Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 26, 1993 TAG: 9312260112
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by LYNN ERWIN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"The Works" is a wonderful all-telling profile of the late Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and master of quality children's entertainment.
It's hard to believe that Muppets have been around for 40 years, but think back a little to television in the late 1950s and early `60s. Remember the commercial featuring the La Choy dragon swaggering through a grocery aisle? A giant Muppet.
Muppets were also regular guests on the Today, Tonight and Jimmy Dean shows. Muppets sold coffee, RC cola, dog food, Ivory Snow and IBM computers. And today, although Muppets are not in advertising, they are featured on every product imaginable from pillowcases to lunch boxes to lamps to telephones.
Sesame Street, created in 1969, was the trophy in children's television and is probably the most well-known Muppet vehicle, but Henson was also the mind behind the feature films "The Dark Crystal," "The Witches" and "Labyrinth." Muppet Babies, Fraggle Rock nd the 3-D Muppet Vision attraction at Disney World are all Henson creations.
This delightful coffee table book is a feast of interviews and profiles of Muppets and Muppeteers plus hundreds of color photographs of Miss Piggy and the gang and the people behind (and sometimes inside) them.
One sad note after reading "The Works" is that one really does miss this remarkable man.
But the Muppets do live on and so does Henson's spirit in the form of a small green grog with ping-pong ball eyes. Henson was not only the producer and creator of Muppets, but was also the personality and voice of loveable Kermit the Frog. And that's kind of nice to know. This book is a fine tribute to one of America's greatest talents.
Lynn Erwin is a librarian at Hollins College.
by CNB