Jim Henson 'Fixed' E.T. For Steven Spielberg
The late, great Jim Henson's impact on television cannot be understated. Obviously, "Sesame Street" was a trailblazer for children's programming. Using Henson's googly-eyed puppets, the PBS series educated kids about everything from math to the different cultures of the world and the circle of life itself. Henson's "Fraggle Rock" was no less ambitious; beneath the boisterous songs and the rowdy Fraggles' shenanigans was a radical peacenik series Henson hoped would "change the world and stop war."
"Muppet Babies," an animated show featuring Henson's Muppets as pint-sized toddlers in a nursery, set its sights nearly as high. At first, Henson was hesitant to collaborate on the series with Marvel Productions, worrying the studio's children's cartoons based on known properties in the 1970s and early '80s lacked the depth of his previous TV ventures. In time, though, it was the very challenge of producing a cartoon that held to the themes of creativity and imagination from Henson's past work that inspired him to board the project. (For a much deeper dive into the show, I highly recommend Defunctland's video on the topic.)
Throughout its eight-season run from 1984 to 1991, the original "Muppet Babies" would use clips from films like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the "Star Wars" movies in the sequences where the Muppets imagined themselves going on grand adventures. Speaking at the 2023 L.A. Comic Con (via Deadline), Guy Gilchrist — a lead creative on several Jim Henson projects, earning him the nickname "Jim Henson's Cartoonist" — recalled the tight-knit relationship between Henson, "Star Wars"/Indiana Jones creator George Lucas, and "Raiders" director Steven Spielberg.
Lucas and Spielberg were on such good terms with Henson that they would even turn to him for help — like when Spielberg needed an assist with a malfunctioning E.T. animatronic on "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."
E.T. phone Henson
Lucas famously executive produced the Henson-directed cult 1986 fantasy musical "Labyrinth," though that "was not their first collaboration," Gilchrist noted. If anything, Lucas (and, as it turns out, Spielberg) owed Henson after the puppet extraordinaire saved his keister during production on the original "Star Wars" trilogy:
"Their first collaboration was [...] they were across the street from each other. Jim was filming The Muppets and George was doing 'Star Wars' across the street. Yoda didn't work, so Jim, [Yoda puppeteer] Frank [Oz], and [longtime Henson puppet performer] Kathy Mullen fixed Yoda. Then, Steven Spielberg was also a very dear friend of Jim's, and Jim fixed E.T. because E.T. didn't work."
The E.T. animatronic was fairly sophisticated, so it's little wonder it required some tinkering from an expert in that field like Henson. One need look no further than "E.T." itself for concrete proof that Spielberg thought highly of Henson, between the scene where Gertie (Drew Barrymore) is watching an episode of "Sesame Street" on television (see the above image) and the Muppet dolls that can be spotted in her family's toy closet. "Muppet Babies" would eventually return the favor, incorporating a clip from "E.T." into its eighth episode, "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?"
"Back in those days, everyone loved us. They loved Jim — would do anything for us," said Gilchrist, explaining how "Muppet Babies" was able to get around using material from properties owned by different corporations during its run. Unfortunately, as he observed, this has created massive complications in the present day, which is the reason the show isn't currently streaming on Disey+ or anywhere else (legally, that is). Be that as it may, Henson's influence on television as a medium continues to make itself felt to this day.