Fans of the Muppets, Fraggles, Skeksis and other iconic Jim Henson creations have a unique chance to own a piece of film and television history this fall, when Julien’s Auctions presents The Jim Henson Company 70th Anniversary Auction. Kicking off November 25 at 10 a.m. PST in Los Angeles, the event will feature more than 400 lots of rare items that have never before been available on the market.
Over the course of its 70-year history, The Jim Henson Company has brought some of the most memorable characters and worlds to life with films and television shows such as The Muppet Movie, Fraggle Rock, Labyrinth, Farscape, The Hoobs, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and much more. This auction marks the first time ever that The Jim Henson Company has ever made officially authenticated items from their vast catalog of titles available to the public, including over 80 hand-made puppets. The gavel will also fly over official Henson props, costumes, set pieces and memorabilia.
Among the many notable pieces are original artworks by the late Caroll Spinney, best known as the puppeteer behind beloved Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch. Spinney originated these iconic characters on the first season of the long-running children’s program in 1969 and performed them for 49 years through 2018. In addition to puppeteering, Spinney also was an accomplished artist who illustrated books, sketched portraits and designed training aids for the Air Force. The auction presents nine original artworks by Spinney featuring Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert & Ernie, Elmo and others.
Fans can also pre-order the limited-edition, hardbound show catalog ($100) now through juliensauctions.com. The collectible catalog features an exclusive article by Karen Falk, Director of The Jim Henson Company’s Archives.
“With tens of thousands of items catalogued in The Jim Henson Company’s Archive from our 70-year history, it has been an exciting project to select the pieces that will be a part of this auction,” said Falk.
Register to bid at juliensauctions.com.
