If I’m doing the math right, my generation was possibly the first to have Sesame Street as a part of everyday life.  If we didn’t know it then, we certainly didn’t make it to adulthood without knowing who Jim Henson was. After enjoying the thorough documentary Jim Henson Idea Man, I’m still not sure we know him, but we certainly have a better idea of what made him tick. I think some geniuses are never fully knowable.

It’s hard to think of a better director than Ron Howard to tell his story. Howard, a Renaissance man, has proven himself just as skilled a documentarian as a feature filmmaker. Howard has his hands on some great archival footage, and using Henson’s 5 adult children and beloved colleagues, weaves a biography that starts with Henson’s childhood, then on to local TV and, finally, a worldwide empire, all before his premature death at the age of fifty-three.

For a man who may have literally worked himself to death, the film makes clear that he never reached the outer edges of his own imagination. Always striving for art and artistic integrity, Henson was never just a puppeteer. That was my biggest takeaway; the man was, first and foremost, an artist.

It was also nice to hear from Frank Oz, Henson’s longtime creative partner and the voice of Miss Piggy, Grover, and Bert, to name a few.

The doc features new interviews that breathe fresh life into a story that the participants have surely told their whole lives, and there are never-before-seen materials from his personal archives–including home movies, photographs, sketches, and diaries.

Jim Henson Idea Man is currently airing on Disney+