The Muppets Take Michigan- YAY!

The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited is coming to the Henry Ford Museum. Get a look behind the scenes and see how your favorite Muppets come to life.

It's time to play the music. It's time to light the lights. It's time to meet the Muppets...in Michigan. The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn will host a special Jim Henson exhibit for three months this summer. Jim Henson was the beloved creator of the Muppets we all grew up with: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and countless others. Before Statler and Waldorf were trolling the performers from the balcony each week on the television show, Jim Henson's company created Big Bird, Oscar and other friendly non-human residents of Sesame Street. Laster, Jim Henson's Creature Shop would create the denizens of the films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth and the Doozers, Gorgs and other citizens of Fraggle Rock.

Quick aside: The name "muppet" is not a portmanteau of "marionette" and "puppet." Jim Henson had told the story that way, but later recanted, admitting they just made the word up.

This interactive Muppet exhibit showcases 100+ artifacts, with 25 original puppets, film and television clips with behind-the-scenes footage, character sketches, storyboards, costumes and photographs from a number of different projects and an interactive puppeteering experience. If you never seem to get to the East side of the state, mark down September 17, 2021, when the traveling exhibit comes to Grand Rapids Art Museum.