The Wider Worlds of Jim Henson

Written by	Jennifer Garlen and Anissa M. Graham, eds
Published	November 26, 2012
Publisher	McFarland
ISBN	978-0-7864-6986-4

The Wider Worlds of Jim Henson: Essays on His Work and Legacy Beyond The Muppet Show and Sesame Street is an academic anthology on various productions of Jim Henson (especially Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal), as well as legacy projects from the Jim Henson Company or The Muppets Studio‎ (including Dinosaurs, Farscape and the recent viral Muppet shorts and comeback movie).

The book is a follow-up to Kermit Culture, also edited by Jennifer Garlen and Anissa Graham.

The initial 2012 cover (a common publicity picture from Labyrinth) was altered due to complaints from The Jim Henson Company legal department, replaced with a generic, smiling, puppet-like globe.

Publisher's description

"Jim Henson was the creative force behind a huge catalog of television series, films, specials, and other productions, even excepting the Muppets. This collection of essays delves into the rest of Henson’s body of work, including projects developed during his lifetime and those that represent his legacy. Covered here are Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Jim Henson Hour, Dinosaurs, Farscape, and more. The breadth and depth of Henson’s influence on both audiences and later productions remains palpable on screens large and small, as this collection attests."

Table of Contents

original cover with previous working subtitle

Part One: Revisiting Fraggle Rock

• "Fraggle Rock and the Art of World Building" by Aaron Calbreath-Frasieur
• "Outer Spaces: Fraggle Rock Around the Globe" by Andrew Leal
• "No Sex, Please. We're Fraggles!" by Tami Meredith and Maryanne L. Fisher
• "The Ecology of Fraggle Rock" by Justin Werfel

Part Two: Inside the Worlds of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth

• "Interpreting the Various Species in The Dark Crystal and Fraggle Rock" by Gideon Haberkorn
• ""What was sundered and undone shall be whole": Union, Nature and Aughra in The Dark Crystal" by Roxanne Harde
• "A Natural History of The Dark Crystal: The Conceptual Design of Brian Froud" by Catriona McAra
• "Finding Your Way Through Labyrinth" by Tom Holste
• "Anti-Consumerism in Labyrinth" by David R. Burns and Deborah Burns

Part Three: Storytellers and Specials

• "Everyone's a Storyteller: The Shifting Roles of Stories, Storytellers and Audiences in The Jim Henson Hour" by Anthony F. Strand
• "There Is No One Story" by Nathaniel Long
• "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: The Gift of the Muppets" by Catherine Edwards
• "Telling Toy Stories in The Christmas Toy" by Jennifer C. Garlen and Anissa M. Graham

Part Four: Journeys Forward and Back

• "The Muppetry of Nightmares: Figures of Fear, Danger and Terror in The Cosby Show, Chappelle's Show and Saturday Night Live" by Michael J. Bernstein
• "Dinosaurs and the Evolution of the Jim Henson Company" by Jennifer Stoessner
• "Exploring the Alien Other on Farscape: Human, Puppet, Costume, Cosmetic" by Sherry Ginn
• "Muppet Memes, or Beaker Conquers YouTube" by Anissa M. Graham
• "Fandom and Nostalgia in Disney's The Muppets" by Jennifer C. Garlen