A Tribute to Jim Henson

[orbitalpunk]

I just wanted to share this lovely 3D animated short in tribute to Jim Henson.

http://habidabad.com/muppetsovertimeoriginal.mov

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Eerie, graceful. Sad. And I hope (as I read that it is starting to hit the festival circuit) that it will be in contention for AMPAS next year.

I think as much as it was a tribute to Henson, it seemed to me that they were also just using the familiar shape of the fuzzy amphibian to resonate with the audience, as unfamiliar puppets would not have produced as much of an emotional response. (Though there were other nods to the Henson genius enterprise-- the chef bits and the 3D movie screening.)

I posted a link on my blog, too-- everyone should see it.

[CoasterMatt]

Wow... that was beautiful

[Prudence]

What kind of whacked out stated am I in that it brought me to tears?

[orbitalpunk]

thats not being whacked out, thats being compassionate.

I am offering a larger version of this video to only you guys if anyone wants it. but please dont share it with other sites as my bandwidth is limited. The video is 30megs Divx (http://www.divx.com/divx/play/download/?hp3playdl).

http://207.234.168.201/jim.zip

Im glad some enjoy it as much as I do. this is why i love being a animator. to be able to express yourself when you can't describe it. without limits.

[katiesue]

Thank you for the link, it definatley brought a tear to my eye.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I guess I'm the only one who wasn't moved. In fact, I found this creepy and disturbing. The odd looking man looks nothing like Henson.....the blank eyed puppets clamber around this corpse....and then he's manipulated like a puppet himself....yeech.

We've spent many weeks watching the Muppet Show season 1 DVD which is an absolute joy. This movie didn't work for me. Oh well.

[orbitalpunk]

When i first watch this short, i didn’t know it was inspired by Jim Henson and the Muppets. I loved it right away. For the elegant morbidness of life and death, dirty black and white look and the eerie beautiful then upbeat music. Maybe others would have liked it more if it wasn’t compared so to the actual Jim Henson. It was made by students, and im sure they didn’t have the resources to make a studio copy of Jim Henson. But when i first watched it I didn’t think about how close it was to Jim Henson, my imagination took flight and envisioned Gepetto and Pinocchio right away. This moved me. Because it was one of the best ways I have seen a craftsman’s creation love its own master. Sure, when Pinocchio became a real boy, he hugged Gepetto and also took risks by diving into Monstro because he loved his father, but imagining Pinocchio care for Gepetto after his passing moves me thru tears and beyond words.

[Prudence]

That's what got me: the idea that after the craftsman's passing he takes over the puppet role. He is no longer there to act, so the creations must act for him. That to which he gave life now gives him life. Damn, I get all weepy even thinking about it.

(As for the lack of resemblance - I'm sure there's a copyright issue in there.)

[Ghoulish Delight]

I might have liked it as a standalone piece. Knowing beforehand that it was supposed to be a tribute to Henson... I dunno. Something about it didn't quite seem to fit Henson's spirit. I've always found his works to be either highly literal or completely abstract, never artily symbolic.