June 13, 2004

The Dark Side of Jim Henson

As a sort of follow-on from the recent posting about Muppet-themed metal band Cookie Mongoloid, he’s a piece of creepy experimental work from the early career of Muppet mastermind, Jim Henson.
In the late 60’s, Henson’s lovable puppets were already a regular fixture on the variety/talk show circuit. They hadn’t yet acquired the level of universal popularity that would come with The Muppet Show, but Muppets Inc was doing well enough to give Henson a little time off to pursue his other great interest – experimental filmmaking. One of his collaborators in these side projects was pioneer electronic composer, Raymond Scott. Together, they produced Limbo: The Organized Mind – the story of a foam-rubber-faced character who takes us inside his mind to show how things are “organized”. Very dark and unsettling… and not what you’d immediately expect from the man who did the voice for Kermit the Frog…

The soundtrack to this film (and other Henson-Scott collaborations) can be found on the wonderful collection of Scott’s 50’s – 60’s electronic works called Manhattan Research Inc, which can be purchased through Amazon.

Posted by Warren at June 13, 2004 01:17 AM | Electronica