Animation Magazine

Animation ran a story on the Muppets joining Disney in 1989.
THE MOUSE AND THE FROG: Disney and Henson join empires
By Bill Givens Volume 3, Issue 3 - Winter/Spring 1990
"It's an unusual day on the back lot of the
Disney Studios in Burbank. Pyrotechnics
experts are wiring up incendiary devices
and air cannons, and a memo has been circulated
to all the offices on the lot, warning
them to expect a series of explosions later in
the day.
There's a bit of tension in the normally bucolic
town square setting, which is about
all that remains of the Disney back lot. Gaily dressed
extras hang around, playing cards,
reading, waiting for the cameras to roll.
Firemen-both real ones and actors-lounge
on the back of a Burbank fire truck.
Nearby, construction workers are putting
the finishing touches to Disney's new
corporate headquarters, a sandstone-colored
'modem monument on which the roof will
be supported by statues of (ahem!) . . . the
seven dwarfs.
The brobdingnagian creatures
(let's face it-can you call a twenty-orso
foot statue a dwarf?) are covered by plastic
tarps to hide them from prying eyes until
the structure is ready for its public unveiling.
The building and a nearby parking
structure have eaten up much of the studio's
back lot.
For the time being, there's not a mouse in
sight. The star of this production is a frog. A
frog. . . on the lot built by a mouse. A brick
wall is about to be blown to smithereens,
and the crew is hustling about, making sure
every little detail of the filming is locked
down, every safety precaution is firmly in
place.
The one person who doesn't reflect any
of the tension of the moment is Jim Henson.
The bearded creator of "The Muppets", who
is directing the film, is an island of relaxation
in the midst of all the frantic activity.
Asked about his calm demeanor, the Muppet
Master says "There's not a lot that tension
will do for us. There are times like this
when I've done everything I can do, then I
just sit back and wait for everybody else to
get ready."
The project that Henson is directing is a
3-D film, scheduled to become an attraction
at the Disney /MGM Studio Tour in Florida.
California's Disneyland may have its hipper-
than-thou Michael Jackson as a 3-D
"Captain EO", but Florida's multi-dimensional
image will be good ole lovable Kermit
the Frog and his Muppet Friends.
Kermit, Miss Piggy, and all of the Henson
characters are becoming a hard-working
part of the Disney family in a buyout
deal that has been estimated as worth $150
to $200 million dollars to Henson, even
though neither party has quoted numbers.
While the production shuts down for a
lunch break, Henson heads for Disney's
Roof top Executive Dining Room for a fast
lunch and a chance to talk about the way
things will be going when his company
becomes a part of Mickey's empire.
Idea Came From Eisner
Henson says that the idea of the merger
started with a meeting with Michael Eisner
to discuss some joint projects, but before too
long the conversation turned to a high-powered
deal wherein Mickey's empire
takes over Kermit's domain."
JIM HENSON: A DAY IN THE LIFE
By Bill Givens Volume 3, Issue 4 - Summer 1990
"A writer has the rare opportunity to
get to know a wide variety of people-the
famous, the infamous, the ordinary.
It's one of the privileges of the profession.
But with every privilege comes an
attendant responsibility, that of constructing
your article from whole cloth,
of painting a true picture of the subject
of your interview.
There are times when it's difficult.
Early on, you develop your personal
"smoke detector", and within minutes
you can recognize someone who's all
style and no substance, an image made
from smoke and mirrors. That's when
you have to perform a little dance
around your subject's psyche, looking
for the door that will open long enough
for you to get in and look around for the
truth, for something solid on which to
base your piece. When there's just
nothing there, you can only back off
and merely report your impressions,
and let the chips fall where they may.
But an interview is a true joy when
you meet someone who is genuine,
whose conversation transcends corporate
jargon, political sidesteps, and
"yupspeak". You ask a question, you
get an answer. Sometime the answer is
"no" or "I can't answer that", but you
aren't taken into the woods of obscurity,
you don't have to play mind games
with your subject. You get a person
who looks you straight in the eye, whose
every word and gesture reflects the essence
of the topic, who treats you as an
equal.
Jim Henson was such a man. We met
over lunch at Disney's executive dining
room and immediately hit upon a common
chord, since he and I were both
born about 20 miles and three years
apart, in the Delta region of northern
Mississippi. He also confirmed a rumor
I had heard-that, as Kermit the Frog,
he had preached Edgar Bergen's funeral
oration from the pulpit. of my
parish church in Los Angeles.
Throughout the rest of the afternoon
as I watched him at work, I could easily
see why his characters can entertain
children without condescending to
them, and can entertain adults without
patronizing. There is a large portion of
Jim Henson in every one of his characters:
a gentleness,a goodness,a charm,
and a generous supply of wit.
As I watched him direct an extremely
complicated and somewhat dangerous
scene, he was an island of calm surrounded
by tension. I asked about it,
and his reply was that "There's not a lot
that tension will do for us. There are
times like this when I've done everything
I can do, then I just sit back and
wait for everyone else to get ready."The
crew went about the business of setting
up an "explosion shot" for Disney
Florida's 3-D movie as Henson watched
from the background, intervening only
when he caught something out of kilter.
That was, to me, also a measure of the
man. I've seen many a famous person
surrounded by fawners and sycophants,
yes-men and hangers-on who can't make
a move or a decision without a nod from
"the boss". Not Henson's crew. They
seemed to work in an atmosphere of
mutual respect, on a set that was both
lighthearted and professional. That can
come only from the top.
From our conversation, I had the impression
that Henson's sale of his company
to Disney-even though he said
that he didn't instigate it-was "the deal
of a lifetime" for him.
Disney was the
ideal company to take over his characters;
he was free of administrative duties
and the selling of his products and
could now concentrate on what he liked
to do best-create and produce. That's
what makes me happiest," he said.
That's what I like doing the most."
Therein lies one of the tragedies of
Jim Henson's early death, that famous
"what might have been". If a man could
give us so much while starting out as a
puppeteer on a local Washington, D. C.
station, and going on to create some of
the most memorable characters ever to
appear on television (and in the movies,
! too, for that matter), to build up a world-
~ ranging company, to feed both public
~ and network television's hungry maw,
r;, who knows what we would have seen
\ ~once he was freed of the fetters of rou- o~
tine-when he could direct 100% of his
genius to that which we see on the
screen?
The day of our conversation, Henson
told me that the deal for the sale to
Disney was essentially complete, and
that it was now "in the hands of the
lawyers". His death came before it was
out of those hands and officially signed,
leaving a host of questions about the
future, both from Disney's point of view
and Henson Associates'.
I felt a real sense of personal loss
when Jim Henson died, because as a
writer you treasure the time spent in the
company of people of genius, of goodness,
of genuine accomplishment. You
rejoice at the privilege of spending time
with people whose lives and work make
a difference. You are honored when
you meet someone who shows as much
respect for your work as you have for
his. And that's exactly the way I felt
about my day with Jim Henson.
There's so much sadness surrounding
the early death of Jim Henson. But
there's also a joy in knowing that he left
us triumphant-at the very top of his
profession, surrounded by solid accomplishment,
a large and loving family,
and creativity that will continue to
enhance the lives of both children and
adults. Jim Henson was a man wrapped
in the mantle of a nation's love and
respect. Not a bad way to go."
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