urSu the Master Mystic Puppet Head from <i>The Dark Crystal</i>
date: label: date made
content: ca 1980
name: label: maker
content: Henson, Jim
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This is the head of the urSu puppet from the 1982 film <i>The Dark Crystal</i>. urSu the Master is part of the urRu, or Mystic, race which are slow-moving, peaceful creatures. The mystics are the counterparts to the Skeksis. They are philosophers who hold the mystical wisdom of their world. urSu the Master dies in the beginning of the film after choosing death so that the balance of the Mystics and the Skeksis could be broken. He was incredibly wise.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>The elongated wrinkled head is made of foam and latex. It is painted in soft brown tones with sleepy shrouded eyes with soft wisps of brown and gray hair on either side of the head. There are wires coming from the head which are connected to controls that were used to move the head and facial features. The Mystic puppets were built as several different components that could be connected with Velcro. This meant that the puppet could be disassembled into various parts, allowing the puppeteer to only use the head section of the puppet when filming a close-up scene without being burdened by the weight of the entire body section of the puppet.</p>
label: Description
content: <p><i>The Dark Crystal</i> was a fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz and released in 1982. The film was made entirely with the use of puppets and features no human actors. In the film, two members of the Gelfling race, Jen and Kira, go on a journey to return a lost shard of the dark crystal in order to defeat the evil Skeksis and restore balance to the planet Thra before it is too late.<p>
topic: label: Subject
content: Dark Crystal
label: Subject
content: Motion Pictures
label: Subject
content: Movie
label: Subject
content: Puppetry
label: Subject
content: Entertainment, Film
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Jim Henson
label: See more items in
content: Movie Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of the Family of Jim Henson: Lisa Henson, Cheryl Henson, Brian Henson, John Henson and Heather Henson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2013.0101.22
label: accession number
content: 2013.0101
label: catalog number
content: 2013.0101.22
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Mystic
label: Object Name
content: puppet
label: Object Name
content: Skeksis
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: glass (eyes material)
label: Physical Description
content: latex (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wire (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 9 in; 22.86 cm