You Absolutely Must Watch This Moving Jim Henson Documentary

As warm, fuzzy, and deeply felt as a hug from Fozzie Bear, Ron Howard’s new documentary takes the measure of Jim Henson, the man behind the Muppets (and Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth), as both a creative genius and a family man, exploring his revolutionary spirit and dedication to craft across a 36-year career.

In Jim Henson Idea Man, which premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and streams on Disney+ starting May 31, Howard tenderly eulogizes the late puppeteer and animator while traveling the span of his life—no small feat for a 108-minute documentary, but one that Howard attempts by proposing a broader paean to Henson’s ingenuity rather than diving too deeply beneath the surface.

Made with the direct participation of the Henson family, and with full access to his personal archives, this very authorized documentary was never going to be a controversial or even unconventional portrait of its subject, and to that end a filmmaker as steady and workmanlike as Howard is well-suited for the task. Before moving into feature filmmaking, Howard was a child star of The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, on television at the same time as The Muppet Show, and the filmmaker’s clear admiration for Henson comes through strongly, perhaps not because they could be considered peers but because Howard was there when it happened.

Read more at The Daily Beast.