Fraggle Rock posed image. Jim Henson with the Fraggle Five (L to R: Wembley, Red, Gobo, Boober, Mokey) and several Doozers. Courtesy of The Jim Henson Company © John E. Barrett

In part one of our interview with Jim Henson biographer Brian Jay Jones, we discussed the man and his creative life. Today, we talk about Henson’s greatest contribution to Western Civilization, from Sesame Street and The Dark Crystal to Rainbow Connection and beyond.

It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to raise the curtains on Jim Henson's storied life!

BIOG: Let’s start with Kermit. Is the beloved frog the closest to Henson, the person?

BJJ: Kermit’s voice is closest to Jim’s register, so that’s one of the reasons the two are so intertwined. Kermit was also on Jim’s arm from the beginning, back to when the frog was blue. Until he passed away, Jim was the only one who moved Kermit’s mouth. There was almost no barrier between man and frog. Personality-wise, I think Kermit and Jim were a bit more similar in the early days when Kermit was more of a wise-ass, but they both evolved. One thing Kermit and Jim definitely shared was being the eye in the hurricane, the calm center while all this lunacy was taking place around them.

BIOG: Is there another Muppet you’d align with Jim?

BJJ: I always thought Rowlf the Dog was the most like Jim, especially later in life. Rowlf was a gentle, quiet, wise sage, just like Jim.

BIOG: I remember watching The Muppet Show as a kid in the 1970s, but watching it now, it is such a time capsule of that strange, strange decade...

BJJ: The show has a timeless quality to it, thanks to its vaudevillian backstage "let’s put on a show" framing mechanism. But in terms of the guests, the musical performances, and a lot of the sketches, The Muppet Show captures the spirit of the 1970s. My favorite guest stars were Steve Martin and Alice Cooper, and the Star Wars-themed episode combined everything I held dearly in middle school.

BIOG: Speaking of science-fiction, The Dark Crystal was a flop upon release. Was Jim devastated or did he move onto the next thing like always?

BJJ: Jim had wanted to do The Dark Crystal for years and he put his blood and sweat into it. It wasn't really a flop because it did make money, but it wasn't appreciated on the artistic level Jim had hoped. People were just baffled by it...So sure, he was disappointed it wasn't a hit. Jim loved the artistry in it, they made every single thing in the film. If a scene needed a table, they would discuss what kind of materials would be in that world to build a table. The movie is beautiful in its design, but the story came second and it didn't work. One thing that was unfair to Jim, and I was guilty of it too after seeing the movie in the theater, was that too many critics and viewers expected it to be another Muppet movie, to have the same characters and sensibilities. I think Jim would be thrilled to know it lives on. Both The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, which also wasn't big at the box office, have a solid cult following today.

BIOG: What was Jim’s relationship to Sesame Street?

BJJ: At first, Jim just viewed it as another job, he didn’t think it would last for more than a few months but he was always devoted to it. He always appreciated the power of television to educate and brought his skewed Muppet Show mentality back every year. I think he justified the zaniness because it was "educational."

BIOG: How would you define a Muppet Show "sensibility?"

BJJ: Silliness. That was the essence of it. The Muppet Show split the difference between Disney and Warner Brothers. It had Disney’s sweetness without being quite as cloying and saccharine, and it had the chaos of Warner Brothers without descending into total anarchy.

BIOG: One myth about the Muppet Show you shatter is that it was written under the influence of illegal substances...

BJJ: People would always say, "they must be on drugs to come up with that stuff," and it sort of stuck. There was some pot around because a lot of them were hippies, but Jim was a bit older, turning thirty in 1966, so it wasn't his thing. There is the one time Jim decided he wanted to drop acid to reach some form of alternative consciousness. He took it. Nothing happened. Jim’s mind was alternative enough, so he never tried it again.

BIOG: Who are your favorite Muppets?

BJJ: So many to choose from... I’ve always been a big fan of Rowlf. And for whatever reason, I love Guy Smiley, that dude really makes me laugh. My wife is a scientist so we’re big fans of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, and who can forget Ernie and Bert? My brother Cris and I had the puppets and we’d act out all the skits.

BIOG: The relationship between Jim Henson and Frank Oz as played out through Ernie and Bert is one of the book’s highlights...

BJJ: Frank was Bert, Jim was Ernie. Jim would poke, poke, poke at Oz to get a reaction. They would riff as the characters for hours on end, contrasting styles making for great comedy, right down to their shapes and the clothes they wore. Bert is tall and his stripes are vertical, Ernie is wide and his stripes are horizontal.

BIOG: We're close in age, it's amazing how deeply-rooted the Muppets are in the collective mind of Generation X...

BJJ: It starts with the fact that there were really only three channels. It’s a true testament to Sesame Street that it’s still on the air and still beloved when kids have a million shows at their fingertips. The first time I saw Grover in the Henson workshop, I almost started crying. Those characters were so important to us. I’m glad I could pass it on to my kids.

It’s funny though. In the 1970s when my mom saw Rowlf on The Muppet Show she told me she remembered him from The Jimmy Dean Show. I didn't believe her. Every generation has a connection to Jim Henson’s characters, but Muppetmania took hold when we were kids, so the Gen X relationship is special. The Muppet Show was the biggest program in the world, the characters were everywhere. At the height of the Cold War, it was seen behind the Iron Curtain. In 1979, The Muppet Movie was a smash, a top-ten film that happened to come out right around the time every family bought their first VCR.

BIOG: I also don’t think you can underestimate the power of "Rainbow Connection..."

BJJ: Jim wanted the movie to have it’s own "When You Wish Upon A Star." Paul Williams absolutely nailed it. The song is pitch perfect and it brilliantly bookends the movie.

BIOG: Henson’s fatal illness was strange, it seems like something that could have been treated if he’d gotten himself to the hospital earlier...

BJJ: It’s hard to say. I've heard arguments from doctors that had Jim gone to the hospital three days sooner, the bacterial infection could have been handled. Others say the opposite, because its devastation happened so quickly. Like a lot of men, Jim just took some Advil and figured it would go away. Guys don’t like going to the doctor. In 2009, I was in London researching the book and I got swine flu and just rode it out, so I can see Jim assuming the sickness would run its course. One important rumor the book shoots down is that Jim didn't get treatment because he was a Christian Scientist. That is simply not true. He hadn't been affiliated with the religion in any substantial way in decades. He went with the flow and I’m sure his eternal optimism had him thinking everything would be fine. Nobody ever thinks they’re critically ill.

BIOG: The descriptions of his memorial service are beautiful, we should all be so lucky to go out with a skosh of all the love and joy...

BJJ: I love that Jane Henson simply said to put on "a Jim show." Everyone knew exactly what that was. The memorial service was unbelievable.

BIOG: Tissue is required to get through Big Bird’s appreciation of Henson...

BJJ: The last fifteen minutes, with the chorus of his friends singing, and then they bring out their Muppet characters... I tear up every time I watch it. It’s such a gorgeous celebration of his life, honestly heartfelt. Even in the video clips, you can feel Jim’s absence.

BIOG: Is there any great Muppet anecdote that isn't in the book that you want to share?

BJJ: One story I had to cut that I absolutely adored was when Jim and the Muppets met the Queen of England. One picture captures so much of what he was all about. Behind Jim, in the receiving line to meet the Queen Elizabeth II, stands Sweetums, the giant hairy Muppet ogre.

BIOG: Last question, why are there so many songs about rainbows?

BJJ: As Jim would say, "Hmmmmmm..." Oh, it’s obvious, isn't it?

Rainbows have nothing to hide.