Quotes

I've worked with genius performers. Sometimes they created great work with a bad script... but not often. Play it safe: write well.

Jim was a dreamer... but he was pragmatic enough to make the dream happen. He was just absolutely determined to do that. There were certainly elements of both. But a dreamer was what he really was.

Kermit is the eye in the middle of the hurricane. And, you know, he's always in control. Sometimes just barely, but he's always in control. And the interesting thing about it, of course, is that he created the hurricane.

Underneath the zaniness, or perhaps standing next to it, there was a sense of decency that the characters had, about the world and to each other. And I think that's one of the really legacies that Jim left. And I think it's one of the reasons he's so loved today, because he could be a pop culture figure doing mass entertainment, and he could explore the edges of crazy, goofy comedy. But at the core, there was always a sense of social values and decency.

We always used to kid Jim that after telling everybody 'simple is good,' he would turn around and try to produce the most complicated work in the world and just about wipe out all of us - him most of all - in the process.

What Jim (Henson) really wanted to do was to sing songs and tell stories, teach children, promote peace, save the planet, celebrate man, praise God, and be silly.

I did it for self-protection, I never rated much [as a puppeteer], so I figured I'd better save my job by doing something else.-Commenting on why he stopped puppeteering and started writing for the Muppets

I don't know if it's different writing for Muppets than humans because I spent my whole career writing for Muppet characters. But I always say that with Muppets, you can't write feet.

Puppets are wonderfully magical things, but one of the most fiendishly difficult art forms we've created for ourselves. Good puppetry is amazing, but it's so difficult.

[2000, on how the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie got their names] The rumor about 'It's a Wonderful Life' has persisted over the years. I was not present at the naming, but I was always positive it was incorrect. Despite his many talents, Jim had no memory for details like this. He knew the movie, of course, but would not have remembered the cop and the cab driver. I was not able to confirm this with Jim before he died, but shortly thereafter I spoke to Jon Stone, Sesame Street's first producer and head writer and a man largely responsible for the show's format. ... He assured me that Ernie and Bert were named one day when he and Jim were studying the prototype puppets. They decided that one of them looked like an Ernie, and the other one looked like a Bert. The movie character names are purely coincidental.