Industry | Puppets, animatronics, creature suits, visual effects |
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Founded | 1979 |
Founder | Jim Henson |
Headquarters | Hollywood, California, United States |
Parent | The Jim Henson Company |
Website | http://www.creatureshop.com/ |
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Hollywood, California, United States, and, previously, Camden Town in London, United Kingdom, where they still maintain some facilities.
Jim Henson's Creature Shop was originally created as a partnership with British illustrator Brian Froud to facilitate the production of The Dark Crystal. Located in Hampstead, London, it received its name in order to differentiate it from Henson's original puppet workshop in New York City. It was then used for future films such as Labyrinth and The Storyteller.
It was relocated to Camden Town following Henson's death in 1990 and his son, Brian Henson, took over. A third location in Burbank, California opened to serve Hollywood, and one of its first projects was the Dinosaurs television series.
Since The Jim Henson Company sold off the rights to The Muppets brand to Disney in 2004; the Muppet Workshop in New York is now credited as Jim Henson's Creature Shop. In the modern day, the New York shop specializes in hand puppets, including building The Muppets and most of the puppets in Sesame Street. The Los Angeles branch creates more realistic animatronic creatures and creature suits.