Sunday, September 20th, 2009 (Short Film Sunday: Time Piece)

I was just flipping through the pages of Geek Monthly and read a wonderful article on the genius of Jim Henson in honor of a traveling exhibition of the art of the Muppet creator. The article points out that most of the time Henson's beloved characters are much more recognizable than he ever will be, but the new exhibition, Jim Henson's Fantastic World, attempts to focus on the man behind the puppetry, as well as the art of it all, and some of the more profound statements he was making. This included speaking a little of the pre-Muppet Henson and his 1965 Academy Award nominated short film Time Piece.

We are all well acquainted with The Muppet Show, the many cinematic spin-offs that would follow, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, early Saturday Night Live, The Jim Henson Hour and even some of us are familiar with Sam and Friends. However, I had never seen Time Piece before looking it up tonight, but it is something I instantly have to share. The little experimental short that debuted at New York's Museum of Modern Art only has one word of dialogue and is otherwise set to a ticking soundtrack to keep with the clock motif. The surrealism of the film, along with some more adult content (despite keeping a more cartoonish tone) seems somewhat different than what we're used to from Henson, but it definitely fits. Also see if you can spot Muppet regulars Frank Oz and Jerry Juhl. Also, I noticed in the end credits of the film that April March is credited as the stripper. I got really excited until I realized that 1965 was the year the singer April March was born.

I looked up to see if I could find The Chicken, the Claude Berri short that would take home the Oscar statuette over Henson's film, but alas, I could not find it. Nonetheless, I seriously doubt it would be as good of a film as this, with or without the nostalgia of Henson. One last note on Henson, despite going to Atlanta a few times, while looking up Time Piece today, I came across The Center for Puppetry Arts for the first time, established to educate and entertain in the medium of puppets. Henson originally cut the ribbon on the public opening for the center and museum along with his most famous character Kermit the Frog in 1978. The center has also announced that a wing of the museum to focus strictly on Henson's work will open in 2012, adding to an already impressive collection from Henson's workshop. So now, without further adieu... a treasure that has been forgotten by the passing of years, starring, written, directed and produced by one of the true geniuses and innovators of television and cinema, Jim Henson's Time Piece.
Time Piece


P.S. Yesterday Yoshito Usui was found dead. I mention this briefly, because to most people Usui, whom was found after turning up missing during a hiking trip due to natural causes, wasn't really famous at all. Yet, Usui was the creator of Crayon Shin Chan, a rather bizarre comical anime that is part of the Adult Swim family, and to keep relevant to my blog, produced several film spin-offs from the anime series, itself adapted from Usui's manga, which may or may not find the eventual stateside light of day. R.I.P. Usui.