted masks and marble or limestone figure forms. His masks are approximately three feet high and are usually carved from butternut. Each mask is adorned with horse hair ( symbolizing the free spirit), bear fur ( symbolizing healing) and metal ( symbolizing something which is of the earth). Each mask tells a story and offer a modern interpretation of traditional spiritual beliefs.

When creating art, Bear considered himself to be simply a vehicle through which energy flows from the eternal Great Spirit to the medium he is using. He doesn’t create any sketches for the masks, he said that he allows the great spirit to guide him through the process.

Ned Bear made significant contributions as an instructor of Native art and culture, a curator, a guest speaker, and a juror.

The indigenous sculptor died on the Christmas evening of 2019, at the age of 65.  “ We delve into so many past wrongs of our lives that we forget to revel in the present. Learn to capture what you may never have again, now. Do what makes you content for this time, and begin to realize the true purpose of life”, said Bear.

Jim Henson

Jim Henson was an American puppeteer and filmmaker, and most known for creating the Muppets, and directing most of their movies and tv shows.

In the 1960s Henson and his future wife, Jane Nebel, created a puppet show on Washington television station and kept their jobs through the school years, developing the first Muppets (including Kermit) on a one minute television show called Sam and Friends.

The success of Sam and Friends led Henson to create his own company in 1958, initially called Muppets,inc. and many years later, The Jim Henson Company.

Part of the resounding success of Henson’s puppets was due to their innovative view that puppet controllers did not need to be hidden by physical objects while controlling them.

By instructing the camera controllers to focus on the puppets and keep the controllers out of sight, he allowed the puppets to dominate the TV screen and acquire more lively and similar behaviors to real people.

From the productions of Sam and Friends, many characters emerged who became famous over the years and who would become part of the famous cast of the Muppets, including their most famous member, Kermit the Frog.

The Muppet Show, which premiered in 1976 and was produced in England, gained an international audience ( it was shown in about 100 countries) and was soon followed by the film The Muppet Movie (1979).

Henson was able to create an interesting set of characters by developing innovative ideas with a sense of rhythm and humor that won an audience for both children and adults. His works are remembered in part for promoting positive values in childhood such as friendship, magic or love, themes that appeared in most of his works.

Research: Persona Brazilian Folklore research- Lobisomem 

The legend of the werewolf is known practically all over the world. It defines him as being, part man, part wolf, who was cursed with lycanthropy ( the act of becoming a wolf).

The one who is cursed, becomes the werewolf on the nights of the full moon. Some variations of the legend say that lycanthropy was the result of the pact of one man with the devil.

Once transformed into a werewolf, the person frantically sets out in search of victims to kill them. Modern popular culture has spread the idea that the werewolf is vulnerable only to silver bullets or sharp objects made of silver.

Naturally, the legend of the werewolf arrived in Brazil through Portuguese, during the period when they colonized Brazil, in our country, the legend arrived and took on different characteristics in each region.

Some studies have concluded that there is no such legend among indigenous people. The closest to that were legends who believed that men or women could become some animals of the forest.

This legend in Brazilian folklore ended up acquiring elements present in its Portuguese version. Thus, it was common to believe that the werewolf was the man born after the mother had seven daughters, although versions of the legend say that if seven sons were born, the eight son would also be a werewolf.

In the north, of Brazil, the werewolf was the man who was in poor health, and the one who was anemic would eventually would become him. Once transformed, it feeds on the blood of other humans to make up for the poor diet as one of them. The transformation took place from Thursdays to Friday nights.

In the south, in turn, the fact that turned the man into a werewolf was incest. In Brazil, there was no record in the folklore of the belief in transformation of women into werewolves. In the folklore, only men becomes werewolves.

In the interior of São Paulo, it was believed that this being tried to invade the houses to eat children. Many believed that the werewolf went after, especially, unbaptized children.

One of the ways in which the person turned into a werewolf, was if he seriously injured with certain objects. One of these objects was a bullet bathed in candle wax from an altar.

