美国国家公共电台 NPR Big Bird, Bowie And Muppets: Museum Of Moving Image Honors Jim Henson

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The late Jim Henson is the subject of a new permanent exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. Henson created the Muppets. And unlike some other collections devoted¹ to his work, this one makes the case for Henson as a television and film visionary. Rick Karr reports.

RICK KARR, BYLINE²: Jim Henson literally³ grew up with television. He was 10 years old when the first stations went on the air in the Washington D.C. area. He called the moment when his parents bought the first TV for the family's suburban⁴ home the biggest event of his adolescence⁵. He adored Ernie Kovacs and "Kukla, Fran and Ollie." Museum of the Moving Image curator Barbara Miller⁶ says Henson was determined⁷ to get involved.

BARBARA MILLER: Henson was on TV in 1955, right? The medium - it wasn't in its infancy⁸ necessarily, but it was very young.

KARR: So was Henson. He was just 18 when he landed his own show on Washington's NBC station. "Sam And Friends" gave him five minutes of air time twice every weekday.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SAM AND FRIENDS")

JIM HENSON: (As Chester) Marshall Dilly, Marshall Dilly...

(As Marshall Dilly) Who's there?

(As Chester) Just me, Chester. Why, Marshall Dilly, what in the world are you doing under the desk?

(As Marshall Dilly) I was tying my shoelaces. Did you hear shooting just now?

KARR: It also gave Henson the opportunity to absorb as much knowledge as he possibly could.

MILLER: It wasn't about being a star. It wasn't about being on TV. It was really, really wanting to understand the medium. How is it made? How is it shot? He was sort of all-in as far as TV goes.

KARR: Miller says that knowledge let Henson pay the bills by making commercials. Today, many of them could pass for outtakes from "The Muppet Show," which wouldn't come along for more than a decade. But even back then, Henson was calling his creations Muppets. He made a series of spots featuring two, one named Wilkins, who touted⁹ the eponymous brand of instant coffee, and another named Wontkins, who didn't like the coffee and usually suffered as a result.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HENSON: (As Wilkins) Have a cup of Wilkins instant coffee.

(As Wontkins) Wild horses couldn't make me.

(SOUNDBITE OF HORSES GALLOPING)

HENSON: (As Wontkins) OK, OK, give me a cup.

KARR: At the same time, Henson began to think of himself as an experimental filmmaker. In 1966, his film "Time Piece" was nominated for an Oscar for best live-action short. A year later, he brought his experimental impulses to a live-action commercial for the pain reliever Bufferin.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HENSON: You know, I've got stacks of old memories filed inside my head. Would you like to see some? Over here, I keep childhood memories.

KARR: Images flash past in and out of focus, and the camera moves through black space filled with stylized neurons that look like shredded¹⁰ curtains from a haunted house.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HENSON: Wait a second. What's this? Oh, yeah, I had a headache that day. Isn't it strange what a headache can do to a beautiful day?

KARR: Cartoon music and synthesizer pioneer Raymond Scott composed the score.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HENSON: Fast-working Bufferin, remember?

KARR: Hensen voiced the ad which is on view at the museum, where totally by chance I ran into one of his collaborators who was there to check out the show.

DAVE GOELZ: I was in Silicon¹¹ Valley as an industrial designer, designing time and frequency counters. And I happened to accidentally watch "Sesame Street" one day, and I was just captivated.

KARR: Dave Goelz says two things struck him as so brilliant he had to be part of what Henson and his colleagues were doing - first, the design of the characters.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")

HENSON: (As Ernie) Hey, Bert.

FRANK OZ: (As Bert) Hey, Ern.

HENSON: (As Ernie) Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a big favor.

KARR: Take Bert and Ernie.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")

HENSON: (As Ernie) You see, I was just trying to imagine what people look like when they're angry, you know?

GOELZ: Ernie is the funny, relaxed one. He wears horizontal stripes which are at rest and peaceful. He has low contrast between his skin and hair. And Bert - upright, not at rest, vertical¹² stripes, high contrast, monobrow cutting the tops of his eyeballs off.

KARR: Goelz says the other thing that was obvious before he even joined was that there was a fantastic collaborative team behind the Muppets.

GOELZ: And I knew that everybody who had been involved in it was working in concert. And so I asked myself the next question, who are these guys? Who does this?

KARR: Goelz gave up his steady gig with Hewlett-Packard and moved to New York to find out. He wound up creating. Manipulating and voicing a whole slew¹³ of Muppets.

GOELZ: Gonzo, Zoot the sax player, Bunsen Honeydew the scientist, Beauregard the janitor¹⁴, Waldorf, one of the old men in the box.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")

GOELZ: (As Waldorf) Now that's talent - an opera singer who tap dances and sings cowboy songs.

(LAUGHTER)

GOELZ: (As Waldorf) I wonder if there's anything she isn't good at.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Statler) Yes, choosing what show to be on.

(LAUGHTER)

KARR: Dave Goelz says that even after four decades of working with Jim Henson and carrying on his legacy¹⁵, some of the bits the Muppets creator produced still crack him up. For NPR News, I'm Rick Karr in a Astoria, Queens.

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 adolescence   

n.青春期，青少年

参考例句：

• Adolescence is the process of going from childhood to maturity.青春期是从少年到成年的过渡期。
• The film is about the trials and tribulations of adolescence.这部电影讲述了青春期的麻烦和苦恼。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

9 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

10 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

12 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

13 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

14 janitor   

n.看门人，管门人

参考例句：

• The janitor wiped on the windows with his rags.看门人用褴褛的衣服擦着窗户。
• The janitor swept the floors and locked up the building every night.那个看门人每天晚上负责打扫大楼的地板和锁门。

15 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。