Jim Henson passed 20 years ago on this date.

[Are_grits_groceries]

We miss you still Jim Henson. You left us far, far too soon. However, you left us with many memories and friends who are with us to this day. That is a priceless gift.

To say that the world would have been a much worse place without you is an understatement. I will always love you.

As Miss Piggy said, "Love is the answer. What's the question? I don't know. But love is the answer."

Harry Belafonte: http://www.youtube.com/v/6AjovHGK-TA

http://www.youtube.com/v/tgbNymZ7vqY

http://www.youtube.com/v/MTwq1_9VH68

There are far too many wonderful clips to choose from. I just picked 3. Harry Belafonte is a classic.



Post your favorite clips and memories if you like.

[cornermouse]

1. Think of what he could have done over the last 20 years

if he hadn't died.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVn6Yz9W-ng

[Botany]

2. It is not easy being green

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpiIWMWWVco

[BanzaiBonnie]

17. IT's not easy being green

is why we named our homestead "Froghaven"

Missing Jim Henson, Harry Chapin and John Denver.

[lamp_shade]

3. Someday we'll find it... the rainbow connection (grab a tissue)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFLZ-MzIhM

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. I have something in my eyes.

Hopefully, those that still pursue 'The Rainbow Connection' in later years can once again awaken 'the better angels of our nature.' They seem to be gone now.

[lamp_shade]

7. Beautifully put, AGG and explains why I get all choked up every time I hear it.

[malaise]

9. +1,000

Nice post.

[AnArmyVeteran]

22. Nice...

[cornermouse]

11. I love that one too.

[eShirl]

18. It's even better when one's grown up and can catch the literary allusions. n/t

[Phentex]

23. This played as I walked down the aisle at my wedding...

I didn't see the smiles in the audience until I watched the video later but it seemed everyone beamed.

[lamp_shade]

28. Oh dear. How sweet. My eyes are burning again.

[lamp_shade]

32. Kick for any DUers who just got home.

[ixion]

4. Jim Henson was a priceless gift, and his contribution to our culture

is extremely under-rated, in my opinion. The landscape of our culture would look very different if not for Mr. Henson's influence.

[a kennedy]

16. His son, sounds like Kermit, but doesn't have the real Kermit's heart....

Jim Henson was a gentle spirit, his son, not so much..... I miss the real Kermit. :cry:

[Phentex]

21. I've never heard his son play Kermit...

It's been Steve Whitmire as far as I know.

[a kennedy]

24. Really??? well that's good to know, but Steve doesn't have the

original Kermit's heart either. Thanks for the clarification

[Phentex]

25. No. There was only one real Kermit...

*sigh*

You do have to wonder what more he would have done had he lived. Jim's death was such a terrible loss for the world.

[jmondine]

27. I must respectfully disagree

It's always harder to take over a character created by another than to create your own, especially a cultural icon like Kermit the Frog. True, Jim's original Kermit can never be duplicated, but Steve Whitmire was hand-picked by Henson himself to succeed him. Long before becoming a Muppeteer, Steve's nickname in high school was Kermit due to his passion for puppets in general, and the Muppets in particular. He worked side by side with Jim on the Muppet Show and the movies as well, creating the hilarious character of Rizzo the Rat along the way. In addition to Kermit, he also inherited Ernie on Sesame Street. The guy is one of the sweetest people you're ever likely to meet.

[lamp_shade]

5. A National Treasure. I still grieve.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

8. and Sammy Davis Jr.

I remember their obits running side by side in our paper that day

you beat me to my favorite episode of the Muppets. The Bellafonte one was perfect.
The performance of "Turn the World Around" was said to be Jim's favorite of the series.
Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2TZhruT-Xs

"Just One Person" is another great Henson song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioR28cNX33Y

I often wonder how Jim would have adapted to CGI taking over the effects world. Though he was playing around with computers a bit on his final series. I tend to think he would have fought the sterile effects that dominate moveis today.

