Jim Formanek, a longtime Director of Consumer Products at the Jim Henson Company, died last week at the age of 50.
Formanek began working at the Jim Henson Company in 2000 in an administrative capacity, and eventually became the head of the consumer products division for more than fifteen years. Per the official press release from Henson, Formanek worked on “products, publishing, collectibles, and clothing for beloved brands like Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth.” We have him to thank for all the Henson comics, toys, and t-shirts we’ve read, played with, and worn in recent years. The press release quotes Formanek as describing his own work at the company as “I make toys and read comic books for a living. Basically, I am Tom Hanks in the movie Big.”
For more information on Jim Formanek’s life and work, you can read the Jim Henson Company press release here, or his Legacy.com obituary here.
Click here to remember Jim Formanek on the Tough Pigs forum.
by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
