Let me slowly check and share some updates about Ex Populus for you!
This is the June 2022 news:
At Ex Populus, we've all been inspired by creators at different points in our lives. This inspiration is one of the reasons we're all motivated to work on making great movies, games, and other entertainment. We thought it would make sense to share some of the different artists, creators, and entertainers that inspire us with the Ex Populus community.
Jim Henson
Jim Henson was a rare figure in the entertainment industry because of his use of puppets in an era when special effects in movies were becoming increasingly advanced. He is best known for creating The Muppets, a television series that used puppets to tell stories for children while also entertaining adults. Henson's career included collaborations with George Lucas, Brian Froud, David Bowie, and others.
Early life
Jim's first puppeteering partner was Jane Nebel, whom he eventually married and she helped run the Jim Henson Company. In 1963, Henson hired the legendary Frank Oz to work with him on early productions. When Jim Henson passed on the role of Yoda in Star Wars, he recommended his friend and fellow puppeteer Frank Oz. Jim would later go on to work with George Lucas on Star Wars and later Labyrinth.
The Muppet Show
A key reason for the success of his puppets was that Jim realized he didn't need to hide the puppeteers behind a structure when they were in front of the camera. Henson teamed up with Loren Michaels to do a "Muppet" comedy routine on the first season of Saturday Night Live. This eventually led to the creation of The Muppet Show. The Muppet Show gave birth to many beloved characters including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animals and of course Gonzo. This form of entertainment designed to entertain children but also adults would later be imitated by major entertainment brands including Disney, Pixar, and more.
After the success of The Muppet Show, Henson began to create darker, more realistic fantasy films that did not include Muppets and displayed "a growing, brooding interest in death". He co-directed The Dark Crystal with Frank Oz, "an attempt to move toward a sense of realism - toward the sense of realism of real living creatures". In order to provide a different visual style from The Muppet Show, the puppets in The Dark Crystal were based on concept art by Brian Flood, and it was a financial and critical success.
While making The Dark Crystal, Jim Henson tasked his team with building the world for a show he proposed would end all wars: Fraggle Rock. He chose to remain present on Fraggle Rock, but more so let go, allowing his team to build the world he envisioned on their own, and they did an amazing job.
maze
One of Ex Populus' CEO's favorite movies, Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, with George Lucas as executive producer. Once again, Henson worked with Brian Froud on concept design. Monty Python's Terry Jones wrote the first draft for the film's script in early 1984, inspired by Froud's sketches. It concerns 16-year-old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) and her mission to reach the center of a giant otherworldly maze to rescue her infant half-brother Toby (Toby Froud) from the Y2K King Jareth (David Bowie).
Despite some positive reviews; The New York Times called it "a fabulous film" - it was a commercial disappointment. This frustrated Henson; his son Brian Henson described it as "the closest I've ever seen him come to turning on himself and getting pretty depressed". The film went on to become a cult classic.
The baby in Labyrinth is Toby Froude, son of Brian Froude, the concept artist for Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Toby Froude was the design supervisor for The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019).
Jim Henson, who won 45 different awards during his career and was nominated for an Oscar, taught his children how to run a business and how to build and operate puppets.
On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died of strep pneumonia at the age of 53. His legacy lives on as one of the greatest talents in contemporary entertainment history.