Brian Henson interview: How The Happytime Murders revives the darker side of the Muppets
Summary
“And I particularly enjoyed what they would do when the cameras weren’t running, when they were goofing around off-camera and it got quite blue and quite off-colour – and, hilariously funny, in my opinion.” In Brian’s eyes, his new film, The Happytime Murders, builds on those memories. The show was a huge hit, while his “Land of Gortch” sketches on Saturday Night Live failed to reassert his original voice – the SNL writers were tasked with writing the jokes, but reviled seeing their work performed by felt. However, Brian continued to contribute to The Jim Henson Company (he operated Hoggle in 1986’s Labyrinth) and, when his father died in 1990, he was named President, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of the business. Although he admits to initially being “truly terrified” at how audiences would react to creatures so reminiscent of his father’s creations, he found that, in fact, “everyone really enjoyed it, and were delighted by it, and thought it was wonderful”. “And we found a way to do it that we thought was really funny and really delightful, so off of that show I decided that I wanted to do something scripted in this vain.” Out of that desire, Henson Alternative was born, the banner under which The Happytime Murders was produced.
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