Tale of Sand is a dark existential screenplay originally written in 1967 by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl. Henson came up with the idea in the mid to late 1950s and worked with Juhl in scripting the feature-length screenplay throughout the late '60s and early '70s. Tale of Sand married the visuals of Henson's Time Piece with the ideas of The Cube. Due to the scope and strangeness of the screenplay, Henson was never able to produce it as a film.
Plot
The protagonist of Tale of Sand is a young man named Mac who is involved in a race across an expansive desert with only a rucksack full of odds-and-ends to his name. Meanwhile, he is being chased by a mysterious eyepatched man known as "Patch".
Graphic novel
Written by | Jim Henson Jerry Juhl |
Illustrator | Ramon Perez |
Published | January 31, 2012 |
Publisher | Archaia Entertainment |
ISBN | 1936393093 |
In January 2012, the Jim Henson Company's comic book partner, Archaia Entertainment, published a graphic novel version of Henson and Juhl's script with art by Ramรณn Pรฉrez. Lisa Henson supervised the production process, working with Archaia editor-in-chief Stephen Christy.
Free Comic Book Day preview
A preview of the comic was released Archaia's 2011 Free Comic Book Day issue (also featuring The Dark Crystal) available on May 7, 2011.
Development
- - Lisa Henson[1]
- -Stephen Christy (Archaia, editor in chief) [2]
"The Original Screenplay" book
Written by | Jim Henson Jerry Juhl |
Illustrator | Ramon Perez |
Published | December 11, 2012 |
Publisher | Archaia Entertainment |
ISBN | 1936393832 |
Template:Dev2 A reproduction of Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl's original screenplay will be released by Archaia as a companion piece to the graphic novel. "Jim Henson's Tale of Sand: The Original Screenplay" is planned for release in December 2012.
Additional information
- The font used throughout the graphic novel was created from Jim Henson's handwriting.
- Some motifs in the screenplay were later seen in The Muppet Movie, including the desert scenes and the final showdown. Additionally, in an homage to The Muppet Movie, the graphic novel features a horse skeleton in the ghost town.
- Caricatures of Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl both make cameos in the graphic novel.[3]
Notes
- โ It should be noted that Time Piece was in fact only nominated for an Academy Award (in the "Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects" category), but didn't win.
Sources
- โ Mahadeo, Kevin. "Archaia Tells Henson's Tale of Sand", Comic Book Resources. August 4, 2010.
- โ Connelly, Brendon. "Jim Henson-Scripted Comic โ Exclusive Details", BleedingCool.com. July 30, 2010.
- โ Comic Con 2011 coverage, Tough Pigs. October 22, 2011.