The Big Picture
- Ron Howard highlights Jim Henson's creativity beyond the Muppets, delving into the filmmaker's experimental side.
- The documentary shows Henson's ambitious projects, from nightclubs to a puppetry Broadway show, highlighting his desire to push boundaries.
- However, Howard avoids delving deeply into the darker aspects of Henson's life, leaving certain impactful moments untouched.
Jim Henson might be the most famous puppeteer ever, as the man behind The Muppets, Sesame Street, Labyrinth, and all sorts of other wild projects that essentially turned his cast of characters into their own celebrities. Yet as we learn early on in Ron Howard’s latest documentary, Jim Henson Idea Man, puppets were a means to an end. As he states during an appearance on The Orson Welles Show(and it is delightful to see how impressed Welles is by Henson), he never grew up with puppets and only used them as a way to get into the television industry. The puppets were simply a way for Henson to get his imagination to an audience, a foot in the door for a man who had an immense amount of dreams and ambitions.
We all know Henson in some way or another, and Howard knows this. While Idea Man certainly covers the projects that we all know from Henson, like the immensely popular The Muppet Show or his groundbreaking creation of Sesame Street, Howard aims to show that there was more to Henson than just Muppets. In fact, Idea Man does an excellent job of showing that Henson was more of an experimental filmmaker who just happened to often play in the medium of puppetry. He certainly loved his felt creations, but had we not lost Henson at the age of 53, it seems fairly likely he would’ve done even greater things both with and without his Muppets.
Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024)
Chronicling the life and career of Jim Henson, the film explores his journey from a young puppeteer with big dreams to an iconic creator who revolutionized children's entertainment. The narrative delves into Henson's early projects, the creation of beloved characters like Kermit the Frog, and the development of groundbreaking shows such as "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show." Interviews with family, friends, and colleagues provide insights into Henson's innovative spirit and his impact on popular culture.
- Release Date
- May 31, 2024
- Runtime
- 111 Minutes
Ron Howard Focuses on Jim Henson as an Experimental Filmmaker and Creator
Howard primarily sets his documentary in a cube-like room, a reference to a rarely-seen Henson teleplay known as The Cube, which only aired twice on television. It makes sense, as Howard wants us to see Henson’s work through the almost absurdist lens everything Henson worked on filtered through. Henson first and foremost wanted to play and try new things in filmmaking, and his Muppet projects were his means to do so, but always at the center was this desire to play and push boundaries.
Yet within that cube, Howard’s exploration of Henson’s life is fairly straightforward in terms of a documentary subject. Idea Man goes through Henson’s life chronologically, hitting on his youth, his successes, and his relationships, all the way up to his unexpected passing. Howard does this through plenty of talking head interviews with Henson’s children and people like Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, and Henson’s frequent collaborator, Frank Oz. Howard will occasionally show us Henson’s notebooks and his drawings, giving us further insight into the creative and aspirational man. But despite the documentary largely being about how much Henson liked to think outside the box and try new things, Howard’s doc is a bit too by-the-numbers for such a figure.
It’s when Howard focuses on Henson as a creative genius that Idea Man feels insightful and revelatory. Beyond the work that Henson was known for with Muppets, he was also constantly trying to explore new mediums and opportunities. We’re shown his expertly edited and weirdly funny Oscar-nominated short Time Piece, and how something that out there could lead to the filmed pieces within an episode of Sesame Street. While he always stayed busy with his many different projects, Henson always wanted to do more, whether it was his plans for a series of nightclubs that could project images on all the walls or a Broadway show that would’ve also used puppetry, Idea Man absolutely lives up to its name.
But Howard also makes sure to give the audience plenty of behind-the-scenes looks at Henson’s Muppets shows, whether it’s watching Oz and Henson goofing off while playing Bert & Ernie, or the uphill climb it was to get someone to take him seriously enough to make The Muppet Show. For someone who never grew up with puppets himself, Henson took to the medium fully, playing with the various ways one could tell a story through just a coat sleeve and a ping pong ball cut in half. This doesn’t just show how ambitious Henson was as a filmmaker, but how dedicated he was to pushing puppeteering forward as well, through trying out new types of puppets and attempts to tell stories in ways that hadn’t been done before. For example, creating something as off-the-wall as The Dark Crystal or Labyrinth took guts for the guy who was known for goofy variety shows led by Muppets.
Howard Occasionally Avoids Some of the Most Intriguing, Darker Parts of Henson's Life
However, Howard mostly tries to avoid the more troublesome parts of Henson’s past. He never avoids the difficulties that Henson had as a family man, particularly, in keeping his wife and business partner Jane Henson in on the company they were building once they started having a family. But there are key moments in Henson’s life that are implied to have had a huge impact on him that are quickly turned away from. At one point, Oz mentions how Henson losing his brother was shattering for the man, but we never quite see what that meant for Henson or the business. Similarly, we’re told of a separation that Jane and Jim had after years of fighting and trouble keeping up with each other, and while it’s mentioned that Jim liked to date without letting it become anything serious, we don’t learn much about Henson at this surprising period late in his life. Even with Henson’s moving funeral, we only get a quick montage of moments rather than taking our time with this powerful tribute. Understandably, Jim Henson Idea Man is a loving tribute to an icon that is airing on Disney+, so Howard can’t get too deep in on the details of the sorrows and changes that altered Henson in these ways. But it does feel like a bit of a missed opportunity to understand the full grasp of who this man was.
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In recent years, Howard has done some of his best work in the documentary medium, whether focusing on massive musical figures like Jay-Z (Made in America), Luciano Pavarotti (Pavarotti), and The Beatles (The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years), or most recently, in his look at José Andrés work in We Feed People. Even one of Howard’s best narrative features in years, 2022’s Thirteen Lives, was essentially a recreation of the events of the documentary The Rescue from 2021. Yet at least between this and We Feed People, Howard has shown himself quite adept at taking beloved figures and fleshing out their lives to showcase all the incredible, remarkable things these people have done to give viewers an even deeper understanding of their greatness. These are affectionate salutes to these people, yet they are nonetheless among some of Howard’s best work in recent years.
Jim Henson Idea Man is an adoring look at this remarkable man that never slips into hagiography, yet, it’s a documentary that will only make you appreciate the multitudes that made Henson who he was. Had he lived for longer, Jim Henson Idea Man makes it clear that he would’ve only continued to show his great range and levels of his brilliance.
Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024)
Jim Henson Idea Man is a loving documentary by Ron Howard that explores the experimental genius behind The Muppets.
- Jim Henson Idea Man shows that Henson was more than just The Muppets.
- Ron Howard explores Henson's entire career, from the characters we love to the lesser-known projects.
- Howard mostly avoids the darker points of Henson's life, which could've given a fuller appreciation of the man.
Jim HensonIdea Man is now available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
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