The Jim Henson Exhibition - Imagination Unlimited / Muppets & MORE in Los Angeles

today's adventure brings us to Los Angeles California to the Skirball cultural center for a special exhibit was taking place welcome everyone Adam Wu here Jim Henson imagination unlimited the exhibition is running through September 2nd of this year I want to check this out and if you look closely there is someone hiding behind that pole right there sir can I help you yes can you tell me where the Jim Henson exit is the Jim Henson exit Oh yep that's all folks join me and my father who's tucked behind the pole now shaly me first walk in you're greeted with a very large portrait of the man himself with the Muppets just to give a perspective of a size see everyone walking underneath them beside it I thinks you just like 13 feet tall clearly not the only ones with the same idea a pretty lengthy line and if you zoom in at the end of the line down there you can see the destination tucked away and that go out there's a lot of lint in the air it's like some magic floating around there and the in the air as we make our way down to that staircase we're standing next to a display case that has some animals right in there they're also waiting in line you could say and here's a information placard on the detail of exactly what they blue ducks name is squawky the cow which i think is down here putting out the vibe is cal bella and that's a horse and the horse's name what's the horse's name sweetpea the horse's name is sweet big reading this information it says a very special thanks to Cheryl Henson and the George Lucas Family Foundation for their generous support that's interesting George Lucas had something to do with us starting with the quotes as children we all live in a world of imagination of fantasy and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood there's something I originally knew but had forgotten that he was born in Mississippi and raised in Leland Mississippi I myself was born in Tupelo so where we share the same birth state here's someone who needs no introduction Kermit the Frog circa 1978 you see all the information written down there probably the most if not one of the most the most famous frog anywhere in the world he's so friendly is always smiling and waving good old Kermie as piggy referred to him as in fact you can scroll through some of the pages from his sketchbook on this interactive computer just take your finger and swipe it across and you can see some of the ideas and drawings that he pinned all through his career not all cartoons and not all puppets like this is a newscaster this puppet was built in 1966 for an unaired commercial for General Mills and it was modified a little bit and was used in 1976 for the Muppet Show that a guy 45 record here on the left that had the recording of a song by the name of I've grown accustomed to your face the fascinating thing is that this little cloth face cloth puppet from 1967 was designed by Jim himself and stuck his hand up in there and and operated it and brought it to life Wow look at that that's like an old school Kermit on the left and there's the cloth puppet on the right on the Steve Allen show I'm gonna dabble into a little puppetry now there's a camera we're looking at there's a screen o-positive Amish shoes just they see bones people look at she likes at photo opportunity come on little guy play it up for the camera how can you not be happy with looking they're looking at these puppets it's amazing amazing thing he looks terrified as sullivan looks terrified surrounded and there's puppet hats look at the look on his face he's like get me out a billion sue were created in 1962 a public service announcement for the National Council of Churches where there were some mischievous characters or a character named snuggle who tried to leave them astray and I know I do not know that from memory I'm reading it because there are informative little placards in front of each display so that's it's a good way to learn as you look at the history of a marathon gasoline commercial that never aired use these two guys which are gas pumps and a set of puppeteers they use singers to operate these they were had singing voices coming out of where the gas nozzle would be they would be illuminating some beautiful songs there's mr. Henson holding the puppet and a cup built in 1962 for a kareena dog chow commercial I know that guy I think we all know that character fast forward a year there he is in his New York City apartment with the puppet and they recreated it right here in this toy you can see he can get a close-up there he also did a few experimental films one called timepiece which is shown there and another one called the cube developing a concept for a multimedia nightclub called Celia the promotional brochure for the proposed nightclub described it as pure theater in a revolutionary way and this is an example of what he had in mind do not stare too attentively into it you will either become hypnotized and or nauseous this is very trippy just look deep into its eyes I don't know what's going on even know what's being flagged looks