The Jim Henson Company
 

Who else thought it's neat that the Henson company worked on the first 2 movies?

I mean Henson and his company were geniuses to bring the characters to life and also did fantastic work besides to The Dark Crystal, Muppets, Labyrinth, Storyteller, Farscape, Dinosaurs, Fraggles, Dreamchild, The Witches 1990 and more.

Yeah, it's pretty cool to have Jim Henson and his company as a part of Turtles history.


Even if he wasn't himself too fond of the level of violence, but... I mean, the Turtles weren't unknowns by then so you should know what you're signing up for; even basing it only on the cartoon would have still had action that looked somewhat violent in live action.

Not fond of the violence and thinks it's dark? kind of hypocritical and no different than Henson's nonmuppet fantasy creature stuff like Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Storytelling and Witches? what makes those no different? i mean it has a Skeksis being stabbed in the hand until it bleeds as his Mystic counterpart also bleeds, peril, slavery, idea of genocide and murder even in the upcoming prequel series plus the gelfling girl gets stabbed for crying out loud. He even said in an interview before Dark Crystal was released "it's healthy for children to get scared".

Labyrinth is quite dark too even with the idea of goblins and Bowie kidnapping a baby and a bunch of bird-mammal like creatures who pull out their eyeballs to play dice with them even trying to pull off Jennifer's head. The Witches has witches turning children into mice and some of the witches becoming mice and rats as some get slaughtered. Storyteller was quite dark too. So was Farscape which was made in 1999 by the Henson company as it was violent and had edge.

What makes those no different than Ninja Turtles? i like that the Henson company was doing something different from the lighthearted fare like Muppets, Seasme Street, Fraggles, Dinosaurs etc. and i like those too and i like that Henson's company was going into different territory.

I've been a Henson fan since i was 3 thanks to the first 3 muppet movies and Muppet Babies even Fraggles and Seasame Street! my parents bought me Dark Crystal for my 4th birthday as i dug it, i even went to see Labyrinth in a dollar theater at that age, taped reruns of Muppets on TNT and Nick as a kid, dreamchild on HBO at age 4, i watched/taped Storyteller off NBC as a kid even his specials even Jim Henson Hour and other Henson specials, i went to see Ninja Turtles 3 times in theaters even Ninja Turtles 2 2 times and Witches in theaters when i was 8 and 9, saw Ghost of Faffner Hall on HBO at age 7, i taped Dinosaurs off ABC/Syndicated TV at 9 to 12, i taped every episode of Farscape and so on.

Henson was one of my heroes growing up and he was a genius, it's a shame he was taken away from us in 1990 as i remembered when i was 8 as i was devestated when he died and saw the news about it even on Entertainment Weekly TV and in magaines and newspapers and remember the TV specials. It's a shame that Dinosaurs first episode, Witches and Ninja Turtles were the last things Henson did before his untimely death.

Yeah, it's a shame that he died way too young. Glad his kids however shared his love of it and have kept up the legacy and company. (And look forward to the Dark Crystal series starting this week!)

While I honestly prefer that today's films make use of the mocap technology's ability to capture the amount of detail and even the smallest of facial expressions, enabling them to look that much more real, it would still be interesting to see what advanced puppetry technology could do with Turtle suits today compared to the early 90s; and even back then it was impressive for the most part.

Storyteller... There's one I haven't thought of in a long time. So many good movies and shows put out by that company. Sometimes I wish they'd bring Fraggle Rock back.

I keep hearing rumors of Fraggles the movie and i think Henson company should join Hulu in joining it or amazon prime. I mean The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance which is a prequel to the Henson classic movie looks amazing and epic using a balance of practical effects, models, puppetry, animatronics, people in suits, CGI and all that just like Blade Runner 2049 and Shape of Water balanced both worlds combined in effects, even Child's Play 2019 used practical effects which was great even Mandy used practical effects as i'm glad practical is back in mainstream.

And you remember Dinosaurs? that was a funny adult comedy show the company did. Loved it since i was 9 when it first aired and you remember Farscape? loved it since i was 17 when it aired 20 years ago on Sci-fi.

I'm sure once Age of Resistance becomes a blockbuster as it's been advertised on buses and billboards, magazines, conventions and all and getting huge buzz and anticipation i guaranteed we might get the Fraggles movie, the Storyteller reboot, a possible Labyrinth sequel series with a different new villain and other projects from the company.

Oh yeah, I loved Dinosaurs, and all the more because Charlene was the same age I was, and Robbie only slightly older. Had wished that series lasted longer than it did.

That would be awesome if a Fraggles movie really did happen one day.

That be nice and seen Farscape?

YouTube channel Defunctland recently did a good number of history videos on Jim Henson, unfortunately the first TMNT movie gets a footnote. The second movie's dedication isn't even mentioned in the last video on him. :cry:

Unfortunately TMNT always get the short straw when it comes to celebrating the Henson company. I find it strange since most people in the industry agree that the first two films were revolutionary when it came to puppetry technology. They literally created the technology for these films.

I do get the impression that Henson fans who aren't TMNT fans do feel embarassed by the company's association with TMNT. It's as though TMNT is beneath them. Quite sad. :ohwell:

I think that's due to the Henson Co basically being outside contractors for the TMNT creature FX rather than having complete creative control, like most of their other productions. With such a prolific movie/TV filmography, I'm not shocked they typically focus on Henson-only projects. From what I understand, they've been more than helpful with TMNT projects like the Visual History book and TURTLE POWER documentary.

Good point and have to agree with it. Not a Jim Henson company project, so it kind of makes sense that they largely focus on those that are their own inside and out.

I somewhat remember when it was on, but it wasn't one I watched.

That's good to know. :)

It's amazing that Henson worked on TMNT. He was so talented and brought the Turtles to life. It's cool too, to see the parallels between the Skeksis and Tokka.

The Henson company did good work but they occasionally messed up cough NeverEnding Story III cough. Sorry bad cough. :D

Th original Henson turtle designs have never been bettered and I love the fact they took the time and effort to craft distinct looks for each of the brothers' faces (something which seemed to degrade as the movies went on). The CGI turtles of the recent films is something else and is, as far as I'm concerned, a case of more is less.
I've always thought that the facial designs of the 1990 turtles were each based on a different turtle variation (by 1989 there were a number of incarnations to choose from) which I still find really neat.

Looking at how well made the Netflix Dark Crystal looks, I can only imagine the puppetry for TMNT would be even more improved by today's standards.