Five Nights At Freddy's Landing Jim Henson's Creature Shop Is A Big Deal – Here's Why
There were always two sides to the Jim Henson Company during Henson's lifetime. On one of them, you have the puppets they created for "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock," shows that are as wholesome and earnest as their googly-eyed stars. On the other one, you have the often frightening and twisted puppets that Henson and his crew invented for "The Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth," as well as those for even creepier fantasy movies like director Nicolas Roeg's "The Witches." The Muppets, in case you were wondering, straddled the line between the two sides (not because they're remotely scary, of course, but because they're a little too disorderly to be lumped in with cinnamon rolls like Big Bird and the Fraggles).
More than 30 years after its founder's death, however, Henson's legendary Creature Shop is now working on the "Five Nights at Freddy's" movie. As anyone even remotely familiar with the premise for the original "FNAF" video games could tell you, Blumhouse's film adaptation is a far cry from even the darkest projects Henson's company developed under his watch. You thought the grotesque Skeksis merrily draining the life out of wide-eyed Podlings in "The Dark Crystal" was grim? Try a bunch of animatronic mascots in the manner of Chuck E. Cheese coming to life at night and happily murdering anyone who gets in their way (to say nothing of what they do with their victims' corpses).
To be clear, the Creature Shop working on "Five Nights at Freddy's" is a big deal and very exciting news, but how did we even get to this point? Well, it all started in the late '80s, back when Henson had to be talked into working on a little live-action film titled "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Addressing the turtle in the room
It's worth noting that much of what people love about "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" comes from the "TMNT" cartoon series that ran from 1987 to 1996 and not the original comic books created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Where the '80s animated show was brightly colored and struck a Saturday morning-friendly tone, the comics (which were first published in 1984) began as a black-and-white sendup of Frank Miller's grimdark '80s "Daredevil" and "Ronin" comic books — one that also doubled as an equally violent love letter to Miller's output.
This proved to be a sticking point when it came time to convince Jim Henson to provide the animatronic suits for the 1990 live-action "TMNT" film. As director Steve Barron recalled in The Hollywood Reporter's 2015 oral history of the film:
"I was on the mission to talk Jim into it, because he wasn't sure. I showed him the comic book, and it was very violent. It had a lot of blood on the page. He wasn't sure whether he'd have the Creature Shop involved. In the end, he very sweetly agreed to do it, because I'd convinced him that the tone was going to come from a good place, and that it wouldn't damage his legacy."
Helping matters, Barron had already directed a handful of episodes of Henson's "The Storyteller" series, which made it easier for Henson to place his trust in him. "Henson loved Steve," recalled producer Simon Fields during THR's oral history. Barron didn't let his friend down, either. His "TMNT" film is more intense and harder-edged than the '80s cartoon series, but it never goes too extreme and balances its darkest moments out with plenty of irreverent comedy and sincere drama (just like any of Henson's own ventures into darker storytelling).
From ninja turtles to homicidal mascots
Not much else has changed since Henson's passing. With the Jim Henson Company presently under the watchful eyes of Henson's children Brian and Lisa Henson, both it and the Creature Shop have continued to split their focus between all-ages-friendly material and relatively older-skewering projects like "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio." In fact, one of their rare ventures into strictly adult territory with "The Happytime Murders" — the 2018 crime-comedy flick directed by Brian Henson — was released under the Henson Alternative banner so as to distinguish it from a proper Henson creation. (I mean, there were other reasons to do that, but that's the official-ish one.)
"Five Nights at Freddy's," in other words, remains a big leap for the larger Henson brand, yet it's building on the precedent set by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" all the way back in 1990. Like "TMNT," it walks closer to the edge than other projects Jim Henson's name has been associated with, but is ultimately geared more towards giving younger audiences a scare (hence its PG-13 rating). As /Film's BJ Colangelo has noted, it's also why the film's day-and-date release makes perfect sense. Jim Henson was never above terrorizing the youths in a way they can't handle, so long as things don't get too graphic. When you think about it, "FNAF" is perfectly in keeping with that philosophy.
"Five Nights at Freddy's" hits theaters and Peacock on October 27, 2023.