like a a packet of red gooey goodness circling around [Music] flashes of light I'm officially confused prototype of the wall in his office you can see there are numbers placed and drawn on each section he could see without the lights on how bizarre and unusual it is so that's it oh now there's images of people yelling and screaming on it stepping now into the world of Sesame Street can you tell me how to get to can you tell me how to get how to get to Sesame Street there's Richard Hunt and Frank Oz as well in that picture [Music] using these guys an Ernie he's got his rubber ducky can't take a bath without a rubber ducky nostalgia overload is happening my childhood is flashing back quickly before my eyes 1 2 3 circus set and worm puppets from some Oscar the Grouch sketches slimey the worm and his wormy friends all under the big top what letters have legs and feet why big birds basic walking letter set that's what letters you start them at the top of this little plateau and they meander their way down teaching you teaching you how to read do more than watch Sesame Street you can play with it thanks to the Muppet character book which you can it can also slide through slide through the book they have displayed here and see some silhouettes and drawings [Music] oh there's the Cookie Monster guy after my own heart Grover snuffleupagus Grover was also created for the Ed Sullivan Show in 67 and went on to live in infamy everyone knows Grover well I would assume everyone knows good Grover us as I continued on there's beaker and the doc oh man I always loved beaker he couldn't really understand what he was saying he kind of just made odd noises but nonetheless he kind of exude it what he was going for you kind of got it he kind of understood the emotion coming out of coming out of beakers mouth and his of course his crazy hair and his eyes help display what he was thinking these are examples of live hand puppets such puppets require two puppeteers one for the mouth and left hand and the other for the right hand the finished product of scooter can be seen here but it started off as a concept which is displayed in this frame you can see the artwork some of the ideas before it came to fruition and there is Richard Hunt performing scooter in the late 70s oh wow here's a detailed pencil drawing of what would eventually become bigger you can see he's got his head compressed and smushed down there in the middle and over here he's about to lose his top he's thinking too much is getting a little hot-headed and the steam coming out of his noggin these are known as rundown cards and they were used for episode 502 of the Muppet Show but I'm noticing miss Carol Burnett she's written on there she must have been the host of that particular episode sections from a folder for Muppets show ideas you got some of the inscriptions and writings just thoughts he was speaking out loud to paper of what would eventually become episodes of the Muppet Show there's a script here you got all the different characters and their dialogue oh look at this one the words they kind of drip down the page how do you even get a typewriter to work in that fashion created for the Perry Como winter show that is a portrait puppet of Jim Henson and then we got Frank Oz in the middle and that is Jerry Nelson and they were performing as a musical trio and it also later appeared on the Dick Cavett show and The Muppet Show every episode from 76 to 80 one is being displayed on this screen there's a heck of a lot of entertainment happening in all these box lots of familiar faces up there yes sir lots of oh wait the most the most familiar face I know your face better than all of these two wait than winners johnathan wit booze it's really difficult to pick a favorite film would it be the Muppet movie would it be the great Muppet Caper what color are their hands what color are their hands now they call them red handed and they just wanted to know what color their hands were now or the Muppets Take Manhattan in one of those movies The Muppets Take Manhattan there was a dream sequence showing them as very youthful well babies which eventually led to the series Muppet Babies but this is the incarnation of that Saturday morning cartoon Miss Piggy and Fozzie as little Muppet Babies here's some test footage they originally did looks like I'm not the only one that talks to cats I'm heading now into immersive worlds and if this is what I think it is oh yes it is we're heading into the world of the Dark Crystal early concept art from that production I must admit I genuinely love this film so much it's so dark so different than what you would know from like the Muppets a little bit darker a little bit creepier and the creepiest was the Skeksis and look how many puppeteers it took to operate one of those vultures looking scary monsters there's one scene in particular that always haunts me even as an adult it's when they disrobe one of these guys the other ones they basically push him into a corner and they strip his clothes off of thee they shred off all of his clothes and it's it still haunts me to this day the disrobing of the Skeksis the