User Reviews

"Jim Henson: Idea Man" shows us the trajectory and work of the revolutionary and visionary artist known as the mind and personality behind the Muppets. With a wide variety of interviews, supporting material, and great admiration from director Ron Howard, this documentary provides us with information that goes far beyond the creation of Kermit the Frog and his group of puppets. It's a journey through the motivation, relentless work, perseverance, and great talent of a character who, along with his wife and team, always sought to surprise, innovate, and change the possibilities that television offered.

Jim Henson is undoubtedly a pillar of creativity and positive artistic attitude in recent years, and his legacy will be indelible not only for the relevance of Sesame Street for a generation of children or the cultural phenomenon that the Muppets brought to millions of viewers. He is also a source worthy of admiration and inspiration in a world where everything may seem already defined.

Jim Henson is the movie-maker that got me into movies. When I saw The Dark Crystal at age five, I was never the same again. This was when I first felt that I simply had to know how movies get made. Later on, I became a fan of Muppets and Fraggles alike (yes, I got to the Skeksis before I got to Kermit, at least in terms of adoration) and by now, I consider Henson one of the most important creatives of the 20th century.

He changed the way I take in art, and did this and insurmountably more to countless others around the world. Even all these years after his death, he touches generations of people through his colorful creations -- so lifelike, nay, alive in spite of so clearly not being "real". In Ron Howard's documentary, Jim Henson: Idea Man, we see most of his life laid out (albeit sometimes in disappointingly brief snippets), from his youth to his early TV gigs (like those 1950s Wilkins Coffee commercials where a Kermit prototype puppet commits murder indiscriminately); from the inception of Sesame Street to the rise of the Muppets and the bona fide celebrity status of Kermit and Miss Piggy; from the creation of The Dark Crystal (which also involved the opening of the Henson Creature Shop) to the disastrous release of the now-beloved Labyrinth.

Meanwhile, we learn of his personal life and the way he inspired, not just us, but those around him. In one notable moment, Frank Oz recalls how Henson pushed for him to co-direct The Dark Crystal, as Henson felt he himself lacked something that he saw in Oz.

The documentary is cleverly presented, making good use of projectors, stop-motion interludes, and some animations Henson himself created before the Muppet years. Unfortunately, it is missing -- or just barely mentions -- a lot of information about Henson's life that would have made this documentary go from good to great. Still, it is a worthy celebration of that Rainbow Connection (sorry) that Henson created between all of us.

This was absolutely the most heartwarming documentary I've seen yet! Since I was younger, I've always been obsessed with the Muppets! I always thought Jim Henson was just the "puppeteer" for these famous puppets. But from this documentary, I've learned he was so much more than that. He was a creative mind that wanted way much more than just being a children's puppeteer. I've learned that he's done more creative projects than just the Muppets. Like other muppet documentaries, it doesn't show the true side of him and his work, like this does. This just gives a more of an inside scoop of his life and his reality. For the most part, seeing the others who have worked alongside him pay tribute, is just so beautiful! If you're interested in him and his life, I most definitely recommend this! To conclude, It's such a heartfelt, heartwarming tribute for Jim Henson. I'm just hoping this lives on for generations to come and that we celebrate his artistic work.

I knew immediately that this bio documentary about Jim Henson was in good hands (Ron Howard directing) with the opening, played out against the rousing music of Charles Mingus in one of his trademark barn-burning performances. The story is one of unbridled creativity, and the movie, along with authoritative commentaries by the likes of Frank Oz and Jennifer Connolly, speaks for itself. Howard is especially successful at the poignant way he handles Henson's sudden death, which I had forgotten even though I was a reporter covering the movie industry 34 years ago when it occurred.

