A tribute to Jim Henson

Amidst all this craziness about Sesame Street the 2 girls and I have been going on about these past 2 weeks, it's perhaps a coincidence that today marks the 16th death annivesary of Sesame Street's creator, Jim Henson.

His creations all started with his love for puppetry. One of the first characters he created (which later became a regular feature on the muppets) is the piano playing dog:


I loved this dog!! He always played Beethoven!!
More characters were created over time.. and very soon, all of this became Sesame Street!!


He was a hard worker, and in a way, it led him to his own deathbed.

If you read about his memorial service on several webpages, you can imagine the very touching scene:

'The tears were infectious as Kermit's signature song "The Rainbow Connection" began playing. Nobody was on stage. Only the sound of Henson singing as Kermit filled the air in the cathedral as more butterflies fluttered and we all cried.

After a short heartfelt speech by Sesame writer/director John Stone, the soft sounds of a piano were heard. As we wondered what or who was next, we saw Big Bird gently, almost elegantly, stroll out onto the stage. He was wearing a Kermit green bow tie. The tears flowed as Bird began to sing, "Bein' Green." You could hear Carrol Spinney's voice struggling to get through the poignant song as he finished, looked up at heaven and said, "Thank you Kermit." I tear up just thinking about it, all these years later.'

'....The final song, "Just One Person" was begun by Richard Hunt performing with Scooter, his most famous character. As each verse progressed, each Muppeteer joined in with their own Muppets until the stage was filled with all the Muppet performers and their beloved characters. The audience rose to their feet and applauded and cried out loud. It was an extremely moving moment and a fitting way to end the service.'

It's amazing how one man managed to touch so many people's lives.. People who has never met him, but learnt their ABCs and 123s through his creations. We've all learnt loads from Sesame Street - at least I have. I grew up with it and in fact, now as a mature person, watching Sesame Street videos still teach me the larger things in life. The last words of 'The Muppet Movie' is one example:

Life's like a movie, write your own ending

Keep believing...keep pretending

We've done just what we've set out to do

Thanks to the lovers...the dreamers...and you!


One of his last words was: Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It's a good life, enjoy it."

It is indeed a good life and we should definitely enjoy it to the best we can... Reading about Jim Henson these past few days has inspired me lots - I really hope that one day I can be as inspirational a person as Jim Henson.