The brilliant mind behind The Muppets, Jim Henson's legacy has endured long past his passing in 1990. Between Kermit the Frog and all the other Muppets who have continued as beloved characters in the streaming age and the ongoing Sesame Street, which has educated children since 1969, few creators can claim to have had as much impact on the popular culture as Henson, and there have been many films documenting his life and how he came to create the puppets everyone knows and loves today.
Most of those films surrounding Henson's life came in the form of straightforward documentaries, combining interviews, documented events, and known facts about his life using real footage of the man and his work. According to reports from Deadline, however, Disney and the Jim Henson Company are teaming up to produce the first-ever biopic about Henson's life, and have already set a screenwriter, Michael Mitnick, to write out the script.
While there's certainly a lot of ground to cover in the life of someone like Henson, this film in particular will follow Henson's work to get The Muppets onto cable TV. As some will know, Henson began his career in advertising, creating commercials with wacky puppet characters, eventually making a name for himself on various talk shows and children's projects.
This time spent working in various formats and mastering his craft eventually led to him moving to New York City and founding Muppets Inc. Shortly after, he began developing characters that would follow him for decades, including Kermit the Frog, before eventually helping to create Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and eventually full-blown feature films starring his puppet creations.
As of right now, it's not clear exactly how much the film will focus on Henson himself vs. his work, and what time periods it will cover. There is no word on who will be cast in the starring role either, as the project seems to be in the early stage of production. While it definitely looks like solid progress is being made, it's too early to tell when this biopic, currently titled Muppet Man, will be making its way to theaters.
In some ways, it's surprising that it has taken this long to see a fully developed biopic about Henson's life. The Muppets are some of the most iconic characters in television and film history, and Disney continues to release new and old episodes of the various Muppet projects to this day. Hopefully, this upcoming film can capture the spirit and creativity that has made Henson and his creations so enduring, and be a celebration of the mind that brought so many characters and voices to life.
The Muppet Show is now available on Disney Plus.
Source: Deadline