For Jim

In late July of 2011, on one of the few days off I had, I found myself channel surfing. My husband was at work and I had made plans to visit friends later in the evening. To my delight, Labyrinth starring David Bowie was on some cable channel. I hadn’t seen it in a while and it was half over, so I indulged. 

I never really cared too much for the film. It wasn’t one of the better ones that Jim Henson had done, but I left it one to fill in the silence of the room.  After it, the same channel played The Great Muppet Caper. Now that’s what I’m talking about! It was my favorite of the Muppet movies. I loved it when I was 3 and I still love it 25 years later.

As the movie progressed, there was something I became very curious of: What ever happened to the Happiness Hotel Double Decker Bus? Little did I know that question would alter my evening so quickly.

When anyone has a question of obscurity, the first place you look is of course the internet. Wikipedia was not much help in the answer, but it did give me a lot of information. Information that maybe I knew once, maybe I had forgotten, maybe I didn’t want to remember.

Jim Henson had directed several Muppet Movies before his passing; The Muppet Movie, Caper, The Dark Crystal. Jim was responsible for Frank Oz becoming the voice of Yoda after talking with George Lucas. Jim even made sure that his legacy would live on through his children taking over voice talents and management of the Creature Studio.  But then it hit me: How did Jim Henson pass?

The internet is a funny thing. You spend about ten minutes a day looking for answers to a question that is so simple, but you find so much more.  Jim developed a sudden case of the flu. It seemed ordinary. After a few days, he started to cough up blood and it wasn’t until 6 hours later he went to the hospital for treatment. He died of a collapsed lung and complications of influenza with his wife holding his hand.

As I read the article, The Great Muppet Caper continued to play on. At this point, the Muppets were singing “Couldn’t We Ride” as a young Brian Henson pulled the trail on peddling Muppets with his tricycle (if you watch the last few frames, you can even see him at the front of the line).  I sobbed for a good hour while reading about Jim’s last hours and it made me feel so grateful that I lived in a time when I could appreciate his art and life.

I eventually made it to my friends’ house a few hours later. I never brought up how emotional I was earlier that evening nor did I intend to. I guess I will never know what happened to the Double Decker from the Happiness Hotel. I just hope its driver is waiting too, for his friends to move right along with him.