Children’s author, illustrator, and visionary Maurice Sendak has passed away at the age of 83.
While most of us will remember Sendak for his unforgettable works like “Where the Wild Things Are”, “In the Night Kitchen”, and dozens of other picture books that took us out of our imaginations and into other worlds.
Sound like anyone you know? It’s no coincidence that he and Jim Henson shared so many of the same sentiments and philosophies. The Muppets had their fair share of inspiration from Sendak, and even invited Sendak into their world on multiple occasions. Among their crossovers:
- Jim Henson quoted Sendak in his short film, Youth ’68.
- Sendak served as a member of the National Board of Advisors for the Children’s Television Workshop in their early years.
- Bob read “Where the Wild Things Are” in Sesame Street‘s test pilot.
- Sendak provided several animated shorts for Sesame Street, which featured the voice talents of Jim Henson: “Bumble-Ardy” (which Sendak published as a book just this past fall), “Seven Monsters”, “Up & Down”, and “Broom Adventures”.
- In 1980, Maurice Sendak, Jim Henson, and Jon Stone began talks to produce a film called The Varied Adventures of Mischievous Miles. The film never made it off the ground.
- “Where the Wild Things Are” appears in Sarah’s bedroom in Labyrinth, and Sendak is thanked in the credits.
- Sendak is interviewed in the Jim Henson documentary, The World of Jim Henson.
- Jim Henson’s Creature Shop provided the puppetry for the film version of Where the Wild Things Are.
- And although this hasn’t been explicitly stated anywhere, I suspect that Doglion was created as an homage to Sendak’s creations from “Where the Wild Things Are”.
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
