JIM HENSON: IDEA MAN

Here is the decision. Ron Howard has made a genuinely delightful documentary about Jim Henson, co-creator of the Muppets — four stars of craft, packed with interviews, recordings, and Jim's own words. It celebrates a man of innocence, ideas, and infectious joy, someone who believed people had a duty to make wholesome, even educational, entertainment for children. Much of what it honors, Scripture honors too.

The caution is small but real. The film carries a strong Romantic streak, treating art as personal self-expression rather than a gift from God. And it notes, briefly, Henson's 1960s interest in Buddhism and transcendental meditation. There's a little mild language too. None of it is heavy, but it's why we'd guide older children rather than the very young.

So: if you love the Muppets and want an inspiring, well-told life story, this one is worth watching — just be ready to talk through where its ideas about art and faith part ways with your own.

He was quiet when alone and playful at work — a man who loved to think, dream, and, most of all, imagine. This documentary follows Jim Henson from a childhood love of television, to a college puppetry class where he met his future wife Jane, to a new creation the two of them dreamed up: the Muppet.

From local commercials to national variety shows, from SESAME STREET to THE MUPPET SHOW to the movies, the film traces a storyteller who never stopped feeling boxed in — and never stopped reaching for the next idea. Told by his family, friends, colleagues, and Jim himself.

Four stars, and they're earned. This is extremely well crafted and loads of fun. The experimental imagery and vibrant music mirror Henson's own creativity, and the film shows many of Jim's actual notes while keeping to clear, linear storytelling across the stages of his life.

The music is gentle and soothing, and Howard weaves visuals with interviews to draw you fully into the story. There are sad moments — the sudden death of Jim's older brother in a car accident, and Jim's own early death at 53 in 1990 from untreated pneumonia — but Howard uses them to let friends, family, and fans celebrate the wonderful work he did rather than dwell in grief. The result is both moving and motivational.

At its heart, IDEA MAN holds a strong Romantic view of art: creativity as personal self-expression, centered on one person's artistic vision, rather than a means to celebrate God, His creation, or man's relationship to Him. That conviction runs through even the collaborative work of theater, television, and film.

But it's tempered — genuinely — by strong moral elements. The film stresses a sense of duty and responsibility to provide wholesome and even educational entertainment for children. It promotes honesty and integrity. It celebrates life; "Life is basically good," Jim says in one interview. There's a gentle acknowledgment that there's some good in all of us, and a willingness to laugh, in a good way, at life's absurdity. These are things a Christian family can affirm.

Families should also know the film briefly references Henson's 1960s interest in Buddhism and transcendental meditation, and includes an environmentalist line about saving the planet. These are passing notes, not the film's message, but they're worth naming before younger viewers watch.

Underneath Henson's restless creativity runs a longing to make something good and lasting — to bless others with beauty and delight. Scripture roots that gift where the film doesn't: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).

Jim Henson gave the world innocence, humor, and delight, and this documentary honors him with real craft and real heart. It carries a Romantic view of art and a couple of brief nods to other faiths, so older children and their parents may want to talk it through afterward. But for its warmth, its joy, and its celebration of a genuinely good life's work, it's worth watching.