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focus on jim henson

Muppets(TM), Music and Magic! Jim Henson's Legacy is celebrated in a special season ranging from rarely screened experimental works to the pioneering puppetry of Sesame Street.

Fondly remembered for his charismatic characters who resided on that most famous of streets, and trod the boards of The Muppet Show, Jim Henson has had a profound effect on contemporary culture.

His fun-fur freakshows achieved global fame, but until recently his many incredible experimental works were rarely seen.

Henson's counter-culture sympathies informed all of his works and are mirrored in the work of animators who followed in his footsteps. We explore this legacy, and peek behind the curtain to see how his special brand of magic was created.

Read the essay Jim Henson's Secret Cinema by curator Jim Knox

Thursday 4 September - Sunday 14 September 2008
Single Session Tickets:  Full $13 Concession $10
6 Session Package:  Full $60 Concession $48

Curated by Jim Knox with the assistance of Pina Virtuoso. Thanks to The Jim Henson Legacy, Craig Shemin, International Rocketship Ltd and Marv Newland, Sally Cruikshank, The National Film Board of Canada, Participant Productions, Howie McCorkell and crew, and Jim Knox.

Congratulations to the winners of our Jim Henson quiz, who will receive a copy of the Sesame Street: Old School Volume 1 DVD. Get the quiz answers - and find out who the top 10 voted Muppet role models are - here!

the dark crystal A stunning achievement using both puppetry and marionettes, The Dark Crystal is perhaps Jim Henson's best known work outside of The Muppets.

muppet history 101 Learn your Muppet history! This is material you won't see anywhere else: early TV appearances, commercials, guest spots, and the pilot!

the world according to sesame street Can the most watched childrens' television show in history truly change the world, one child at a time?

the muppet movie Join the Muppets in their first big screen adventure! Kermit goes to Hollywood - along with Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and the band.

muppet musical moments It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights... A collection of classic musical numbers, interpreted as only the Muppets can.

dog city + the storyteller: the soldier and death Jim Henson's later television work cast puppets alongside 2D (animated) and 3D (human) characters - and we believed in them all.

commercials and experiments This truly great collection of shorts, crazy commercials, and other rarities provides an insight into Jim Henson's formative days.

rarities from the henson vault In the years before his and the Muppets' international success, Jim Henson tested the limits of US commercial television with stunning results.

a better world: living in harmony A rare episode of Fraggle Rock screens with Song of the Cloud Forest, a beautiful evocation of a rainforest.

marv newland and sally cruickshank shorts Visibly under the influence of 1960s counter-culture comix, some of the craziest animations made in the USA by former Sesame Street animators.

muppet fairytales Fairytales have been fertile ground for filmmakers of all genres and styles, and Jim Henson brought his own special touch to some classics.

the art of puppetry and storytelling Go behind the scenes to witness the magic of The Muppets and The Storyteller being made, in this compilation of rare footage.

labyrinth Full of Henson Creature Shop's imaginative design, this film's eye-popping sets create a fantastic world, existing just behind the façade of reality.