Imagination Unlimited: The Jim Henson Exhibition

As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood." — Jim Henson

My husband Andrew and I today finally got around to visiting the Jim Henson exhibit that’s been at COSI since May. Although we’ve seen the Muppets, etc. on exhibit previously - last time was when we visited the Experience Music Project (now called the Museum of Pop Culture) in Seattle in 2009, we felt it was still worth a look, and are glad we attended.

I grew up watching the Muppets (less so on “Sesame Street” since we couldn’t really tune in PBS very easily), and that program was always part of our Saturday night line-up right after “Sha Na Na” and “Hee Haw” I think, so it was PG pre prime time entertainment.

Not sure I have a favorite Muppet, but of course I always had a soft spot for Kermit, much like everyone else.

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker and the Swedish Chef always made me laugh. I also enjoyed the scenes on the dance floor while various couples engaged in witty dialogue. However, what I really liked were the moments backstage when the guest star chatted with Kermit, Miss Piggy, or whomever else. None of the guest stars seemed to mind being upstaged by a puppet.

Of all the celebrities throughout the years, the one that stands out most in my mind was John Denver. He’s the reason I still have “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and “The Garden Song” on my I-Pod.

Anyway, the exhibit was pretty comprehensive in providing a fairly decent background of Jim Henson and how he grew into the memorable creator of our favorite childhood puppet friends. Having already seen the documentary about how Jim Henson ended up creating the puppets that were on “Sesame Street” first, and then eventually “The Muppet Show,” I was familiar with his dilemma.

“At first, Henson wasn't interested in participating in a children's show, but he was eventually persuaded to sign on by the lofty educational and humanitarian goals of The Children's Television Workshop (now the Sesame Workshop): "to use the medium of television as a tool to help children learn [source: Sesame Workshop].”

https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/jim-henson2.htm

There’s an amusing pitch for “The Muppet Show” that plays on a continual loop. The commercial shows people of various age groups and their muppet equivalent saying that the show will appeal to small children, young people, college kids and intellectual egg heads, freaky long-haired dirty cynical hippies, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KorhvVQRUM

Henson ended “The Muppet Show” in 1981 so he could focus on the silver screen, and “The Muppet Movie” celebrated its 40^th anniversary at the end of July. I agree with the NPR newscaster who said something to the effect, ‘who can’t be happy when listening to the movie theme song?’ Just hearing a tiny clip from it brought back lots of happy memories including hearing the song performed in concert by my sister’s middle school band.

If you live in the greater Columbus area, you still have a couple weeks left to see this poignant and nostalgic exhibit as it closes just after Labor Day.