In June 1965, 28-year-old Jim Henson started a written log of his activities in what became known as “The Red Book.” He noted down what had happened up until that point (deemed “Ancient History”) and then recorded anything that he felt was worth recording as single line journal entries until the end of 1988.

Selected curated entries courtesy of The Jim Henson Company Archives.

7/12/1982 – ‘Preview Dark Crystal in Detroit – a bit better.’

Posted on July 12, 2013 by admin

The first time Jim showed his first cut of The Dark Crystal to a test audience, they were less than enthusiastic about the film. As Jim reshaped and edited his masterwork over the summer and fall of 1982, audiences began to react more positively (“a bit better,” as Jim noted.) The film opened in December to mixed reviews but its popularity as a fantasy classic and technical wonder has grown tremendously over the last thirty years.