When you Wish Upon a Frog (Book II of the Jim Henson at Disney saga)
- Thread starter Geekhis Khan
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Great story, my writer! Um, would you mind if I made an epub of this? Not for public use but just so I can add it to my story collection?
Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened..
An emotional end to a amazing journey of films and pop culture, all changed by one man.
Thank you for writing this bahamouth of a story that is so full of possibilities. Look forward to whatever you write next 🙂
An emotional end to a amazing journey of films and pop culture, all changed by one man.
Thank you for writing this bahamouth of a story that is so full of possibilities. Look forward to whatever you write next 🙂
Words cannot express how joyous this whole journey has been for me. Thank you for all your magic, my friend. ❤️👏💙Chapter 33: When Jim Henson left Disney (Cont’d)
Excerpt from In the Service of the Mouse: A Memoir, by Jack Lindquist
You can blame it all on me.
People still question the decision, given the magnitude of Jim’s legacy, but I stand by it even today.
It all started one late July day in 2000, not long after he announced his retirement plans to us, when I encountered Jim in Disneyland. He was staring long and hard at the bronze statue of Walt and Roy near the Castle. I surmised, incorrectly, what he was thinking.
“It will never be your face on that statue,” I told him, much as I’d told a thousand employees over the years, from new hires to retiring executives.
“Thank God for that,” Jim said with a smile.
After a few silent moments he asked me about Walt’s last years, and I told him, frankly, what Walt had said and done. I told him about Walt’s dreams for EPCOT – the true E.P.C.O.T., the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow – and how even as he lay dying in the hospital he spoke about his “tomorrow” plans, never quite willing to admit that there was any other alternative. I spoke of Walt’s legacy, and I spoke frankly about how Walt had told us “I am no longer Walt Disney” when the benevolent and timeless “Uncle Walt” public persona began to eclipse the all too human man behind it.
“When I die, I want to have my ashes scattered,” Jim told me, “Somewhere quiet and magical, far from the city.
“I don’t want to be Lenin,” he added.
At the time I took the comment as the most bizarre of non-sequiturs. From Walt’s statue to Jim’s funeral plans to…the father of Soviet Communism? Was this a weird corporate reference? He’d never spoken about politics before, at least not in such gross terms.
It was only later, while watching a special on the evolving Union of Sovereign States and its complicated post-Soviet legacy, that I got what he meant. When Lenin died, he was placed in a glass sarcophagus in a marble temple, like Sleeping Beauty, there to be observed and worshiped. They built a thousand statues in his likeness. When the Soviet Union fell, so did most of the statues.
No, Jim was saying to me that he didn’t want to become an icon. He didn’t want his name and face plastered on a hundred buildings. He didn’t want a huge bronze statue on a marble column. He wanted to go out the way that he lived: simply, joyously, and surrounded by friends.
When he retired, the Disney employees overwhelmingly wanted to mark Jim’s time at Disney in some big way, something to capture the magnitude of the impact that he’d had on the company. “Second only to Walt,” was the familiar mantra.
Some of the Imagineers drew up plans for a bronze statue of Jim, standing tall, perhaps standing by Walt, perhaps holding hands with Kermit. Others wanted a humbler statue, Jim with Kermit on his arm, seated nonchalantly on a bench in Muppetland.
I vetoed all of it. Jim, as I knew he would insist, got only a window on Main Street, just like everyone else.
It read, simply, “Jim Henson, Storyteller”.
(Image by @Denliner)
Life’s like a movie,
Write your own ending,
Keep Believing,
Keep Pretending
We did just what we set out to do……
Thanks to the Lovers,
The Dreamers,
And YOU.
- Finale to “The Rainbow Connection (reprise)” by Paul Williams
Fin
Thanks again, to all of you. To those who’ve been here from the first post and to those who have started after I submitted this last post, and to everyone in between, I couldn’t – and indeed wouldn’t – have done this without your continued support. Thank you all for the likes/loves, the suggestions, the comments, the corrections, the contributions, and simply the enjoyments that made this timeline remain a Work of Passion, not a Work of Effort for me.
And a massive Mount Rushmore-sized Hat Tip to you all!
One of the best timelines I've seen on this entire site, full of energy, positivity, and hope.
I'm very glad to have taken a part in it and will continue to keep this timeline going in some way since there is still so much to go through and create within this tiny little universe of ours.
Thanks for the magic, Geekhis!
I'm very glad to have taken a part in it and will continue to keep this timeline going in some way since there is still so much to go through and create within this tiny little universe of ours.
Thanks for the magic, Geekhis!
And that was it. Thank you again, all. It was a crazy three years and this is a bittersweet moment. On one hand, I have a sense of accomplishment and a small bit of relief that I managed to pull it off. Much like Frank Wells atop that mountain. On the other hand, it's sad to say goodbye to this TL, to Jim and Bernie and the rest, and to all of you, at least with this.
