(Washington, DC) – The late Jim Henson and The Jim Henson Company have received the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s (CPB) 2009 Fred Rogers Award. CPB created the Fred Rogers Award in 2001 to honor an individual or organization that, like Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, has contributed to excellence in children’s educational media.
Jim Henson was an extraordinary artist and visionary. A true television pioneer, he was an innovator in puppetry and the creator of some of television’s most memorable and beloved characters. The family of characters Henson created for Sesame Street forty years ago – Bert and Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster, Kermit, Big Bird and many others – continues to entertain and educate today.
In 1975, he launched The Muppet Show, an international hit, which led to six feature films. During the 1980s, Henson brought two original fantasy films to the big screen, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. In recent years, under the stewardship of its founder’s adult children, The Jim Henson Company has continued to create entertaining curriculum-based programs like Sid the Science Kid, currently airing on PBS KIDS®, Pajanimals, currently airing on Sprout®, and Dinosaur Train, currently in production for PBS KIDS.
“Similar to Fred Rogers, Jim Henson had the unique ability to both entertain and educate children,” said Pat Harrison, president and CEO of CPB. “We congratulate the Henson family for honoring Jim’s legacy by creating new and exciting children’s content which will live on for generations.”
Accepting the Fred Rogers Award, Lisa Henson, Co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company, said “My father truly believed that television can be used for good and can have a positive impact on the lives of children. At The Jim Henson Company, we honor his legacy by embracing this belief and striving to serve our audience with intelligent, entertaining programs like Sid the Science Kid, that can inspire children to develop an enduring love of learning.”
“Few people have had such a profound influence on the hearts and minds of children and adults, as Jim Henson and The Jim Henson Company,” said Beth Courtney, vice chair of the CPB board of directors and president and CEO of Louisiana Public Broadcasting, who presented the award to Lisa Henson. “Public broadcasting is grateful that this remarkable man and his company have made public broadcasting their home.”
About CPB:
CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 and is steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of more than 1,100 locally-owned and -operated public television and radio stations nationwide, and is the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television and related online services
About The Jim Henson Company
The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets (the rights to which are now owned by The Walt Disney Company), Henson is the recipient of over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include “Sid the Science Kid, now airing on PBS KIDS and “Pajanimals”, currently seen on Sprout. Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and the recently released direct to DVD “Unstable Fables.” Television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.” With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state of the art and vintage equipment. The Company is currently in production on 40 episodes of “Dinosaur Train,” an animated preschool series teaching concepts of natural science, natural history and paleontology, set to debut on PBS KIDS in fall 2009. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand continues to produce “Puppet Up! – Uncensored,” a live puppet improvisational show that runs monthly at the Avalon Hollywood. The Company has also announced the creation of Jim Henson Designs, a merchandise collection inspired by Jim Henson’s earliest sketches, and The Jim Henson Company: Discoveries, an acquisitions banner that celebrates outstanding third party produced independent film, television and video productions from around the globe embodying the Company’s enduring legacy.www.henson.com
Contact:
Louise Filkins (202)879-9759
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The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy® nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”
With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. Independently owned and operated by the five adult children of founder Jim Henson, the Company is also home to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry’s top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment. The Company’s Henson Alternative brand has recently launched the national tour of “Stuffed and Unstrung,” a live puppet improvisational show named one of the top 10 “Best Stage Shows of 2010” by Entertainment Weekly.
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