Larger Than Life Figures (con't from Master Puppeteer)

So I think I figured it out. What is it about the Muppets that inspired my childhood? Two words: Personality and Diversity.

PERSONALITY


Let's face it. The Muppets have wild personalities. From Kermit to Gonzo to Beaker to Bert to Oscar to Animal to the Fraggles, such incredibly wild personalities exist inside each one of them. They're not cookie cutter characters like we get in most fiction these days. I could name any number of rather flat, unimaginative character archetypes that have been used and are still being used in most fiction these days. Especially in Disney movies, with their never-ending catering to children with the same stories told again and again and again. Seriously, how many variations on a princess theme can you have? A wizard theme? Seriously. No, the Muppets certainly weren't flat characters. And I think that more than anything has influenced my creative enterprises.


DIVERSITY


A second point about the Muppets is the incredible variation amongst them. They are an incredibly eclectic group. Not one of them is like any other. We have talking animals, aliens, "people" with impossible skin tones, monsters, random furry creatures with bugles on their heads that can make noise by squeezing their noses (?), et cetera. How many movies are there where the protagonists are all of a kind, except for the token minority or alien--if even that? No, there is beauty in diversity. I appreciate this about the Muppets, and the shows they are featured on.

So that is my final analysis, which I had not even planned on making really. I hope you have enjoyed this random walk through the mind of a rather odd college student.


By the way, which title would make you more likely to read: "Master Puppeteer"? Or "Puppet Master"?


~ Tommy

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