When I think about Jim Henson, I think about my childhood, Muppets and his ’70s sense of style. I think about his voice, which he changed slightly (or more than slightly) for Kermit, Ernie, The Swedish Chef and others. I grew up watching Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and later Fraggle Rock, so I knew Jim Henson’s work very well. We even had two Sesame Street records that we listened to until they were filled with skips. I still have them to this day.
As a grown-up, I bought some Sesame Street music on CD. Knowing that Jim Henson died far too early in life, the song “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” never fails to bring me to tears. It is an interesting song, and doesn’t have particularly sad lyrics. But the music is so melancholic, and it is sung by Jim Henson, so it always makes me sad, but in a happy way. He left behind so much beautiful work, and he brought joy to so many millions of children. Fortunately, his company continues to do so.
Now that I have kids of my own, I’ve been delighted to share my love of Jim Henson’s work with them. We get The Muppet Show from Netflix, we watch Fraggle Rock on the DVDs I bought many years ago. But at the same time, the older I get, the more sad I get about Jim Henson’s death. I realize more and more just how much we have missed out on all these years, not having him with us to make more wonderful things. He was such a champion for kids’ television programming, and he created such wonderful worlds for us and our children. Thank you, Jim Henson. Your life touched mine, and countless others.
— Jenny Williams
