Jim Henson: Idea Man, from director Ron Howard, is coming in May.
Jim Henson: Idea Man, Ron Howard’s upcoming documentary, is coming to Disney+ next month. The film, which was first announced back in 2022, will arrive on the streaming platform on May 31, and the Henson family hopes that this will be a definitive look at the life and work of Henson, who created The Muppets, co-created Sesame Street, and also directed or produced a number of other projects including The Witches, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. The filmmaker sat for an interview with Vanity Fair, and also shared a look at the movie in the form of some still images, including photos from interviews with Rita Moreno and Jennifer Connelly.
The film will be the most mainstream documentary yet produced about Henson. A best-selling book about Henson’s life, written by biographer Brian Jay Jones, was released in 2016 (buy it here — it’s incredible). In 2019, that book heavily influenced a great, multi-part docuseries on YouTube from the nostalgia-themed channel Defunctland (watch it here).
“If there was going to be a definitive documentary about Jim Henson, we had hoped it would be in the hands of an accomplished filmmaker. Ron Howard is both a creative and personality match for my father, unlike anyone else we could have contemplated,” Lisa Henson, CEO of the Jim Henson Company, told Vanity Fair.
“It was sort of anarchy on the outside, but underneath it, there was always a smart idea—a witty point to make, an observation about the world,” Howard told the magazine. “To see that evolve through the medium of puppetry and television, and then on into movies, was so interesting to me. I felt like you could actually observe a lot about entertainment, what entertains us and why, through his journey.”
Henson’s life has often been romanticized — given how young he died, and the incredible works he left behind, it’s easy to do — but his relationship with Jane Henson, the wife who was instrumental in getting the company and The Muppets off the ground — is rarely explored in-depth. As the Jones book notes, Henson was restless and a workaholic — things that led to his having affairs and ultimately broke up his marriage with Jane (although they remained creative partners, and Jane remained very involved with his company and legacy after he was gone). Lisa Henson promises the documentary will “honestly” explore the Hensons’ relationship.
Howard, an Oscar-winning filmmaker, has familiy ties to Disney+, with his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard working on Star Wars projects for the streamer. The Muppets, Henson’s best-known creation, have also had two Disney+-exclusive series already — although the Jim Henson Company has Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock at Apple TV+.
