Jim Henson Quotations

At the time of Polaroid - and I did a couple of other commercials just before I stopped doing that stuff - at that point I was at the level where they respect you and your opinion and all that sort of thing.

Yeah, I think we did the term Muppets before we got the show Sam and Friends - a few months after I started working.

Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.

When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world. My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.

The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children.

When The Muppet Show ended, we all sat around and said, what kind of television show would we like to do. We felt the need these days are for some quality children's programming.

I've never felt any sense of competition with anybody, and we're all friends; we're all good friends.

When I was a kid, I never saw a puppet show. I never played with puppets or had any interest in them.

There was a little afternoon show that was called Afternoon. Back in those days in television, most local stations had a midday show for housewives that had a series of things. It was like a variety show for midday.

If anything, there's a difference in working with color in England and the color in the US.

I decided that what I really wanted to do was go off and paint.

My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.

No, there's not much competition between puppeteers in general because everybody's working their own style.

At the University of Maryland, my first year I started off planning to major in art because I was interested in theatre design, stage design or television design.

Well, Detroit Institute is kind of a key - probably the largest permanent collection of puppets in the US.

I think my own strengths are in television production.

I was very interested in theatre, mostly in stage design. I did a little bit of acting.

It has always been difficult to get Big Bird to be very pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeous.

NBC was trying to convert all of their local programming to color right away to encourage the sale of the sets, so I barely remember working in black and white, although I do know that I did do it, but there was not a major difference, though.

Yeah, we pretty much had a form and a shape by that time - a style - and I think one of the advantages of not having any relationship to any other puppeteer was that it gave me a reason to put those together myself for the needs of television.

But with The Dark Crystal, instead of puppetry we're trying to go toward a sense of realism - toward a reality of creatures that are actually alive and we're mixing up puppetry and all kinds of other techniques.

If you're doing a large, complicated character with radio controls, it might take a number of people several months to make it and if you're talking about a quick little hand puppet, it could be made in 2 days, so there's enormous range there, and no real easy generalities.

Yeah, I did some small parts in high school and the first year of college and then fairly soon thereafter I settled into the backstage scenery, and then at the University of Maryland I was doing posters for their productions.

You're assisting the audience to understand; you're giving them a bridge or an access. And if you don't give them that, if you keep it more abstract, it's almost more pure. It's a cooler thing.

We really have a lot of ambitions for this film,

Let us use this log cabin as a means of looking back.

Since the show was done in small bits and pieces, we seldom taped anything more than a couple of minutes so generally you could learn your lines.

Yeah, well when I first started working, it was $5 a show; it was probably a little higher by the time I got to my own show, but I remember that they put me under contract at $100 a week, which to me was really an astronomical price.

Yeah, all the characters in those days were abstract because that was part of the principle that I was working under, that you wanted abstract things.

When Sesame Street came on - well, it was a combination - we were too busy to do commercials and it was a pleasure to get out of that world.

the most profound effect on children of any entertainer of his time.

It's into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein you're trying to create something that people will actually believe, but it's not so much a symbol of the thing, but you're trying to do the thing itself.

If you take a character and you call him a frog, or like Rowlf, our dog, call him a dog, you immediately give the audience a handle.

If you can't beat them. Join them

Somebody like a Piggy or a Kermit, there needs to be several versions and so there will be several of them.

I believe that life is basically a process of growth-that we go through many lives, choosing those situations and problems that we will learn through.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered when wished on an evening star? Somebody thought of it and someone believed it, and look what its done so far.

I do remember doing shows strictly in black and white, too, so you're right.

I guess I was wrong when I said I never promised anyone. I promised me.

Television is basically teaching whether you want it to or not.

We thought it would be fun to try to design a show that would work well internationally and so that' s what we're intending to do with Fraggle Rock, and we are indeed now selling it around the world.

I don't know exactly where ideas come from, but when I'm working well ideas just appear. I've heard other people say similar things - so it's one of the ways I know there's help and guidance out there. It's just a matter of our figuring out how to receive the ideas or information that are waiting to be heard.

I know that I personally have felt quite happy because I've done what I wanted to do. I pursued my interests and have thus managed to combine my business with lots of fun. I guess my only advice is to do what you enjoy, and try to do your best with it.

I don't know exactly where ideas come from, it's just a matter of us figuring out how to receive the ideas waiting to be heard.

Cara: *Flies* Gen: What? I don't have wings! Cara: Ofcourse not! You're a boy.

(Lisa Henson about her father) He admired the job of the man who walks along the road picking up trash with a long stick. He thought that guy had a great job, walking along with a stick, enjoying the road, and doing only good in the world, with hundreds of small actions.

