Having not read this script, I can tell you that a lot of in-depth reading and research on Henson’s life and work that I’ve done for my own interest in and admiration for Henson has yielded a different picture of Jim Henson in my mind than most. Later biographies that dug deeper into his private life have unearthed a side of Henson that was not simply a quirky creative genius, but a spiritual misfit who did, indeed, cheat on his wife and who preferred to spend his quiet time alone in nature than anywhere else.

Around the time of his developing illness, he was embroiled in a bitter conflict with Eisner over the sale of the Muppet brand. Jim was a ruthless businessman — something a lot of media about him fails to show — and he wasn’t about to relinquish all control over his creations for any price. He refused flat-out to sell the Sesame characters — this is why to this day, all save Kermit are still owned by Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop).

Henson actually didn’t start out wanting to work with puppets; he was a home-economics major who was interested in animation. Much of his early work was in animation and stop-motion claymation. He simply wanted to be on television — it was a new and exciting medium in the fifties when he was young, and he wanted a piece of it. Inspired by Burr Tilstrom (“Kukla, Fran and Ollie”), Henson auditioned with some homemade puppets and thus got his own program — “Sam and Friends” — which started it all.

A truly interesting film could be made of Henson’s life and accomplishments, but it definitely sounds to me like this script is definitely not it. Someone with a real passion for his work and a respect for the people he worked with, including his family, could do some actual research into building him up as a film character. The thing about Jim is, he was an intuitive and creative person, but he wasn’t sentimental at all about his creations. He could dismantle a Muppet for parts without blinking and he rarely treated his puppets as “real creatures”. He was far more business-minded than most people seem to give him credit for, and he made decisions based on what was good for his company, taking risks only when he felt strongly about a project. He believed in the power of art to change the world, but he understood the dynamics that could lead to such art.

Sorry for the tangent on such an old blog entry…but I didn’t even realize there was such a script in existence and I just had to comment.

I’ll have to disagree that there’s no element of the misunderstood artist trope, and that my statements were contradictory. There’s plenty of instances in the script of Jim being the awkward artist, especially towards the beginning as we see him bumbling around with the girls he dates. There’s less of this as the film progresses, but for a while there the same scene plays out – Jim shows up or starts to do a routine, people wonder who the nerd with the puppet is and roll their eyes, and then Jim blows them away. That’s what I mean when I say that everything comes fairly easily for him during his professional ascent – time and again we see him achieve instant success with whatever he tries.

It’s true that there’s a moment very late in the script where it mentions his less successful post-Muppet projects, but this is conveyed by a lengthy scene of him watching Mary Hart talk about it on Entertainment Tonight. Never do we find out why Jim decided to make those different pictures, or how he felt about them, whether he thought they were successful, or what he thought of the public’s ambivalence. We just find out what Mary Hart thinks. Nor is it mentioned that Jim was actually very busy at this time with new projects, and was on the verge of selling his company to Disney to take on some big new creative assignments.

And yes, Henson *was* extraordinary. And that’s the problem – there’s none of that in the script. Never do we see him in the real act of creation, or see any of the thought that went in to those great productions. We just see them kinda work on a project for a scene or two, then it’s done, then people talk about him being a genius, and then it’s on to the next thing. We see a few brief scenes of the atmosphere in the Muppet workshop, but knowing that all those scenes are completely fabricated without any basis in reality robs them of their value. And all the bits of him “juggling work and family” have been seen a billion times before, and there’s really no indication here of why Henson does what he does. He likes puppets, and making TV shows. That’s pretty much it. Maybe that’s all there actually was to it in real life, but I doubt it.

As to me wishing I’d thought of this first – no. I am not a screenwriter, nor do I wish to be one. The money would be nice, though. But saying that your opinion is more valuable because you read scripts all day doesn’t really sway me considering that most of the scripts that get greenlit these days are garbage. Now, I don’t know you and you might be the most insightful script reader in Hollywood, but just having that position doesn’t lend a lot of immediate credence sight unseen.

Would this be the worst film of the year if this script was filmed as-is? Far from it. It would, in the hands of a capable director, probably be quite enjoyable and have some really memorable scenes – it is a good underlying idea, after all. Judging by most films that are getting produced today, it would probably be in the upper quintiles of the pictures released in any given year. Heck, with a bravura performance by a lead actor it might make me eat my words completely. But that doesn’t change the fact that there are so many by-the-numbers plot points in the first and second acts. It would be one thing if tried-and-true plot points were necessary to stay true to Henson’s life, but again, this is mostly made up. If it’s going to be fake, it might as well be different.

I applaud the screenwriter for coming up with an interesting concept and for his guts in writing this, getting it out there, and generating a lot of buzz. But it’s not my job to compare this to other scripts, or other films, or anything else besides how great this project could actually be if done right. In that regard, this particular draft of this particular script falls short.

All that being said, I’d love to hear from others who have read this.

I’d go so far as to disagree with almost every point you mentioned above. It had everything I wanted from a movie about Jim Henson. The thing I LOVE… LOVE… about this script is the way it made Jim out to be a master of his own fate. There was no “mis-understood” artist as you claimed (btw – you contradict yourself with that statement when half way through your rant you say there is no moment in the script where Jim is witness to his own failure… hence by your own analogy… where is the “mis-understood” part) Most of the story I read was about a guy juggling work and family… and btw – the reason there’s a biopic of Jim Henson and not of you is that he WAS extraordinary. It’s not about a guy who writes Disney Blogs.

Personally I thought it was easily the best thing I read last year – and my job INVOLVES reading scripts all day. If you had a problem with this screenplay, dude, you might want to take a look at some of the films you’re idolising on here. There aren’t many better than it out there. I’m guessing you’re just hating on it because you didn’t think of it first.

I hate to rag on the screenwriter because he was obviously trying to do something ambitious, and the fundamental idea is sound, but the execution is lacking.

Another perspective is needed. I had intended to suggest this in the article but forgot – I think this would be the perfect material for someone in the Kaufman/Gondry/Jonze sphere. You’d have to keep an eye on it to make sure it wouldn’t become too twee, or too dark, or too caught up in its own style at the expense of the characters. But there’s a lot of potential.