Jim Henson's Creature Shop


Jim Henson's Creature Shop is an American animation and special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based in Hollywood, California, United States.

History

Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally created as a partnership with British illustrator Brian Froud to facilitate the production of The Dark Crystal. Originally located in Hampstead, London, it received its name in order to differentiate it from Jim Henson's original puppet workshop in New York City. It was then used for future productions such as Labyrinth and The StoryTeller.
It was relocated to Camden Town following Henson's death in 1990 and his son, Brian Henson, took it over. A third location in Burbank, California opened to serve Hollywood, and one of its first projects was the Dinosaurs television series. Its main animatronic supervisor is London native David Barrington-Holt.
Since The Jim Henson Company sold off the rights to The Muppets brand to Disney in 2004; the Muppet Workshop in New York is now credited as Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In the modern day, the New York shop specializes in hand puppets, including building The Muppets and most of the puppets in Sesame Street. The Los Angeles branch creates more realistic animatronic creatures and creature suits.
The location at Camden Town, London closed in Spring 2005, and was converted into a luxury apartment known as The Henson.
In addition to practical effects, the shop also specializes in "digital puppetry", a form of computer animation that controls a digital avatar using manual puppet controls to animate them more quickly and easily than if it was entirely digital. This is known as the "Henson Digital Puppetry Studio" and is used extensively in television, including the entirety of the series Sid the Science Kid.
Besides films, the Creature Shop has created costumes for live events and theme park appearances. They created a realistic Smilodon "full-suit puppet" for a show at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, which cost more than $100,000. Some of their other costumes include the Polar Bear for Coca-Cola, Tony the Tiger, Shrek, Tommy and Chuckie from Rugrats, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy’s. They also create Deadmau5' "mau5heads" for his media appearances and live performances.

Selected filmography

  • Sesame Street
  • The Dark Crystal
  • Dreamchild
  • Labyrinth
  • The StoryTeller
  • The Bear
  • Lighthouse Island
  • Monster Maker
  • The Ghost of Faffner Hall
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • The Witches
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
  • Dinosaurs
  • The Polar Bear King
  • Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol
  • Wolf It
  • The Neverending Story III
  • The Flintstones
  • Babe
  • Cutthroat Island
  • The Indian in the Cupboard
  • 101 Dalmatians
  • Gulliver's Travels
  • The English Patient
  • Muppet Treasure Island
  • The Phantom
  • Samson and Delilah
  • Buddy
  • George of the Jungle
  • The Odyssey
  • Lost in Space
  • Dr. Dolittle
  • Jack Frost
  • Alice In Wonderland
  • Animal Farm
  • My Favorite Martian
  • The Talented Mr. Ripley
  • Farscape
  • Mission to Mars
  • The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas
  • Rat
  • Brotherhood of the Wolf
  • Cats & Dogs
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
  • Gosford Park
  • Snow Dogs
  • Stuart Little 2
  • The Master of Disguise
  • The Country Bears
  • Looney Tunes: Back in Action
  • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life
  • Around the World in 80 Days
  • Five Children and It
  • Pride
  • Are We There Yet?
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
  • Batman Begins
  • Mee-Shee: The Water Giant
  • The Producers
  • The Darjeeling Limited
  • Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  • The Hangover
  • Where the Wild Things Are
  • The Muppets
  • Rick And Morty
  • Muppets Most Wanted
  • Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge
  • Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures
  • Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever
  • Turkey Hollow
  • The Jungle Book
  • The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
  • Earth to Ned
  • Come Play Solar Opposites
  • Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time
  • Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock
  • Five Nights at Freddy's
  • ''Five Nights at Freddy's 2''

    Other

  • Frosted Flakes
  • Snuggle
  • LendingTree
  • Hamburger Helper
  • The Joy of Music
  • Rascal
  • ''Ghosts''

    Jim Henson Alternative

  • Puppet Up! - Uncensored
  • 53rd Annual Grammy Awards
  • Nintendo Digital Event @ E3 2015
  • The Happytime Murders
  • Coldplay's Music of the Spheres "Biutyful" music video