{"id":2430979,"date":"2026-05-25T04:25:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2430979"},"modified":"2026-05-25T04:25:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T04:25:42","slug":"jim-hensons-creature-shop-opens-for-tours-heres-whats-inside-the-once-hidden-puppet-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/jim-hensons-creature-shop-opens-for-tours-heres-whats-inside-the-once-hidden-puppet-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Henson’s Creature Shop opens for tours. Here’s what’s inside the once-hidden puppet studio"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 Deep in a cavernous New York City warehouse, the artisans behind some of the world\u2019s most beloved children\u2019s characters have been fashioning costumes and puppets for years in relative anonymity. <\/p>\n

Now Jim Henson’s<\/a> Creature Shop, the workshop founded by the legendary creator of the Muppets, is drawing back the curtain.<\/p>\n

This year, the company opened the doors of its Queens workshop to public tours for the first time, allowing fans to meet a puppet builder, see a puppetry demonstration and take photos and videos with beloved and iconic characters.<\/p>\n

Jason Weber, the shop\u2019s creative supervisor, said the tours, which cost $150 a person, are an opportunity to celebrate the unsung craftspeople that bring these famous characters<\/a> to life. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a level of expertise here that we\u2019re sharing. It\u2019s not just going to a pop-up store or something like that,\u201d he said during a recent visit. \u201cThings are made one-of-a-kind, made by hand with artisans who have been trained for years and decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Kermit, Miss Piggy and other Muppets, Henson was the creative force behind Big Bird, Cookie Monster and other famous \u201cSesame Street\u201d denizens, as well as the \u201cFraggle Rock\u201d characters. He died in 1990. <\/p>\n

Henson originally founded the workshop in the 1960s in Manhattan and it has moved multiple times around the city since. It’s been at its current location in Queens since 2009. The company also has a workshop in Los Angeles, though that doesn\u2019t offer tours. <\/p>\n

The 80-minute New York tours take place on Saturdays. Visitors start in a large room specially created for the tour that’s filled with real show props and creations. It\u2019s also the only spot on the tour where visitors are allowed to take photos and videos, as much of what\u2019s in the actual workshop are still works in progress or proprietary. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Muppets” are now owned by Disney. Sesame owns the rights to Big Bird and other characters Henson created for the long-running show, which films at a nearby studio. <\/p>\n

Among the centerpieces in that first room on the tour is an Oscar the Grouch display where the \u201cSesame Street\u201d character is in his familiar trash can surrounded by heaps of fake garbage. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a menacing black throne from \u201cThe Dark Crystal,\u201d Henson\u2019s 1982 live-action fantasy film, and a full-sized working puppet of Junior Gorg, a giant from \u201cFraggle Rock,\u201d which requires multiple performers to manipulate.<\/p>\n

The workshop space itself is filled with fantastical creatures in various stages of assembly. There\u2019s drawers and bins tucked into nearly every corner brimming with colorful furs, textured fabrics and ready-made puppet body parts, clothing and accessories. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverything we do is custom. Everything we do is bespoke,\u201d said Melissa Creighton, the shop\u2019s director.<\/p>\n

On a recent visit, staff were busy preparing costumes and other pieces for a range of current projects, including a \u201cFraggle Rock” musical opening later this month at a theater near Times Square. <\/p>\n

The shop\u2019s past credits include the horror movie \u201cFive Nights at Freddy\u2019s,\u201d the children\u2019s fantasy film \u201cWhere the Wild Things Are” and the 1990s television sitcom \u201cDinosaurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sierra Schoening, a senior puppet builder, said working at the shop had been her \u201cpie-in-the sky\u201d dream job. Her favorite movie growing up was \u201cThe Labyrinth,\u201d Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy film starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really always wanted to know how those illusions were made,\u201d Schoening said as she took a break from fashioning a set of new creations. \u201cI know all the secret sauce, and I\u2019m making the secret sauce now.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow Philip Marcelo at https:\/\/x.com\/philmarcelo<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.wsls.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2013 Deep in a cavernous New York City warehouse, the artisans behind some of the world\u2019s most beloved children\u2019s characters have been fashioning costumes and puppets for years in relative anonymity. Now Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the workshop founded by the legendary creator of the Muppets, is drawing back the curtain. This year, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2430980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[21796,305313,21741,476846,389696,379126,21818,476847,447412,30188],"class_list":["post-2430979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-business","tag-david-bowie","tag-entertainment","tag-jason-weber","tag-jennifer-connelly","tag-jim-henson","tag-lifestyle","tag-melissa-creighton","tag-philip-marcelo","tag-u-s-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jim-Hensons-Creature-Shop-opens-for-tours-Heres-whats-inside.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2430979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2430981,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2430979\/revisions\/2430981"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2430980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2430979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2430979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2430979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}