Actually the copies of characters is something I don't particularly like to talk about in articles but just for your information, most characters there's only one.

I try hard not to judge anyone, and I try to bless everyone who is a part of my life, particularly anyone with whom I am having any problems

I don't resent working long hours. I shouldn't- I'm the one who set up my life this way. I love to work. It's the thing that I get the most satisfaction out of-nd probably what I do best. Not that I don't enjoy days off. I love vacations and loafing around. But I think much of the world has the wrong idea of working. It's one of the good things in life. The feeling of accomplishment is more real and satisfying than finishing a good meal- or looking at one's accumulated wealth.

There's not a word nevertheless, for previous pals who've just fulfilled.

Never eat anything at one sitting that you can't lift.

Yeah, well when I first started working, it was $5 a show; it was probably a little higher by the time I got to my own show, but I remember that they put me under contract at $100 a week, which to me was really an astronomical price.

Life is meant to be fun, and joyous, and fulfilling.

It's a wonderful life and I love it.

Watch out for the icy patch

The beauty of nature has been one of the great inspirations in my life.

Take what you got and fly with it.

A film is not done by one person. It's done by a lot of people. I love this whole collaborative aspect. When it works well, you end up with something better than any of us started out to do.

I hope that something better comes along.

It's into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein you're trying to create something that people will actually believe, but it's not so much a symbol of the thing, but you're trying to do the thing itself.

All of a sudden you realise that you are the person who has control of your life.

It all ends in one of two ways: either someone gets eaten or something blows up.

I spend a few minutes in meditation and prayer each morning. I find that this really helps me to start the day with a good frame of reference. As part of my prayers, I thank whoever is helping me - I'm sure that somebody or something is - I express gratitude for all my blessings and try to forgive the people that I'm feeling negative toward. I try hard not to judge anyone, and I try to bless everyone who is part of my life, particularly anyone with whom I am having any problems.

Nobody creates a fad. It just happens. People love going along with the idea of a beautiful pig. It’s like a conspiracy.

The most sophisticated people I've ever known had just one thing in common: they were all in touch with their inner children.

The only way the magic works is by hard work. But hard work can be fun.

If our 'message' is anything, it's a positive approach to life. That life is basically good. People are basically good.

There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met.

No time is wasted time

Do everything at 100 percent of its potential and never accept second best.

I don't want'a die... I have other plans!

Do the jobs you like least first. It makes each successive job easier.

We see with our eyes. We know with our hearts. Outside...Inside.

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me!

Yes, its one of the basic truths of the universe,....Things don't disappear. They just change, and change and change again.

I really do believe that all of you are at the beginning of a wonderful journey.As you start traveling down that road of life, remember this: There are never enough comfort stops. The places you're going to are never on the map. And once you get that map out, you won't be able to re-fold it no matter how smart you are. So forget the map, roll down the windows, and whenever you can pull over and have picnic with a pig. And if you can help it never fly as cargo.

I think if you study--if you learn too much of what others have done, you may tend to take the same direction as everybody else.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.

As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood.

Certainly I've lived my whole life through my imagination. But the world of imagination is there for all of us--a sense of play, of pretending, of wonder. It's there with us as we live.

I believe that we form our own lives, that we create our own reality, and that everything works out for the best.

I know it's easier to portray a world filled with cynicism and anger, where problems are solved with violence...It's an easy out. What's a whole lot tougher is to offer alternatives, to present other ways conflicts can be resolved, and to show you can have a positive impact on your world. To do that, you have to put yourself out on a limb, take chances, and run the risk of being called a do-gooder.

Music is an essential part of everything we do. Like puppetry, music has an abstract quality which speaks to a worldwide audience in a wonderful way that nourishes the soul.

Life's like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending. We've done just what we set out to do. Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers and you.

[Kids] don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.

I know I drive some people crazy with what seems like ridiculous optimism, but it has always worked for me.

Follow your enthusiasm. It's something I've always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing.

Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It's a good life, enjoy it.

Only time can heal your broken heart. Just as only time can heal his broken arms and legs.

I've always tried to present a positive view of the world in my work. It's so much easier to be negative and cynical and predict doom for the world than it is to try and figure out how to make things better. We have an obligation to do the latter.

The attitude you have as a parent is what your kids will learn from more than what you tell them. They don't remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.

If you care about what you do and work hard at it, there isn't anything you can't do if you want to.

Watch out for each other. Love everyone and forgive everyone, including yourself. Forgive your anger. Forgive your guilt. Your shame. Your sadness. Embrace and open up your love, your joy, your truth, and most especially your heart.

This is a great win. That's a Division I school that has three wins we just beat. There's a lot of pride. Our kids played their butts off.

And also there wasn't much money in television in those days anyhow.