Garthim Now Available at Toys R Us!

Back in January, we told you that Funko's Garthim ReAction figure would be coming to Toys R US as an exclusive.

Last week people around the country began spotting them at their local TRU's!

The Garthim figure was previously released with a winged Kira as a NYCC exclusive.

Many hoped that like Funko's Landstrider convention exclusive figure, the retail Garthim figure would be the same sans the "NYCC exclusive" sticker.

Sadly, as you can see, that is not that case.

The TRU exclusive version comes in a different box by itself and not with a winged Kira & Fizzgig. However, it's still great to have them more accessible. 

Don't have Toys R Us near you, or your local store doesn't have them?
You're in luck, they're also now available on their website!

Another Traveling Henson Exhibit on The Way!

A new Henson traveling exhibit may be coming to a town near you in the coming years.

The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited will open May 20 at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture.

From MoPOP: The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) is excited to announce The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited. Organized by the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), the traveling exhibition will make its world premiere at MoPOP on May 20, 2017 and remain on view through January 3, 2018. The traveling exhibition will open in advance of MoMI’s permanent gallery dedicated to the renowned puppeteer, director, and producer, which will debut this year.

The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited is a dynamic new visitor experience exploring Jim Henson’s groundbreaking work for film and television, and his transformative impact on popular culture. This comprehensive exhibition reveals how Henson and his team of builders, performers, and writers brought to life the enduringly popular worlds of The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and much more.

The exhibition features a broad range of artifacts related to Henson’s unparalleled career, including more than 20 puppets, character sketches, storyboards, scripts, photographs, film and television clips, behind-the-scenes footage, iconic costumes, and interactive experiences that allow visitors to try their hand at puppeteering on camera and designing a puppet.

Imagination Unlimited begins with a brief look at Henson’s early life through images of Henson as a young man and reproductions of some of his early drawings and sketches, and then follows his steady rise and immense contributions to the art and industry of the moving image. Highlights include a Kermit the Frog puppet from 1978; handwritten scripts from Henson’s first television series, Sam and Friends (1955–1961); a clip from his Academy Award-nominated experimental film Time Piece (1965); Jen and Kira puppets from The Dark Crystal (1982);familiar Sesame Street puppets including Grover, Ernie and Bert, and Count von Count; plus Jareth and Sarah’s ballroom costumes from Labyrinth (1986).

The exhibition prominently features an exploration of The Muppet Show from a concept Henson first developed in the early 1960s to an internationally beloved series. This section features iconic puppets that helped define this world-wide brand, including Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, and Scooter, as well as material from the Muppets’ transition to the big screen, with set models and storyboards illustrating how sets were designed to accommodate puppets and performers.

The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited is a traveling exhibition organized by Museum of the Moving Image (Astoria, New York) in cooperation with The Jim Henson Company, The Muppets Studio LLC, and Sesame Workshop. The exhibition features puppets and other objects donated to the Museum by the family of Jim Henson, plus works on loan from The Henson Company’s archives. Later this year, the Museum will open The Jim Henson Exhibition, a permanent gallery and exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Henson, at its home in New York.

In addition to the exhibit, the museum will alo host a "Campout Cinema" screening of The Muppet Movie on May 21. 

"Bring the outdoor movie experience indoors with MoPOP’s Campout Cinema series, featuring film screenings on MoPOP’s mammoth Sky Church screen alongside cinematically-inspired fun. At Campout Cinema, MoPOP invites you to get comfy and relax under LED stars on blankets, pillows, cushions, and sleeping bags from home (no chairs please). With photo ops and drink specials before the screening and during intermission—as well as trivia, giveaways, and other surprises—every Campout Cinema event offers a unique and super themed movie-going experience."

More info and tickets can be found here. 

For more details about the museum, visit MoPOP.org.

Greenwich CT Historical Society Hosts Henson Family Exhibition!

Jim and Jane Henson: Creative Work, Creative Play
will run from April 5–October 8, 2017 at the Greenwich Historical Society

From Greenwich Post:

On April 5, the Greenwich Historical Society will answer the question, “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” with a resounding: “The Hensons!” With the opening of Jim and Jane Henson: Creative Work, Creative Play at the Storehouse Gallery, the Historical Society sets out to explore the Hensons’ Greenwich years, during which the pair’s boundless creative energy set the backdrop for both work and family life as they laid the foundations for what would result in a global entertainment phenomenon.  

