I had a knack at a young age to pick out names from TV credits. Since their titles were always at the top of the Muppet Show end credits, I simply knew that the Jim Henson and Frank Oz names had to be a big part in the making of these shows that I loved so much.

I remember my mom pointing out to me who Jim was at the end of the Muppet Christmas special as he played out his cameo washing dishes in the kitchen. That was the first time I could place a face to the legendary name that was ‘Jim Henson’, and from that point I knew exactly who he was, it made a lot of sense to me.

I was instantly sad when my mother told me, and I remember the short Entertainment Tonight special on him that night. I recall thinking that I’d never see Kermit & Ernie again, at least never see new performances from those characters. Then was appalled at the thought of anyone else performing those characters & voices, but later realized that those characters would never pass away as long as there was an excellent puppeteer ready to take on the task.

I was only 14 when he passed but I’ll never forget how I felt. Like the news of a distant relative had just passed away. I didn’t know how much of a major influence Jim’s work had on me until I got into animation, and found myself studying puppetry in order to improve my character acting within the craft of hand-drawn cartoon animation. As the internet was really beginning to grow in the late 90s, I found myself researching Muppet websites and information, at first just for pure nostalgic effect.

8 Years ago was my first time wandering through the Ebay website, I believe the third item I ever searched for was “Muppet”. I was always obsessed about finding or creating my own muppet characters, and had finally found a way to discover them. Ironically I have 12 puppets of my own now, none of them are actual vintage muppets, and Ididn’t get any of them from Ebay. But as I searched around I found many small puppet-making and puppet performing communities online, and eventually designed my own characters and found craftsman to build my puppets for me.

As I think back on my childhood, I loved the Muppet Show and Sesame Street soooo much… I simply assumed as a child and teenager that I would never have the opportunity to play around with a puppet. Little did I know that technology would make it very simple for me to get into it as a hobby, with the ease and inexpensive nature of digital video cameras and the internet; many puppet makers and performers are connected across the world thanks to YouTube and various Puppet Forums and sites like this one. This very easy way of sharing information and knowledge, and the love of all things Muppet related make it so simple for anyone to become a fan, to pursue their dreams and become a independent puppet film maker.

I will always have Jim to thank, he still sparks creativity within me, even after all these years.

-Ron