Director’s Chair Introduction: Jim Henson, Brian Henson and Frank Oz

by Tony Cogan · November 28, 2016 · Director's Chair · No Comments

Deadline: 31st December 2016

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Hello everyone, it’s once again time to introduce the directors that will be featured in this month’s Director’s Chair and, seeing how it’s December, I wanted to choose the director responsible for my favourite Christmas film: The Muppet Christmas Carol. However, since the director of that film, Brian Henson, only has 1 other film under his belt, I decided to expand the director’s being covered to include Jim Henson and Frank Oz, the two people most responsible for the success of The Muppets. The work of Henson and Oz has helped elevate puppetry and animatronics in the modern age, numerous iconic characters being created as a result of their work. Not only characters in Sesame Street and The Muppets but in works like The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and, most prominently, the character of Yoda in Star Wars. The legacy of Henson is still evident to this day with the Jim Henson Creature Shop which is still working in making animatronics and puppets, most recently being used to create stand-in puppets for Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book and being hired to create the animatronics for the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie. But again, The Muppets and Sesame Street will be the enduring legacy of these people, clips from The Muppets being ubiquitous to this day, I can’t remember a time in my life when I’ve not known Mahna Mahna based on the performance on The Muppets. If you want a better show than my ramblings about the impact of The Muppets, just watch the below videos of Australian comedian Adam Hills and his relationship (and by extension the worlds) relationship with The Muppets.

With that out of the way, here are the films you can cover for this month’s Director’s Chair, you can do it in any form, just as long as you send it to me by December 31st.

Jim Henson:

  • The Great Muppet Caper
  • The Dark Crystal
  • Labyrinth

Brian Henson:

  • The Muppet Christmas Carol
  • Muppet Treasure Island

Frank Oz:

  • The Dark Crystal
  • The Muppets Take Manhattan
  • Little Shop of Horrors
  • Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
  • What About Bob
  • Housesitter
  • The Indian in the Cupboard
  • In & Out
  • Bowfinger
  • The Score
  • The Stepford Wives
  • Death at a Funeral

I look forward to seeing what you send me.