Master Puppeteer

What is it about the Muppets that make them so darn endearing? To this day, I am still enamored with Jim Henson's creations, marveling at the incredible life they bring to the screen, despite being so obviously not real.

I mean, come on. Even when I was very young, I knew the Muppets weren't real. Big Bird was no more real than Santa Clause (no, my parents did not attempt to perpetuate that myth with me). But I loved watching. Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock; I loved 'em all. Still do, in fact. But why?

I've always felt a strong affinity for the fantastical. If children's books introduced me to magical and fantastical worlds, it was film that cemented it as the highest idea of fiction in my mind. I spent endless hours reading books by the faint light that seeped into my room from the hall at night, hoping my dad wouldn't suddenly appear and chastise me for not sleeping as I should have been. When I was grounded, I would still risk everything to sneak into our family room, hiding under the coffee table when I heard my sisters ask if they could watch a movie. I don't recommend disobeying one's parents or other authorities in pursuit of entertainment, but it amazes me now how far I was willing to go because of my intense fascination. Nowadays, I treasure the little sleep I get each night. And I watch too many movies and videos for my own good. Funny, how some things change.

And yet others don't. Locked inside this head of mine is such a wild imagination it's amazing I manage to contain it! Whole worlds populate my mind! Peoples and cultures and characters! So full of life! A much more interesting place to hang out than the humdrum of usual life. And yet we must live humdrum lives...because we have to leave, therefore we must eat, therefore we need money, therefore we must work, therefore we must drive, therefore we need a car, therefore...et cetera.

And wow this post deviated far from where it started...I salute you, Jim Henson! Thanks for sparking my imagination and encouraging it to run wild. Thanks for doing so to countless others.

Hmm...I still have more to say...hmm...aha!

TO BE CONTINUED...

~ Tommy