Henson Unearths 'Dinosaurs' Sitcom For DVD

Sure, it's a cliched way of putting it, but oh so true: the success of the Jim Henson Company is so immense that, well, it's enough to make you green.

Whether it's the playful puppets we've come to know as the Muppets, the creations born of the animatronic wonders of the Henson Creature Shop, or the creations of the upcoming Henson Digital Performance System (a patented technology that enables puppeteers to physically perform a computer generated character in real time) -- there is, and will always be, one constant in the Henson universe: great characters.

In the case of the characters in the new DVD release of the television series "Dinosaurs: The Complete First and Second Seasons" (Walt Disney Home Entertainment), the characters are the Sinclairs -- a working class "Honeymooners" type of family that sort through the everyday dysfunctions of life like you and me.

The difference here, of course, is that the characters are prehistoric creatures.

"It's about the character development so you can hang the stories on them so you know you can have a great, entertaining piece," Henson company co-chair and co-CEO Brian Henson explained in a recent interview. "If you look at 'The Muppet Show,' for example, the show wasn't about stories. The story would be 'Animal Looking for Hobby.'

"So, it's really more about the characters," Henson added. "It's about making sure that you're writing about characters that really resonate with the audience so that they feel like, 'Even though I know they're not people, I feel like I know that character and I know I'm going to laugh because I recognize their flaws.'"

"Dinosaurs" chronicles the exploits of Earl, a middle-aged blue-collar Megalosaurus (voiced by Stuart Pankin), his Allosaurus wife (Jessica Walter), their two adolescent children Robbie (Jason Willinger) and Charlene (Sally Struthers), Grandma Ethyl (Florence Stanley) and Baby (Kevin Clash).

With a cast that spans the ages, it shouldn't come as a big surprise that "Dinosaurs" is one of those shows that adults and kids can both relate to.

"The idea was that it was for everybody," Henson said. "You have kids of all ages in the family, you the have grandparents, aunts and uncles -- and you have the parents. You have your audiences represented within the show all of the time. People of all ages are there."

While it's an exciting event for fans of the television series, the DVD release of "Dinosaurs" is in a way bittersweet for Henson. On one hand, the show is a celebration of innovation of the animatronics by the company, but also, it sadly was one of the last projects from the fertile imagination of his Muppet creator father, who died unexpectedly in 1990 at age 53.

"He hadn't started it yet, but he conceived it," Henson said. "And, he was only halfway through finishing the 'Muppet Vision' 3-D attraction for Disney, that was the last thing he did."

Oddly enough, Henson said, people might not have known his father had anything to do with "Dinosaurs," thanks to a Writers Guild of America snafu. Nonetheless, Henson found a way to get him recognized, with tribute text prior to the airing of the first show.

"Part of that tribute at the front of the first episode was there because I was very annoyed that he couldn't be credited as a creator of the series," Henson said. "Michael Jacobs and Bob Young, who had written the first script, agreed (that Jim Henson should get credit), but the union wouldn't allow it. They had strict regulations on whoever wrote the first script, was the creator, so that tribute was tribute was from special dispensation by the WGA, who allowed the words, 'creative talents of Jim Henson.'"