Muppet creator Jim Henson would have turned 80 tomorrow, and the Center for Puppetry Arts is celebrating with several events this weekend.
On Saturday, Bonnie Erickson, who designed Miss Piggy, will chat with guests of the Worlds of Puppetry Museum. There will also be puppet building in the atrium of the center. That night, the center will screen Henson’s “The Solider and Death” and an episode of “Farscape.”
The center also recently opened a new exhibit, “Journey to Goblin City,” which features goblins and costumes from Henson’s 1986 fantasy film “Labyrinth.”
Starring a young Jennifer Connelly as Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King, “Labyrinth” is filled with memorable characters like the worm, the Fierys and the brave Sir Didymus.
Of course, no mention of characters is complete without Hoggle, Jareth’s goblin henchman who ends up helping Sarah on her journey through the labyrinth to find her baby brother.
Jim Henson’s son Brian Henson, who is also the chairman of the Jim Henson Company, was the lead puppeteer on Hoggle. He was joined by three other puppeteers and an actor inside the Hoggle costume.
“It’s really weird and interesting and fun to do a character with four other people. You have to get to this point where you’re almost thinking in sync,” Brian Henson said. “And Hoggle could almost improvised.”
The character has this accent that Brian Henson calls “the most crap version of a half-Cockney, kind of like a fantasy British character.”
“I didn’t think it was going to be my voice. My dad was definitely going to replace it,” said Brian Henson. “So, I did the whole movie, and then my dad said ‘We’re keeping your voice.’”
“Journey to Goblin City,” which celebrates 30 years of “Labyrinth” is open through next September.
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