Brian Henson Brian Henson ( b . November 3 , 1963 ) is a director , producer , writer , performer , and Chairman of The Jim Henson Company . Early life . Brian Henson was the third child of Jim and Jane Henson . As a child , he made several cameo appearances in " Sesame Street " segments , notably counting three peas , eight ping - pong balls , and various types of coins in the " Number Song Series . " His first " Sesame Street " cameo , however , was in a film in which he and another boy play in the sand , pretending to be vehicles . As he got older , he built the very first Muppet Penguin puppet for an episode of " The Muppet Show " . During a summer break from high school , he assisted in the bicycle sequence from " The Great Muppet Caper " . He helped create and operate a special rigging device that was created to allow the Muppets to ride bicycles , since he was skilled in the use of marionette puppets . A few years later , he operated a marionette of Scooter riding a bicycle in " The Muppets Take Manhattan " . As a teenager , Brian Henson worked at Sesame Place one summer . One of his co - workers there was fellow future Muppeteer Bill Barretta . Henson recalled the experience : During the 1980s , Henson wanted to make a name for himself and find work without his father ' s help . He performed Jack Pumpkinhead in " Return to Oz " , operated special effects in " Santa Claus : The Movie " , and was a principal performer for the Audrey II puppet in " Little Shop of Horrors " , controlling mouth movement while others performed the lips and vines . In an 2013 interview , Henson discussed the difference between working on " Return to Oz " and working on a Muppet movie : Creature Shop involvement . Most of Henson ' s work at The Jim Henson Company during the 1980s was in productions made by Jim Henson ' s Creature Shop . One of the few exceptions was " The Christmas Toy " , where he performed Cruiser . In 1986 , Brian Henson performed the voice and face movements of Hoggle in " Labyrinth " . He then performed the regular role of Dog on " The StoryTeller " and " " . He also performed occasionally on " Dinosaurs " . Henson Company involvement . In 1990 , after the death of Jim Henson and the dissolution of the company ' s planned merger with The Walt Disney Company , Brian , along with his other siblings , took over operations of The Jim Henson Company . In January 1991 , at the age of 27 , Brian was named President , Chairman , and Chief Executive Officer of the Henson Company . In 1995 , the Henson Company created the Office of the President and longtime Henson executive Charles Rivkin became President and Chief Operating Officer , while Brian became President and Chief Executive Officer . After the sale to EM . TV in 2000 , Brian became chairman until he resigned in 2002 . One year later , he led his siblings in the re - acquisition of the Henson Company from EM . TV . Brian Henson has produced many Henson series , and he directed select episodes of " Mother Goose Stories " , " Dinosaurs " , " Muppets Tonight " , and " Farscape " . He also directed " The Muppet Christmas Carol " and " Muppet Treasure Island " . Muppet performing . Brian Henson became one of the core Muppet performers starting with " Muppets Tonight " , where his roles included Sal Minella , Seymour the Elephant , Nigel the Director , and Dr . Phil van Neuter . In the Behind - the - scenes feature on the DVD , Brian Henson refers to Bill Barretta as his " performing partner " , and together they performed such duos as Seymour and Pepe , and Johnny Fiama and Sal . Barretta also normally performed the hands of Dr . Phil van Neuter , and in of Muppets Tonight , Henson ' s character Sal had a run - in with Barretta ' s Bobo the Bear , in which Sal was hurled from the building for continually referring to Bobo as " butt - head " . Although Dr . Phil van Neuter has occasionally been used since then , Henson ' s only character from that series to continue being used regularly is Sal , who has appeared in " Muppets from Space " , " It ' s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie " , " The Muppets Wizard of Oz " , and other productions . At the 2001 live show , " The Muppet Show Live " , Brian Henson finally took over one of his father ' s characters , the Newsman . In " It ' s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie " , Henson took over two of Richard Hunt ' s characters , Scooter and Janice . Henson would perform these two characters again , along with the Newsman , in the video game " Muppets Party Cruise " . Other projects . In 1999 , Brian Henson appeared in a series of Introductions that were recorded especially for " Muppet Show " reruns on the Odyssey Network . He also recorded audio commentary for the original DVD releases of " The Muppet Christmas Carol " and " Muppet Treasure Island " , and he appeared in some features on the DVD releases " " and " " ( providing audio commentary on the latter ) . Henson also directed " " in 2004 . He performed Augustus Pfiffle in " Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del " , a puppet - hosted , improvisational talk show , in which he has joined once again with Bill Barretta , who performed co - host Delbert Kastle . He is also involved with " Puppet Up ! " . In 2007 , Barretta and Henson wrote , produced , and directed LOGO ' s " Tinseltown " , and they perform the puppets of Bobby Vegan and Samson Knight . He also directed and is executive producer of " Sid the Science Kid " . Henson is currently the lead judge of a reality series , " Jim Henson ' s Creature Shop Challenge " " . " Awards & honors . 1991 1992 1998 Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _