Jim Henson’s beloved, multi-generational treasure “The Muppets” may seem like the ultimate in throwback entertainment — but its creator would be jumping at the chance to work in the trendy virtual and augmented reality space if he were alive today.
Or that’s how Frank Oz tells it, the documentary filmmaker of the SXSW breakout “Muppet Guys Talking” — a candid oral history of the early Muppet days from the puppeteers themselves.
“He would have loved it, he would have jumped on it,” Oz said during a recent sit-down at the Austin, Texas festival.
“What people don’t understand is that he was so smart about television — and computers were just clicking in at that time,” Oz said of Henson’s beginning.
“He was way ahead of it. He would have been continuing to perform … but another aspect would be all the computer graphics and everything that’s going on right now,” Oz continued.
After delighting generations of children, Henson died in May 1990 at age 53.
Watch the full interview with Oz above.