The Jim Henson Company was founded by Jim and Jane Henson in 1955. Its early work combined television performance, experimental filmmaking, and commercial productions.
Jim Henson and his collaborators developed new approaches to puppetry for television. Camera framing, monitor-based performance, and expressive character design allowed puppets to communicate with viewers in a more intimate and emotionally convincing way.
The company became closely associated with Sesame Street, whose characters helped combine education, humor, and entertainment for generations of children.
The Muppets expanded this influence through television, film, and live performance, creating characters capable of appealing to both children and adults.
Fraggle Rock developed a complete underground society with its own communities, conflicts, and values. The series used fantasy to explore cooperation, difference, and the relationship between separate worlds.
Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal demonstrated the company’s ability to create ambitious cinematic environments populated by complex creatures. These productions pushed puppetry beyond children’s television and into large-scale fantasy filmmaking.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop continued this tradition through animatronics, practical effects, and digital innovation. Its work has contributed to numerous film and television productions beyond the company’s own titles.
Australian Connections
Make, Believe, Magic includes several important connections between The Jim Henson Company and the Australian screen industry.
The science-fiction series Farscape was filmed in Sydney and became one of the company’s most recognized productions for adult audiences. Its combination of performers, puppets, prosthetics, and elaborate creature design created an unusually diverse science-fiction universe.
The Portable Door, produced by The Jim Henson Company and released in 2023, was filmed in Brisbane.
The exhibition also acknowledges Babe, the Academy Award-winning Australian production whose memorable animal characters were brought to life through a combination of live-action filmmaking, animatronics, and visual effects involving the Creature Shop.
These connections make Brisbane an especially relevant location for the exhibition. The event is not simply importing an American entertainment history but connecting it with Australia’s own film-production landscape.