Jim (1936-1990) and Jane (1934-2013) Henson, best known as creators of The Muppets, made Greenwich, CT, their home from 1964 until 1971. The family grew to include five children, six cats, a couple of dogs, various other animals (real) and more than a few monsters (imaginary). Life at their historic home on Round Hill Road was infused with imagination and artistic expression, reflecting the Hensons’ playful and inventive approach to parenting and their work as artists and performers.  

Believing that art should be central to education, Jim and Jane were enthusiastic local participants in the founding of The Mead School in 1969, where art became a core part of the curriculum. More broadly, their intense interest in television’s educational possibilities led to their involvement in the iconic Sesame Street series, which premiered the same year. Drawing on their Muppet work and observations of their children at home, they made essential contributions to the show reflecting a deep understanding of the power of the medium as a tool for early childhood education.  

The Hensons’ imagination and creativity, which they instilled in their five children, continue to inspire and educate new generations around the world. Through paintings, objects, puppets, photographs and film, Jim and Jane Henson: Creative Work, Creative Play celebrates the delightful overlap of the Hensons’ family life with their contributions as artists, performers, and parents. Pieces on display will include a 1963 Kermit the Frog puppet; a 1971 Robin puppet that appeared in The Frog Prince; original drawings, which became the basis for classic, Sesame Street-style, rapid-fire counting; a dollhouse built by Jim based on the design of their Round Hill Road home and numerous behind-the-scenes photos. Also on display will be vintage clips from Sesame Street and from early video experiments and collaborations, along with Jane’s paintings and sculptures and materials and projects documenting her involvement at The Mead School.  

The show is curated by Karen Falk, Archives Director of The Jim Henson Company, and Karen Frederick, Curator of Collections at the Greenwich Historical Society, with contributing curator Cheryl Henson and the support of the Henson Family, The Mead School, The Jim Henson Company, The Jim Henson Legacy, Sesame Workshop and The Muppets Studio/Disney. The exhibition and related public programs are funded in part by Connecticut Humanities and The Jane Henson Foundation.  

A number of exhibition-related programs will be held, including a Story Barn (an evening of storytelling based on The Moth format) with the theme “Imagine That!” (April 28); an evening with Cheryl Henson (May 3); a screening of Jim Henson’s commercials and experiments led by Craig Shemin, former Henson staff writer and president of the Jim Henson Legacy (June 1); a history puppet slam and especially for kids, family programs involving puppetry on CT Open House Day (June 10) and at the Historical Society’s Fall Festival and Scarecrow competition (October 8).

Jim and Jane Henson: Creative Work, Creative Play runs April 5 through Oct. 8, at the Greenwich Historical Society, Storehouse Gallery, 39 Strickland Road, Cos Cob, CT 06807, 203-869-6899, greenwichhistory.org

Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.

Adults: $10; students and seniors: $8. Admission is always free to members and to children age 18 and under.

Admission is free to all the first Wednesday of each month.

Group tours may be arranged.

Docent-led Curator’s Eye Tours are available on Wednesdays and Sundays at 12:15.

To learn more, visit greenwichhistory.org.  

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Giants #4!

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Giants concludes this week with issue #4!

This issue was written and painted by Feifei Ruan.
Check the synopsis and the first few pages below:

"In the final Giants tale, Feifei Ruan tells the Arabic tale of “The Fisherman and The Giant,” wherein a vengeful king has transformed his people into fish, and a fisherman must work to release the curse."

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Giants #4 hits comic book shelves and Amazon tomorrow ! 

Sesame Street - The Together Book - Gets Special Re-issue!

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Little Golden Books, and to celebrate they are re-releasing select titles!

Little Golden Book's Sesame Street "The Together Book" was one of the first Sesame Books ever released.

The official synopsis:A classic Sesame Street Little Golden Book about cooperation and friendship returns—just in time for the 75th-anniversary celebration of Little Golden Books!