One element that hit me out of the blue was a shot of George Lucas on screen during the coverage of "Labyrinth". It reminded me how difficult it would be to make a documentary on Lucas's life, and how there are book-ending similarities in his career relative to Henson's: both were once experimental filmmakers in the 1960s (THX 1138 4EB versus Timepiece), later becoming entwined in the commercial side of the entertainment business with huge financial success, and their creative achievements ended up in the domain of Walt Disney (himself an analogous figure in history).

On May 31st, Disney+ released the documentary feature profiling Jim Henson, the great puppeteer behind The Muppets and Sesame Street. Just like pretty much every other kid who was born in the 90s, I grew up watching these programs and was excited to learn more about the man who created them. The doc is directed by Ron Howard and features interviews with family members and co-workers including Jennifer Connelly, Rita Moreno, and Frank Oz.

This is a very interesting and entertaining documentary that also teaches the viewer that anything is possible if you truly believe in yourself. Henson was turned down so many times that most reasonable people would pack it in and give up. Fortunately for the world, however, Henson never gave up and eventually found a network to give his show a chance. If he just rolled over and gave up, the world would never have been introduced to The Muppets.

Jim Henson: Idea Man is now streaming on Disney+ and if you want to know more about the brilliant mind that is Jim Henson, I recommend giving it a watch.

Having been a lifelong Muppet fan, it was a joy to watch this documentary and learn about its creator. Idea man is the perfect title and will make sense once you watch it.

Insightful, candid behind the scenes stories from cast, crew and family really paint a picture of the man, you almost feel like you know him.

Lovingly made documentary using rare footage and clever editing to show Henson's work throughout his career. You can tell that Ron Howard has a lot of respect for the man and his work and that this was a labour of love for him.

This has given me an even greater appreciation for his work, I wanted to rewatch all of The Muppet Show as soon as I finished.

A delight for Muppet fans but also a great documentary in general.

Fantastic biographical account not only of Jim but the Muppets too.

Jim's boundless creativity makes you question what wonderous creations we would be treated to today had he not been taken from the world so early... Watching this is an emotional rollercoaster for any true Henson/Muppet fan, his legacy will continue in our hearts and with his family.

The world learnt so much from his shows like Sesame street, not just reading and counting but empathy for our fellow occupants of this earth both human and animal alike.

When I watch this movie/doc I'm left with those emphatic words of Elmo "Gotta love me!" well Jim we always did and will do forever!

Thankyou Ron, Frank and the Henson family for this wonderful insight of genius.

I (from the depths of my soul) wanted to love this film, but 15 minutes in on a Friday eve around 6pm I just couldn't tolerate how flat and undeniably boring it was. I'm a huge Jim Henson fan and don't feel that this docu did him justice at all. I saw 'The Contestant,' this week and wow!! That film was mind blowing, so for me, 'Idea Man' was the slowest paced, boring and unjustly production I've seen in a long time. Given all the footage there is in the ether for anyone to pull from, and the best this director could do was use 1000's of stills is pathetic. This film as so poorly directed I'm stunned I turned it off. I'm so disappointed and I hope, that at some point I give it a second chance. Until then, I'll use my Friday night to my advantage. Sorry for the terrible review.

