Jim Henson's never-released screenplay is turned into a graphic novel
Muppet creator Jim Henson鈥檚 first screenplay 鈥� reconfigured as a graphic novel 鈥� is being released today for the first time.
Titled 鈥淭ale of Sand,鈥� the story of a man being pursued through the desert with a backpack full of mysterious objects was written by Henson and writer Jerry Juhl, with whom Henson often worked, during the 1950s.
鈥淚 want people to learn about [Jim] as an artist,鈥� Lisa Henson, the chief executive of The Jim Henson Company and Henson鈥檚 oldest child, told The Wall Street Journal. 鈥淩eleasing a book [as a graphic novel] is a new way of getting to know him.鈥澛�
Lisa Henson that her father鈥檚 75th birthday this past September and the financial and critical success of the new film 鈥淭he Muppets鈥� have prompted even more curiosity about unreleased work by Henson, who died in 1990.聽
The 鈥淭ale of Sand鈥� story is the only screenplay written by Henson that has not been produced. In addition to taking on the writing duties with several others for 鈥淭he Muppet Show,鈥� Henson wrote for the children鈥檚 television show 鈥�Sesame Street鈥� for 21 years. He is credited with working on the story for other films featuring his puppets, including the 1986 David Bowie film 鈥�Labyrinth鈥� and the 1982 fantasy film 鈥�The Dark Crystal.鈥�
The graphic novel transformation of 鈥淭ale of Sand鈥� was completed by Archaia Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company. The first printing of the graphic novel will release 15,000 copies.
Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.
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