Henson family triggers Muppet outbreak at The Strong

The family of puppet giant — how’s that for an oxymoron? — Jim Henson has donated 540 Muppet-inspired toys and products and 60 books to The Strong National Museum of Play for the "Muppets, Fraggles, and Beyond: The Jim Henson Collection" exhibition, opening at the downtown Rochester museum on April 8.

“It was the donation of more than 600 items that inspired us to want to show it off,” said Chris Bensch, vice president for collections and chief curator. The toys were previously housed at The Jim Henson Legacy warehouse in New York City, which is not open to the public. “They have been sharing their collection with a variety of institutions, making it accessible to people,” Bensch said. “It is a nice enhancement to our collection.”

The items reflect Henson’s 30-year career of creating the frumpy-looking casts for TV shows and films such as Sesame Street, Dinosaurs, Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The Muppet Show.

“One of the things I was struck by as I was going through the collection were some of the international items,” Bensch said. “Toys from Italy and other countries. There seems to have been a particular craze for Kermit the Frog in Japan.” Bensch speculates that interest is similar to Japan’s Hello Kitty fascination and “that cuteness appeal.”

“My parents had four young children at home when they started working on Sesame Street,” Cheryl Henson, also president of The Jim Henson Foundation, said in The Strong’s press release announcing the donation She was also a member of The Strong’s National Selection Committee for a while. “They knew the power of play firsthand,” she said. “Toys that inspire creative play were important to them as parents as well as artists.”

Henson’s puppets were first seen by a national audience with the 1969 debut of the children’s show Sesame Street, whose cast included some of Henson’s most iconic characters: Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster and Big Bird. Henson is included in the Toy Industry Association’s Toy Industry Hall of Fame at The Strong.

Henson died in 1990, but his characters have continued to breed a seemingly ceaseless line of toys that will be reflected in the new collection, including coloring books, activity books, board games, card games, video games, stuffed animals, puppets, jigsaw puzzles, play sets, alarm clocks, household decorations and cassette tapes.

Only 75 to 100 of the toys will be on display in three cases on the first floor of the museum, although all of the items will be shown on the o-line catalog of 65,000 toys. "Muppets, Fraggles, and Beyond: The Jim Henson Collection" will run through July 5.

JSPEVAK@Gannett.com