Ever since I could remember, Jim Henson has been apart of my life. From Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock, Dog City, the Storyteller, and all his movies. Growing up, Jim Henson was inseparable from my life. When I heard about this film, I was so excited to see bits and pieces about Jim Henson that I never knew. Unfortunately well the picture did take more attention to building up the man and having us understand his genius, It felt lacking. For some reason, they decided to keep a running time of two hours. Suddenly, in his darkest time after the Muppet show ended, when he was flourishing the most creatively, the crew decided to rush that second phase of his career and jam it in the final 30 minutes of runtime. I wanted more detail on the storyteller or his failed Jim Henson hour. I wanted them to talk about Dinosaurs The sitcom. I wanted them to talk about the creature shop and how they created Yoda and the ninja Turtles. They didn't interview George Lucas. Ron Howard knows George personally and they didn't get him? I wanted them to interview his peers in directing. I wanted them to interview the celebrities who were a part of the Muppet show and Sesame Street. They only interviewed one person, Rita Moreno. Very strange. Yes I know a lot of them have passed away, but there are so many others they could have put on there. They didn't even interview Conan O'Brien, who divulged on his podcast that not only did he go to college with his daughter Lisa, but he ran the Lampoon with her AND knew Jim Henson personally. He was even there for the funeral, which was just glazed over, not even showing the clip of all the muppets coming out on stage to sing for him. I wanted more. Yes, there have been very few specials about Jim Henson, but the wealth of material he left us deserved more. Make it a 4 part series like the Beatles, or a Two Parter to bookend the before and after Muppet Show career. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a fanatic and I'm still probably discovering things to this day. There are way bigger Jim Henson fans than me so I won't say I'm disappointed. I loved the film because it's about Jim but I wanted way way more and it would take a lot to satisfy my appetite. I just thought it was going to be a big project like The Beatles was and I felt a little mislead. Please watch it, enjoy it and learn more about the man. I hope there's another series that goes into depth what he was about and what he made.

I thought this was great.

This is a feature length tribute and biography to the great man that was Jim Henson.

It features lots of the people who worked with him, and forms a wonderful education about who the man was and what he stood for.

The talking heads don't get in the way, and there is a lot of rare footage to be seen and enjoyed as well.

I didn't expect this to be as moving as it turned out being, and just hearing the ethos and beliefs that Jim Henson had proved to be inspiring.

I hope people enjoy this well made documentary as much as I did and that it encourages Disney to do more with The Muppets.

When I was in high school, Sesame Street came along. I had study hall before lunch in a small room where we could watch the show on TV. That began my interest in the Muppets and Jim Henson. This documentary is a great view of the history of both.

That said, I'm halfway through and the music is annoying. I'm trying to listen to people talk, watch the pictures, and there's distracting music playing that interferes with the sound.

It's not flowing music, it's short and choppy. That would be fine for scenes that need to imply action, but it's people talking in short, choppy words. The music is ear-catching when it should be subtle and not distracting. Music should be an additive to scenes that don't have dialogue. When people are talking, let them talk!

This isn't the first documentary I've seen about Jim Henson but it's certainly one of the best.

It combines fantastic access to archive materials, many of which I had never seen before, and a selection of insightful interviews with key collaborators and family members.

Particular highlights are the footage of his early creations, including "Sam and Friends" on local TV and his experimental short films from the 60s, before the happy accident that was "Sesame Street". It's also good to see the important role his collaborator and soon-to-be-wife Jane played.

I was slightly surprised to see that quite so many big names were involved in the production of the documentary. I suppose that indicates the status of Jim within the industry. Not to be dismissive of Ron Howard et al, but any documentary filmmaker could have done an equally good job if they had access to the same materials.

Who exactly does Ron Howard think he's manipulating at this point? Nobody cares anymore, about him or his subject here and the results are embarrassing at best. This is a muppet clip show, a paid infomercial on the genius of Jim Henson with levels of insight on par with an elementary school newspaper interview. Nothing here is explored in any detail and every talking head brought on adds nothing more than hollow praise.

I came out of this learning nothing and actually disliking Henson even more than I did going in. I'm not a Muppet fan. The charm wore off sometime around 1980 and I firmly believe that (with the exception of the Sesame Street characters) society wouldn't lose a minute of sleep if they vanished without trace tomorrow. But that doesn't mean an exploration of Henson's life can't be interesting. He was a powerful Hollywood figure for years, surely he had his share of demons. But instead he's painted here as a benevolent, caring genius. A man who created a show (Fraggle Rock) because he thought he could put a stop to warfare. This kind of megalomania is just screaming to be expanded on but Howard glosses it over like everything else in the movie.

This is lazy, lazy filmmaking by a hack director paid to drum up interest in a fading brand that he seemingly has little interest in. Just an awful experience.