Jim Henson's Creature Shop

we've got Dance, Dance, Dance.

A studio attempts to reboot a long-cancelled puppet show with a mysterious past featuring work from Jim Ensign's Creature Shop.

We've got Heartbeat, directed by Dave Moreau, which is a pair of YouTube...

It's not

Yeah.

Uh, okay, well let's talk about the show, because I don't think I told you this part, is that on the day of the show, I didn't have a very busy day, right? Like, I, I took Ryan to Jim Henson's Creature Shop over in Queens.

That was such a fun experience, where we see where they make The Muppets.

Um, and then it was kind of it.

Um, the directors love to work with something that's really physically there, that you can light it and shoot it and see what it looks like on the day.

Um, and I think also the, the, today, our, our creature shop is as busy as it's ever been, and we're doing some very high-profile things.

So it feels like there is kind of a boomerang effect of people now really wanting something handmade and something that really exists, where the textures look so impressive on camera and, you know, it's a, it's something that's both familiar and also, you know, feels authentic.

Mm-hmm.

Coming up, we still have a few more questions for our guest.

Plus, Ram from our kids crew has a report from the Jim Henson Creature Shop in New York City.

And later, we hear from one of our interns, Isaac, about Jim Henson's production of The Dark Crystal.

This is the Children's Hour, and this is Dance Magic Dance by David Bowie from Jim Henson's Labyrinth.

And keep believing, keep pretending.

We still have a lot more to learn.

One of our kids' crew members, Ram, took a tour of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, located in Queens, New York City.

There, he saw the magic in action.

I happen to be snug right in the middle of that Venn diagram.

The Jim Henson Creature Shop is also doing the special effects, which is yet another major bonus here.

I could not possibly exude more positivity with this installment.

It sounds like the most experimental VHS film we've ever gotten, and that's saying something considering this franchise.

It's always, because I write for ILM.com, so I'm always focusing on the visuals.

And obviously the Creature Shop, I know a lot of the guys in the Creature Shop had interviewed Scanlon a few times and mates with Brian Herring and, you know, got different people I'd interviewed in that avenue.

But then sitting down with Vince, one of the guys I interviewed there, he's like, well, you never get any love.

We're literally the connection between all these things.

Dino here was originally intended to be played by a person in a suit with animatronics, and subsequently looked a little different from the Dino we know and love.

Uh, once the physical demands of the character pro- proved to be too much for the production, they pivoted to some CG courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic, used in conjunction with puppetry from the Jim Henson Creature Shop.

Uh, for further continuity between the series and the film, uh, they retained Mel Blanc's original voice for the character.

It's a nice welcome touchstone to the original series, and in fact, much appreciated here.

The Dictabird is totally a standout character in this film, and voiced by the fantastic legendary Harvey Korman, who Flintstones fans will know as the voice of the Great Gazoo on the cartoon.

Uh, sadly, Korman did not get to reprise that role here, uh, though the character was a significant part of the two thousand follow-up, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, and, uh, played by Alan Cumming.

Uh, the Dictabird is also just another fantastic creation of the Henson Creature Shop, and its design and movement feel very much a product of that team.

Uh, to my mind, it's a bit reminiscent in those regards to some of the creatures in Labyrinth, and as it turns out in my research, it turns out that the Dictabird's lead puppeteer, Anthony Asbury, handled several characters on that film, including a door knocker, uh, one of the Fireys, uh, chilly down, and, uh, one of the door guards in the Always Lies, Always Tells the Truth scene.

Exactly.

Studio Gillis and Weta Workshop for Predator Badlands, Millennium FX for Prime 8, Werner Pretorius and Amazing 8 Productions for Backrooms, and Jim Henson's Creature Shop for Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Okay.

This one shouldn't even be a surprise.

and they should if if primate wasn't here you would probably pick it yeah i

mean i mean the the robotics and stuff look so good in these and they're fun yeah

yeah the fact that they make these and it's jim henson i think that's so cool and just from re-watching the first one like a couple weeks ago i'm i'm all in for that so my heart is five nights at freddy's too jim henson's creature shop

So next up, we have Best Documentary Feature.