It’s impossible to explain how many people Jim Henson‘s work has touched. His puppets were—and will always be—a huge part of innumerable lives. Which is why it’s hard to not get a little emotional watching Adam Savage take a tour of the new Jim Henson Exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, which features items from his work on The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, and Dark Crystal.
In this video for Tested, Savage got a personal tour of the museum, which has nearly 300 objects in its permanent collection. That includes 47 puppets, including Henson’s first one, Rowlf (who knew?!), to a Kermit puppet from the ’70s (with a headband and microphone Jim Henson wore while operating him), to Big Bird and Cookie Monster, as well as Ms. Piggy in her exquisite wedding dress, Cantus Fraggle, and a Skeksis. There are also costumes, production design material, and licensed merchandise, all from the nearly 500 items that were donated in 2013 by the Henson family.
I know there will be some people who lose their minds seeing Elmo or those amazing Labyrinth costumes, but I would absolutely tear up seeing the “real” Kermit the Frog that Jim Henson himself brought to life. And I’m far from the biggest Muppets fan I know, of which there are a lot.
And they are a big reason this amazing exhibit even exists, because it was in part funded by 2,000 donors who contributed to a Kickstarter campaign. Thanks to them the work of Jim Henson will continue to touch countless live for a long time.
In the words of Kermit himself: “Yaaaaay!”
Which Jim Henson puppet or other object would you be most excited to see? Operate our comments below with yours.
Images: Tested
