History Behind The Jim Henson Foundation

Jim Henson was fascinated by what puppetry can do. Best known as the creator of the Muppets, Jim was a multifaceted artist who worked in a variety of styles and media. He had an insatiable curiosity and impulse to make and create new characters, worlds and narratives. He loved collaborating with other talented people. He was active in the national and international puppet community, attending festivals and taking leadership roles early in his career. Meeting puppeteers from all over the world was a great joy for him. He always had great appreciation for artists who created in their own unique styles.

Jim Henson’s journey into puppetry did not begin in puppet theater. It was his early interest in the new medium of television that led him to try puppetry in order to get a job at a local television station while he was still in high school. Puppets on television at the time were designed for stage performances but Jim and his partner Jane Nebel (later Jane Henson) created a new style of puppets made explicitly for the medium of television which they called Muppets.  They were soon offered their own nightly television spot “Sam and Friends” on the local NBC station and the rest is history.

Jim and Jane Henson engaged with the community of puppeteers early in their careers. Soon after they were married in 1959, they attended Puppeteers of America festivals in 1960 and 1961 where they met many future collaborators and fellow performers. Jim became the president of Puppeteers of America in 1963. That same year, Jim co-produced the 24th American Puppetry Festival, in Hurleyville, New York, further expanding their circle of friends in the puppetry world.

Jim was always interested in excellence in puppetry. He first saw professional puppet theater on a trip to Europe while in college. Witnessing exciting puppet shows in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, he found himself inspired, coming to view puppetry not just as a fun activity but as a real career. As Jim became engaged in the American puppet community, he wanted to bring performance standards up to what he had seen in Europe.  He encouraged the United States to join the Union Internationale de la Marionnette, known as UNIMA. Together with Bil Baird, Jim worked for many years to establish an American chapter. Starting in 1966, their efforts culminated in the certification of UNIMA-USA in 1979, with Jim serving as UNIMA-USA’s inaugural chair. The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA which opened in 1978 with Jim & Jane Henson and Kermit the Frog cutting the opening day ribbon, became the homebase for UNIMA-USA. The subsequent UNIMA World Puppetry Festival in 1980 took place in and around the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the first international UNIMA Congress to be held outside of Europe. Jim co-produced the Festival with Nancy Staub and it was attended by over 2,000 puppeteers.  His one hour PBS special, “Here Come the Puppets!“, documented the festival showcasing extraordinary performances and inspiring a new generation of young puppeteers.

The success of the 1980 World Puppetry Festival and “Here Come the Puppets!”, coupled with the groundbreaking global success of Jim’s iconic television series, “The Muppet Show,” sparked a growing interest in the art of puppetry. This enthusiasm, together with Jim and Jane’s personal passion for puppetry and their friendships in the community of puppeteers, inspired them to create a family foundation to support the creation of new works. 

Founded in 1982, initially as the Henson Foundation, the Jim Henson Foundation sought to celebrate innovation in contemporary American puppetry and support artists creating in their own unique styles. As Jim’s work attained global recognition, it spawned a demand for Muppet imitations. The Foundation would recognize and help to support the many talented artists not copying Muppet style but approaching puppetry as an art form for individual expression, storytelling and the creation of innovative theater. Read a letter from Jim to the puppetry community about professional ethics published in an issue of The Puppetry Journal, 1975.

Jim’s appreciation for great puppeteers inspired him to create a six part documentary series released in 1985, “Jim Henson Presents the World of Puppetry.” The series showcased the talents of six esteemed puppeteers from six countries: Philipe Genty from France, Henk Boerwinkel from the Netherlands, Bruce Schwartz from the USA, Sergei Obraztsov from the Soviet Union, Albrecht Roser from Germany, and Richard Bradshaw from Australia. Jim loved the work of these artists.

Jim and Jane Henson remained active in the puppetry community, supporting emerging talent and attending festivals throughout their lives. They encouraged their five children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John and Heather, to train and involve themselves in aspects of puppetry and of The Jim Henson Company, each taking on different roles over the years.  Cheryl loved attending puppet festivals and took a particular interest in the work of the Foundation.

Following Jim’s untimely death in 1990 at the age of 53, the Henson Foundation continued with Jane Henson as President and Leslee Asch as Executive Director. In 1992 Jane founded a separate non profit, The Jim Henson Legacy, to focus on celebrating and preserving Jim’s own work, and Cheryl Henson became President of The Henson Foundation. To honor Jim’s passion for the art of puppetry, Cheryl and Leslee Asch focused the Foundation’s efforts on producing the first Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater while also maintaining the Foundation’s commitment to awarding annual grants for the creation of new works. Jim had intended to endow the Foundation with proceeds from the sale of his company to Disney, but following his death the sale did not take place and the funding did not happen. A combination of The Jim Henson Company and the Henson Family kept the Foundation going. Today, the Henson Foundation is funded by Cheryl Henson, with some support from the Jane Henson Foundation.

For Jim, the sense of camaraderie, boundless curiosity, and profound appreciation for the craft of puppetry transcended linguistic and cultural barriers, fostering a sense of belonging and ease in any corner of the globe. The Jim Henson Foundation continues to uphold Jim and Jane Henson’s legacy. Through the Foundation’s dedication to celebrating the art form and honoring individual artists, the foundation ensures that Jim and Jane Henson’s vision of puppetry as a vibrant and impactful medium lives on.

Additional Resources: 

Nancy Staub Article on the Founding of the Jim Henson Foundation

Jim Henson Idea Man, documentary directed by Academy Award ® winner Ron Howard, premiering on Disney+ May 31, 2024

Sam & Friends – The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show  written by Craig Shemin with a foreword by Frank Oz

Jim Henson’s Red Book – blog by Karen Falk, Jim Henson Company Archivist 

Jim Henson – The Biography written by Brian Jay Jones

Jim Henson’s Imagination Illustrated – written by Karen Falk, Introduction by Lisa Henson, new edition updated with a new foreword by Ron Howard

The Jim Henson Permanent Gallery Exhibit at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, GA

The Jim Henson Exhibition, Permanent Exhibit at Museum of the Moving Image in New York City

Puppeteers of America – national organization of puppetry, publishers of the quarterly magazine Puppetry Journal and producers of the biennial National Puppetry Festival

UNIMA-USA – national chapter of UNIMA the oldest international theater organization in the world, founded in 1929, publishers of the biannual magazine Puppetry International and presenters of the UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence