urSu the Master Mystic Puppet Head and Torso Section from <i>The Dark Crystal</i>
date: label: date made
content: ca 1980
name: label: Associated Name
content: Henson, Jim
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: <p>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 (Brief)
content: <p>The large puppet is made up of several pieces. This is the head and torso section of the urSu the Master puppet from <i>The Dark Crystal.</i> This upper torso section includes four arms, three of which have hands attached. There is a head that is attached to the toso with control wires. The torso includes hair and is dressed in a tan fabric with sprial designs. The hands and head are covered in a latex foam material. 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 (Brief)
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>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Puppetry
label: Subject
content: Motion Pictures
label: Subject
content: Dark Crystal
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Jim Henson
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: 2013.0101.23.01
label: catalog number
content: 2013.0101.23.01
label: accession number
content: 2013.0101
objectType: label: Object Name
content: puppet, torso and head
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: latex (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: hair (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)