Following Jim Henson's passing on May 16th 1990, two public memorial services were held. The first (featured here) was held in New York at Cathedral of St. John the Divine on May 21, 1990. The second service was held in London at St. Paul's Cathedral on July 2nd 1990.
Jim Henson and Rowlf the Dog explain the art and history of puppetry, and let the viewer in on some of the secrets in performing his own act, the Muppets.
A documentary which explores the making of Jim Henson and Frank Oz's 1982 fantasy film 'The Dark Crystal', which originally aired on PBS in the United States on January 9, 1983. This one-hour documentary details the technological innovations in the field of animatronics, art design, film making, and Henson's own brand of magic. Requiring 5 years of production, including over two years of pre-production, The Dark Crystal was inspired by the imagination of artist Brian Froud and conceived by scores of talented designers, builders, technicians, and performers. The World of the Dark Crystal shows how Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London and the Muppet Workshop in New York brought Brian Froud's art and Jim Henson's vision to life.
Featuring unprecedented access to Jim Henson's personal archives, filmmaker Ron Howard brings us a fascinating and insightful look at a complex man whose boundless imagination inspired the world.
Consists of the shorts "The Muppet Introduction", "Just a Few Announcements" and "Sell, Sell, Sell".
ALEXANDER THE GRAPE, an unfinished cut-paper animated short from Jim Henson from 1965, relates the fable of a young grape with big ambitions who learns that it is better to accept yourself than to try to be something you are not. The short was reconstructed from film and audio elements; images from Jim’s storyboard fill in missing segments of the animation.
It's Tutter's birthday and viewers are invited to join Bear and the gang in the Big Blue House as they work together to plan a surprise party for Tutter. This stage production features many of the voices from the show and many of its songs as well.
The story of how Jim Henson tried to convince broadcasters that The Muppets was a great idea and how he worked to get the characters on air where they became a comedy staple.
An unsold TV pilot based on the classic comic strip, shot by Jim Henson with puppets built by Don Sahlin.
Join Kermit the Frog, Oscar the Grouch, and Gobo Fraggle as they celebrate Jim Henson, the man who inspired the lovers, the dreamers, and all of us to come and play, and dance our cares away.
In a mix of puppetry and animation, Harry demonstrates the Art of Visual Thinking to Kermit—and what it does to you once it gets out of control.
The Pelletier family sets out on an epic journey to see the beauty of the world when three of their four children are diagnosed with an incurable eye condition.
Documentary filmmaker Kenjiro Fujii takes a look at the history of a distinctly Japanese brand of softcore pornography in this extensive examination of the "pinku eiga" genre (ピンク映画 Pinku eiga or Pinkeiga). For more than 40 years, so-called "pink" films have served as both a key source of revenue for the Japanese film industry as well as a launching pad for the careers of such mainstream filmmakers as Kiyoshi Kurosawa. After providing a detailed history of the still-profitable and popular genre through interviews with a variety of behind-the-scenes players and clips from such classic pink films as Fish Bait Boobies, director Fujii shifts his focus to the production of an upcoming pink film to offer a glimpse into the creative and stylistic evolution of the genre.
The Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) is one of the great figures of modern architecture, ranked alongside Gropius, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe. This film analyses Aalto’s uniquely successful resolution of the demands and possibilities created by new technology and construction materials with the need to make his buildings sympathetic both to their users and to their natural surroundings. His inventive use of timber in particular represents both a reference to the forest landscape of Finland and a building material that is ‘warm’ and extremely adaptable. Filmed in Finland, Italy, Germany and the USA, this documentary shows how the Finnish natural environment and art traditions were essential elements in Aalto’s pioneering harmonization of technology and nature.
This short film is part of a mixed media artwork of the same name, which also included postcards of Ader crying, sent to friends of his, with the title of the work as a caption. The film was initially ten minutes long, and included Ader rubbing his eyes to produce the tears, but was cut down to three and a half minutes. This shorter version captures Ader at his most anguished. His face is framed closely. There is no introduction or conclusion, no reason given and no relief from the anguish that is presented.
A small, elite fraternity of high-altitude skiers climb the highest peaks in the world in pure Alpine style, carrying their skis and declining to use supplemental oxygen. At the top of the world, high in the Death Zone, they lock into their skis and challenge the most dangerous slopes in the world—under weather conditions that are as perilous as the thin air, hidden crevasses and 10,000 ft. sheer faces that drop into Nepal and Tibet far below.
An investigation into the reports of houses in Hollywood that are supposedly haunted by the ghosts of dead movie stars.
Documentary about the great Brazilian photographers who helped develop Brazilian cinema and their opinions on their work, making movies in Brazil and in general, and other subjects. As a bonus, they all agreed to shoot the same scene following their individual concepts, and the result is shown for comparison.
The meteoric ascension of the Big East conference, and how in less than a decade, it became the most successful college basketball league in America.
A raw and candid dialogue about the life and craft of acting between longtime colleagues and friends Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Mark Rydell, Harry Dean Stanton and Sydney Pollack. Drago Sumonja's document takes us into the hearts, minds, and living rooms of some of America's greatest storytellers.