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Jim Henson Quotes (1936-1990)
Actor, Writer, Artist
About Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson (24 September, 1936 β 16 May, 1990) was an American puppeteer, artist, cartoonist, inventor, screenwriter, actor, film director, and producer.
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βSesame Street (1990-93)β
βPersonally, I prefer working in the background.β
βI'm sure Kermit will stay young a lot longer than I will.β
βI do remember doing shows strictly in black and white, too.β
βFrankly, I'm a lot more comfortable if I'm wearing a puppet.β
βPuppets have the same sort of graceful aging that cartoon characters have.β
βIf any-thing, there's a difference in working with color in England and the color in the U.S.β
βI always felt that I was not a part of things in general. I've always been outside of things.β
βI've never felt any sense of competition with anybody, and we're all friends. We're all good friends.β
βIt has always been difficult to get Big Bird to be very pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeous.β
βNo, I don't believe we've ever designed a character around a person. Usually, we start out with a kind of personality.β
βI think it's good to be your own person. But individuality is a mixed blessing. People who are 'different' are isolated.β
βWhen you trick people into laughing at themselves, that's wit. If you don't laugh at yourself, everything becomes heavy.β
βWe started off with this fairly grand concept of, if you were to tackle it at a children's level, eliminating war. What would you do?β
βAs children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood.β
βI suppose that he's an alter ego. But he's a little snarkier than I am - slightly wise. Kermit says things I hold myself back from saying.β
βA lot of the shows relate to interrelationships and attitudes, again, always trying to do it within the context of a very entertaining show.β
βThere's great value in being able to step back and laugh at yourself, at life and at attitudes. Laughter helps you put everything into perspective.β
βI know parents are often concerned: 'Oh, no, I wouldn't take my kids into the studio because it would destroy all their illusions.' It's a fairly adult concept.β
βI couldn't do ventriloquism. I don't have any interest in splitting myself in two, the way a ventriloquist does — half-himself, half the dummy on his knee.β
βEven as a kid, I felt isolated. Isolation makes you sensitive. As a kid, I felt I was the only person who was like that. But there's a good side to isolation. It makes you sensitive, and sensitivity is part of the creative process.β
Jim Henson Quotes by Topic
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Jim Henson on Puppetry 6 quotes
βOne of the nice things about puppets is that it's your own hand in there. You can make it do anything you want it to.β
Jim Henson on Prophecy
βProphets don't know everything!β
Quotes About Jim Henson
Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Jim Henson from others.
Source on Jim Henson 26 quotes
View all 26 quotes on Source →Tanya Lopez on Jim Henson
βJim Henson was a one-of-a-kind visionary whose works have entertained and sparked the imagination of millions of people across the globe for generations.β
Frank Oz on Jim Henson
Elizabeth Hyde Stevens on Jim Henson
βWhat do we want our children to get from Hensonβs work? The same thing we learned from it. The philosophy of a gentle dreamer. The message that was encapsulated in βThe Rainbow Connectionβ β the one about the βThe lovers, the dreamers, and me.β Itβs the idea that life is about making a difference, a positive change. And weβve all heard it, even the Howard Roarks among us, calling our names.β
About Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson (24 September, 1936 β 16 May, 1990) was an American puppeteer, artist, cartoonist, inventor, screenwriter, actor, film director, and producer.