[Robb]

10. My daughter is turning one year old next month

...and she's been a fan from astoundingly early, thanks to YouTube.

No matter how her day has been, no matter what's gone wrong, she will always, always smile and clap at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLqb64Pb9So">Harry Belafonte singing Turn the World Around with the Muppets. And the classic morality tale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLb0J8o4Au4">Huga Wuga. :D

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. I don't see how Belafonte

kept from bursting out in laughter. He almost did at times.

[Robb]

14. The man is a class act.

My daughter's nuts for him, so I've been watching a LOT of performances. And interviews, as well. Excellent performer, and a deep thinker. :)

[bedazzled]

13. i like the episode with alice cooper

it's an absolute riot.

and james colburn tore the place up...

[catrose]

15. Fraggle Rock!

[marmar]

19. It's time to play the music, it's time to get things started on the Muppet Show tonight.....

I lived for the Muppet Show as a kid......

[AwakeAtLast]

20. Can't believe it's been that long

Here's a clip that features most of the original cast. Sung mostly by people instead of muppets, which is rare I believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TjX5r37V0Q

And one of my favorites: Rubber Duckie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh85R-S-dh8&feature=related

[jmondine]

26. Take a moment to also remember Richard Hunt, who died only two years later.

He was the Muppeteer who performed Scooter, Beaker, Janice in the Electric Mayhem and Sweetums, among many others.

Together, Jim and Richard were Statler and Waldorf. It is truly sad that neither of them lived long enough to become crotchety, heckling curmudgeons in real life.

[lonestarnot]

29. Wow has it really been 20 years? That went fast!

[ThatsMyBarack]

30. I remember how I found out:

On the night of May 16, 1990, I was about to see a PBS special on Joe Raposo (the masterful musician on Sesame Street). At the very beginning they had a silent announcement that went something like, "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jim Henson. We will all miss him." That made the original special that much sadder to watch. :cry:

Anyway, I thought I should share these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vye3cB957vg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ky7g1lgTwc

[Phentex]

31. I have not hear of Sunshine again...

I was always partial to the Muppets from the Muppet Show and not Sesame Street particularly. I didn't care for the Muppet Babies phase either, but I like that they try to keep the Muppets alive...even with all the Elmo crap. :)

[proteus_lives]

33. The Muppets still pop-up. Check out this awesome video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY&feature=related

[Diclotican]

34. Are_grits_groceries

Are_grits_groceries

Allready 20 year goon?:.. Dam Im starting to be old my self then:)

The Muppet show was one of the show I rembember clearest from early age, it was first aired on freeday night,then on Saturday and I allways begged to stay up to se the show, even tho I for the most part dozed of and slept to the next day becouse it was aired to late... But as I grow up it was one of the "most important shows" there was to look at... And then we had just One channel to watch anyway;).. Even tho we sometimes had two if we got SVT1 in when the air was right... It was no cable then, just an antenna...

I have so many memories from the creation of the Muppets, and the universe who came in there.. Have most of the movies ever produced and when I sometimes look at them, I burst in lafter, becouse they are still really funny, and full of smart replics, and not to say many really smart thinking about the world...

THe universe that Hendson created was a nice one, a gentle one, a better one I might say.. And as a kid you might not realy understand it all, but if you se the same as an adult you understand a lot more of what he meant.. He must have been a gentle man, mr Hendeson and it is sad think that we all lost him so early as we did...

On the other side, we have all the memories, and thanks to places like Youtube they are also there to be used by all of us and also be in our memories.. And given to the next generation who might not have had the pleasure of discovering the world where Kermit the frop, Miss Peggy the Pig and all the others live and survive.. Poor Kermit who often was hit by Piggys right hand, she had a mean streak against Kermit Even tho she claim to love him..

Diclotican

[HopeHoops]

35. I'm SO glad they didn't retire Kermit.

At first, they said they were going to. Public reaction was rather negative.