Muppet man Jim Henson was known to dabble in experimental cinema. Maybe that’s an understatement– after all, practically everything the man did was an experiment. He wasn’t one of those cautious, measured individuals who simply puts a fresh spin on a successful formula. No, luckily for us, Jim Henson was more interested in remolding the world in a way that made sense to him, paving his own path along the way.
What’s special about works like Ripples and Limbo, The Organized Mind, is that we’re treated to an intriguingly abstract vision of Jim Henson’s thought process. We’re given a glimpse of Henson’s deeply contemplative inner world. Can you imagine The Tonight Show having the audacity to air a piece like Limbo on national TV today? Even back in 1974 when Johnny Carson was still in charge, it seems unlikely that anyone but Henson could have brought a film this unusual (and rad) to the mass audience of late night TV.
Keep an eye out around the 3:29 mark for Henson’s sly homage to his pal Maurice!
via Andy Neuhues. Thanks for the link!
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What the… that was…. I feel like a completely different person after watching that!!!!
It appears that Jim “Jenson” (??) performed that piece live over video backdrop – check the rig at the end of the video! wow, reminds me of sitting up late as a kid watching forbidden planet.. loved it!
Awesome! Thanks for posting that. Henson was a genius.
There’s another quick Wild Things reference at about 3:04 – “Fears” area I think.
If you didn’t know already, the music for this piece was written by Raymond Scott of “Powerhouse” fame. He was a pioneer in electronic music and scored a few projects with Henson. Excerpt: http://raymondscott.com/limbo.mp3 It’s on a wicked cool compilation with all sorts of electronic stuff written for old comercials: http://raymondscott.com/mripr.html
there are no words to describe how much i love jim henson. thanks for posting this!
xox,
Susan
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