I'm working on an AH novel now, 4 chapters down, and will check with the mods on what I can or can't say here.
But seriously, thank you all. It was one hell of a fun ride.
And as i said to Platy, I appreciate all of your ideas and inputs and guest posts and look forward to whatever you do next, for this TL or on your own.
And a Hat Tip to @Ambit, who just binged the whole TL over the last few days! I'm glad that it's still bringing folks in.
I'm working on an AH novel now, 4 chapters down, and will check with the mods on what I can or can't say here.
But seriously, thank you all. It was one hell of a fun ride.
Long see no time, wow. No worries, just good to see you again.
Fashionably late is cool with me, vl. Glad to have you aboard.
Never obsess on the "if only". I've certainly seen moments where I'm like "I should have...", but that ship has sailed. It is what it is, and it's magnificent for it. I appreciate all of your ideas and inputs and guest posts and look forward to whatever you do next, for this TL or on your own.
Thank you for being here to make it possible.
Thanks MC M_C. I appreciate all the feedback over the years.
Thank you, and yes, "written in 2010", but the words are timeless.
And as i said to Platy, I appreciate all of your ideas and inputs and guest posts and look forward to whatever you do next, for this TL or on your own.
Thanks Kyle, glad to have you aboard.
Hasta la Vista would be more appropriate, as I won't completely banish. I may even drop an occasional Guest Post if an idea strikes me.
Mrs. Khan is from the Boston area. As long as you mean Wicked Awesome I'm Wicked Please to hear it.
Thanks, Your Imperial Majesty, I appreciate it.
Thank you, Ranger, I appreciate it.
And thank you for all that you added to the TL. Greatly appreciated.
Thank you, Count, for being here the whole time.
Thank you, and I'm trying.
TFoA, your contributions were great and greatly appreicated. Do what you want. You don't need to compare yourself to anyone but yourself. I'd be glad to see your next idea.
And thank you Damian. It was educational for me as well. I appreciate the input and the guest posts.
Thanks your Lordship. I appreciate the support and the input.
No issues, as long as you give it away for free. I made some pdfs of my Master Docs and will post a link for free download here at some point. Post a link to the epub here if you like.
Thanks KF. I appreciate the support!
Thanks BB, let me know how the experience differs the second time through.
Thanks WHC. I've appreciated your support and suggestions.
I'm glad for the help that you gave, DL. Literally all the way to the last post. The Parks and Resorts of this TL are more magical because of your input.
And a Hat Tip to @Ambit, who just binged the whole TL over the last few days! I'm glad that it's still bringing folks in.
Many thank @Geekhis Khan for this wonderful adventure. God bless you on the next one.
But yeah, thanks for creating this great TL @Geekhis Khan.
And maybe the whole "Fiction Zone" thing was cool.
Regardless, you did great.
Good luck on your future endeavors!
"Until We Meet Again, Stay Gold".
And maybe the whole "Fiction Zone" thing was cool.
Regardless, you did great.
Good luck on your future endeavors!
"Until We Meet Again, Stay Gold".
"To Introduce our Guest Star, that's What I'm Here to Do..." The Hensonverse Fan Contribution Thread
Hi-ho and Welcome Again to yet another Thread in the ever-expanding Madhouse that is the AH-dot-com Hensonverse. By Reader Request here is a Guest Contribution Thread. This is the place where works that go beyond the scope of the Jim Henson at Disney saga that began with A Hippie in the House of...
www.alternatehistory.com
A lovely goodbye there, and a fitting Send off for Jim from Disney, I think there would still be a lot of very positive rhetoric for Jim and calls for more, esp in later years, but immediately after- just a window is perfect.
Once again thank you @Geekhis Khan for everything, all the words, the wonder, then take-over tensions etc.
Wish you well on whatever you write next.
Once again thank you @Geekhis Khan for everything, all the words, the wonder, then take-over tensions etc.
Wish you well on whatever you write next.
Thanks for everything, the ideas, finally getting me to consider graphic design and stuff coursety of @ExowareMasses!
And even that one time where
Overall, it's been real.
And now I want to make a TL like this myself, granted, I already have one, but I want one where we could make bigger butterflies.
Okay, before I start saying too much.........
And even that one time where
threatened to kill the TL because people were posting random stuff
Overall, it's been real.
And now I want to make a TL like this myself, granted, I already have one, but I want one where we could make bigger butterflies.
Okay, before I start saying too much.........
This has been one wild ride. I'm glad to have been a part of it.
Thanks for everything, Geekhis.
Thanks for everything, Geekhis.
Yep.
How have you been?
I got some interesting stuff planned if you wanna hear them.
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