Ron Howard dives into the mind of a creative genius in his latest documentary.
In the Oscar winner’s new Disney+ film Jim Henson Idea Man, Howard, 70, profiles the life and work of Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, Sesame Street performer and filmmaker.
As Howard tells PEOPLE, he believes he and Henson share “an excitement for what’s possible and a love of the process.”
“Jim took a lot of risks financially, took a lot of risks creatively, and he developed very thick skin,” Howard says. “I think I have pretty thick skin, but I don’t know too many people who gambled their time and their resources the way Jim did, and I wanted to reflect that in the film as well.”
Jim Henson Idea Man grapples with the sheer force of Henson’s creative power, one that never stopped working until the filmmaker and puppeteer’s death at 53 in 1990. He died of a bacterial infection one day…
