Norman Reedus and The Jim Henson Co. Are Teaming Up for an Urban Fantasy Creature Adventure Series
The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus has joined forces with The Jim Henson Co. for a live-action fantasy creature adventure series. Brian and Wendy Froud (The Dark Crystal) will be working on the project as well, and the creative team will be building an entirely new universe of characters and creatures for a story intended for a family audience.
Halle Stanford, president of TV at The Jim Henson Company shared in a statement, “Norman Reedus, the Frouds [who will create the show’s creatures] and the Jim Henson Company coming together to create a show is the mashup of my dreams. Norman is an artist, and when I suggested to him, what if we create a series with the Frounds together that explores his love of magical creatures, he was so excited.”
Reedus went on to say that is “an understatement. They are masters in the fantasy world-building space. I mean, a show about goblins, trolls and otherworldly creatures? There’s nobody in the universe better suited for that than the Henson Company.”
Stanford added, “We want to make hope cool. It is an urban fantasy. It will be a magical world. But I feel like Norman is going to help us bring the ‘punk’ back in ‘hope punk.’ I also think that people kind of like that punk in Henson’s legacy. The Muppets were the underdogs, our [‘Labyrinth’] Goblin King with David Bowie was so cool… When you say ‘Jim Henson,’ it invokes something in people. So I’m hoping those that felt inspired by him, like Norman Reedus, will look to us as a new home to create these types of stories that are transformative and entertaining, and having something to say, but also wanting to kind of push the medium of television.”
Stanford went on to explain that the series uses “our Henson digital puppetry system. In terms of innovation, Henson is always, I feel, trying to push the visuals in television.”
It’s also explained that The Jim Henson Co. hasn’t given up on The Dark Crystal franchise. While the Netflix series was cancelled after only one season, Stanford is trying to figure out a way to get the series going again. She said: “We are nimble, we are resilient. We are ready to jump. The minute anyone would like to jump back into Thra [“The Dark Crystal” planet setting], it is a world that we will continue to build on and think about.”
I’m excited to see what this new project that Reedus is working on ends up being! It would also be cool to see The Dark Crystal franchise back in action! I loved the show, and it’s a shame that it ended so soon.
Source: Variety