detail of this I mean thank goodness that there is a piece of glass in front of me protecting me because gosh these things these things live on and the scary portion of my brain don't look deep in its eyes don't make eye contact for some reason I was thinking it was early 90s but it was the early 80s 1982 is when the Dark Crystal came out I'm getting older by the day by the minute I'm definitely just dated myself by by stating that I remember this movie vividly as a child lighten up the mood a little bit after that little creepy section by staring at some Fraggles down a Fraggle Rock down a Fraggle Rock I always loved the Fraggles if only we could all take out our eye and hold it and look around the room it's a talent that she had that not many possess seek her left eye there he/she couldnt remove it and use it to see by holding it in one of her hands definitely not something that we all possess we cannot dismember our eye socket and then continue to see from our palm drops that the Mystics use oh yeah remember these the mixing the mystics use these to hold they had some like you know like a hammer and they would eat out of these little bowls and they would play music on that little banjo look at that couple of scream used costumes from the dance sequence and labyrinth and they are on a revolving display case so they just turn around almost as if the costumes are dancing just like the characters were got to wait for it a very patient but takes two to tango they say I don't know if they're doing a tango but they are definitely simulating a dance some technology is required to take puppetry a step further this one on the left is Waldo a puppet controlled mechanism and this on the right you can see where you could place your hands and there's a place for each finger to grip it to make the puppet work so not only do you have your hand up the puppets torso but you're also gripping on to these mechanism these almost electronic mechanisms I'm also noticing there's a port there that a cable goes into as well as down below there's another court for another cable design your own character get a place whichever facial features you want on it starting with the eyes all right we got the eyes going we already got the mouth the mouth has already already provided for [Music] gone with the nose with the nose nice [Music] we're gonna go with we're gonna go with hair or head we're gonna go with head where we're gonna which one could I pick the Hat I'm gonna go with this hat can we go with the minute I'm gonna put this there we go he's got the stylish farmer cast green test how's he look there he is pump his moustache is crooked his moustache is a little slanted it's growing I've never seen a stache grow in that fash before again forget what I said did you get what I I did there yes a little alliteration there I'm ready for my close-up mr. DeMille what would he sound like along by name's Bob I like that okay you talk loudly and I'll narrator hello my mouth won't move mine Bob nice to meet you Bob yeah how are you good nice to meet your equip you left your tie nice to meet you but I got fit [Music] [Music] [Music] upon exit heading not through the gift shop but into the gift shop and there has some books of Elmo and the Muppets and I got Cookie Monster up there Oh some fancy fancy shades very nice and some books explaining who Jim Henson was remember the year when these were all the rage for Christmas you couldn't even keep him on the shelves a price on this $15 for a couple pins but not too bad this pamphlet shows everything that is in the exhibit maybe the some of the stuff I missed starting of course with Sesame Street and then Grover Ernie and Bert which debuted in 69 Kermit the Frog in 55 The Muppet Show was 76 to 81 and then dr. honeydew and beaker 76 to 77 and a labyrinth to 86 or from 86 Dark Crystal 82 Fraggle Rock up to 1987 and then on the back is that big poster that they had the mural of inside that's going to do it for today from Los Angeles California at the Skirball Center which is hosting the imagination unlimited presentation or display exhibit exhibition is the word I'm looking for until September 2nd the works and the life some of the nooks and crannies of mr. Henson's work I highly encourage you if you're in Southern California to check it out if you're new here please subscribe by doing so helps keep you in the loop and up-to-date on future uploads and endeavors I will be going on here on this channel and the best thing it's absolutely free so click that subscribe button and notification valve to stay updated I'll see you guys in the next video the vlog is over

Channel: TheDailyWoo

Views: 121,020

Keywords: imagination unlimited, jim henson, jim henson exhibition, skirball center, muppets, dark crystal, fraggle rock, labyrinth, props, puppets, history, los angeles, museum, frank oz, sesame street, kermit the frog, big bird, adamthewoo, adam the woo, thedailywoo, daily, vlog, tourist, travel vlogger, things to do, special event, limited time, california, hollywood

Id: Do_86w3ak_A

Length: 20min 55sec (1255 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 29 2018