One of the first two Sesame Street Little Golden Books ever published—in 1971, along with The Monster at the End of this Book—returns just in time for the 75th-anniversary celebration of Little Golden Books, with the classic Sesame themes of working together, cooperation, problem solving, and friendship. Girls and boys ages 2 to 5 will see how the Sesame Street Muppets solve problems by sharing tasks, from pushing a heavy wagon to drinking a milkshake that's too big for one. Sesame Street's original fans will welcome the return of this vintage classic with nostalgia and delight, and new fans will be charmed—and fascinated—by the retro look of their favorite Sesame Street characters: Big Bird, Grover, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Betty Lou, Little Bird, Herry, Sherlock Hemlock, and Roosevelt Franklin. 

Sesame Street first harnessed the power of media to educate children more than four decades ago, changing children’s television forever. Populated with furry creatures and a diverse cast, it was the first show of its kind and provided a blueprint for educational media for generations. There are more than 90 million Sesame Street “graduates” in the United States alone, and fans old and young can find their favorite fuzzy friends on PBS, HBO, Sesame’s award-winning website and chart-topping YouTube channels, as well as in books, toys, apps, healthy foods, and other products that benefit preschoolers and their families.
Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, aims to help kids grow smarter, stronger, and kinder through its many unique domestic and international initiatives. These projects cover a wide array of topics, which address specific needs, such as girls’ education, financial empowerment, and autism. In 2019, Sesame Street will celebrate its 50th year of distributing quality educational content to families around the world.

"The Together Book"'s 75th anniversary edition will be released on July 25., but you can pre-order it here.

Happy Dr. Seuss Day!

The Jim Henson company teamed up with the Suess estate to create The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss which ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 - 1998.

In honor of Dr. Seuss Day, check out "Mrs. Zabarelli's Holiday Baton", Written by Craig Shemin!

And a behind the scenes look at the making of the show:

Happy Wubbulous Dr. Seuss Day!

Coming Soon - Muppets Meet the Classics!

A new line of Muppet books will hit shelves this fall entitled "Muppets Meet the Classics".  
The first book will spoof The Phantom of the Opera.

Official synopsis: 

What do you get when you cross the Muppets and the classics? A monster hit! Join Kermit, Miss Piggy, Uncle Deadly, and the other Muppets as they bring this gripping tale of mystery and suspense to life in their own hilarious way.

This classic tale of love, intrigue, and jealousy at the Paris Opera House, which has thrilled readers, musical lovers, and movie goers for more than a century, has now been reimagined with the cast of the Muppets. Readers will gasp, cry, laugh, and laugh again as Kermit (as Raoul), Miss Piggy (as Christine), Uncle Deadly (as the phantom), and the chickens (as the ballet corps) give a whole new meaning to the word "classic." This imaginative tale is sure to win the hearts of all Muppets fans, as well as fans of literary classics.

Some info about the authors/ illustrator:

This is Erik Forrest Jackson's first book. After seven years as the Executive Editor of InStyle magazine, he's now the Executive Projects Director for Entertainment Weekly. His most recent play, the darkly comic drama Like a Billion Likes, won the Chesley/Bumbalo Foundation Playwriting Award. He has adapted the beloved TV comedy Cheers for a live stage version that is currently touring America (CheersLiveOnStage.com). He's authored four Off Broadway plays (including Carrie, a black-comedy spin on Stephen King's novel) as well as a musical (Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, with the songs of Neil Sedaka). Erik's poems were featured in the Showtime film The Escape, starring Patrick Dempsey, and his freelance articles have appeared in Glamour, W, Real Simple, Allure, and Town & Country, among others. Erik grew up in Texas and now lives in Harlem.

The Muppets version of Phantom of the Opera is of course base on the original story by Gaston Leroux. 

Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) was born in Paris, France. After leaving school, Leroux worked as a clerk in a law office and, in his free time, began writing essays and short stories. By 1890 he had become a full-time journalist, sailing the world as a correspondent. He began writing novels in the early 1900s and was inspired by Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allan Poe. In 1911, he wrote The Phantom of the Opera.

Illustrator Owen Richardson is the main cover artist for the Warriors series, and has designed the covers for other popular young adult books, including Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Artemis Fowl, Daniel X, and many others.

Below is as sample of some of his work, I'm hoping is work with The Muppets will look this dynamic!

 

Muppets Meet the Classics: The Phantom of the Opera will be released by Penguin Workshop on October 17, but you can pre-order it here.