[krakowergroup]

PR: Jim Henson's The Storyteller boxed set (Rachel Portman)

(April 13, 2018– Los Angeles, CA) – Varèse Sarabande will release a limited-edition box set of music from JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER on April 27, 2018.  The 3-CD set, which is available for pre-orders beginning April 13, features original music composed by Academy Award® winning composer Rachel Portman (EMMA, CHOCOLAT), available for the first time ever.The release contains music from JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER and its spinoff series,JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER: GREEK MYTHS, a 32-page booklet of exclusive interviews with the producers of the series and Portman herself, and a collection of behind-the-scenes photographs.

Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Emmy® and BAFTA TV Craft award-winning JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER anthology series features both human actors and creations from Jim Henson's Creature Shop in this retelling of classic folk tales, fables, and legends. The series starred John Hurt in the title role. Aided by his cynical dog (performed by Brian Henson), Hurt narrates fascinating tales that combine humor, intrigue, and magic.The series was the brainchild of Jim Henson’s eldest daughter, Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company.  Lisa, who majored in folklore and mythology at Harvard, suggested they create an anthology series based on these stories.Composer Rachel Portman had been writing music professionally for only a few years when brought on by director Steve Barron to work on the pilot. “Steve and I talked about each film having a special sound and a special voice, and some special instrument that would be part of it. I chose very carefully a different coloration for each story, what the main instrument was going to be—because I wasn’t able to have very many instruments, and I wanted it to be orchestral,” Portman described. Brian Henson, who was also the serieshead puppeteer and is currently chairman of The Jim Henson Company)had nothing butpraise for the music. “Rachel Portman gives it a timelessness. She makes the show important,” he said.  “She makes the stories important. There’s a gravitas that comes with her music, but then also the light, lyrical melody. I think it’s just beautiful scoring of fantasy.”

“I felt I had real freedom to go as dark as I wanted, musically,” explained Portman. “I didn’t shy away from being really sad, or really dark, or really happy. I think that really matched the way the whole series was done, and the scripts. It always kind of ends in minor. I don’t know why. They all come back to a sad chord at the end.”

JIM HENSON’s THE STORYTELLER is currently streaming via the STARZ app. As a special treat, Fathom Events is hosting screenings of JIM HENSON’S LABYRINTH in select theaters April 29,May 1&2 (https://www.fathomevents.com/events/labyrinth). The event will include a special theatrical screening excerpt from THE STORYTELLER. Varèse Sarabande will release JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER on April 27, 2018, available for pre-order beginning on April 13.

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ABOUT VARÈSE SARABANDE RECORDS

Founded in 1978, Varèse Sarabande is the most prolific producer of film music in the world, releasing the highest quality soundtracks from the world’s greatest composers. From current box office hits and top television series to the classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Varèse Sarabande’s catalog includes albums from practically every composer in every era, covering all of film history; from Bernard Herrmann, Alex North and Jerry Goldsmith to Alexandre Desplat, Michael Giacchino, and Brian Tyler. Varèse Sarabande releases deluxe and expanded editions of special soundtracks for the film music aficionado. The Varèse Vintage imprint specializes in releasing new and re-issued albums by classic pop, jazz and country artists. Varèse Sarabande Records is distributed by Universal Music Group.

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ABOUT THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 60 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world-famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy® Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include multiple Emmy®-nominated series including Splash and Bubbles (PBS), Julie’s Greenroom (Netflix), Dinosaur Train (PBS), Sid the Science Kid (PBS), and Pajanimals (Universal Kids); as well as Dot. (Universal Kids/Hulu), Word Party (Netflix), and Doozers (Hulu/ Universal Kids). Television productions include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller and the sci-fi cult series Farscape. Features include Sony Pictures Animation’s The Star, Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, MirrorMask, Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow, and the beloved fantasy classics The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.  Upcoming productions include The Happytime Murders, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Netflix original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Feature films in development include the highly anticipated Fraggle Rock.With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. The Company is home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television, theme park and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand is currently touring Puppet-Up! – Uncensored, a live puppet improvisational show.http://www.henson.comwww.facebook.com/hensoncompanywww.twitter.com/hensoncompany