The secret way to get into Jim Henson Studios for a Muppet tour

rewrite this content and keep HTML tags The Jim Henson Company on La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles.Jim Steinfeldt/Getty ImagesMaybe you’ve driven past the Jim Henson Company in Los Angeles before, and maybe you’ve looked longingly through the gates, wondering what kind of magic is unfolding inside, where the Muppets themselves live. An enormous Kermit the Frog, wearing a tuxedo, sits atop the front gate of the studio. Even though he’s got his top hat raised in what’s an unmistakably friendly greeting, he’s not actually welcoming you inside. No one at all who isn’t an employee of the company, or working on the property, can get in, ever. That means no uninvited visitors, and especially no studio tours.And for that, you can blame Harry Styles.Well, Harry Styles, and half of the recording industry, anyway. At the Henson Recording Studios on the property, some of the most well-known musicians of all time have recorded albums, including “Harry’s House.” Security, necessarily, is very tight. If it weren’t, imagine how many Stylers (that’s what Harry Styles fans go by) or Swifties — Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” was recorded there, too — would show up. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adInside the reception area, there’s a portrait of founder Jim Henson, and “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” puppets — with Kermit, of course.Julie TremaineI didn’t care (much) about pop stars, though. I wanted Muppets. Every time I drove by those studio gates on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, I would peer longingly inside, trying to get a glimpse of an anthropomorphic frog or the Electric Mayhem band. I wanted in. I wanted in bad. And then, one day, like Willy Wonka issuing his golden tickets, the gates to the studio opened.AdvertisementArticle continues below this adMonica DeVertebrae from “Dinosaurs” sits outside the schoolhouse.Julie TremaineOn just a few weekends a year, Henson opens the gates of the lot to ticketholders of the puppet show, which happens on the studio’s Chaplin Stage. A $60 standard ticket includes admission to the show and some time in the central courtyard. A $175 VIP ticket, though, comes with a tour of the Jim Henson Company — and a lot of other surprises I didn’t know when I bought one. Walking into the studio lot, the first face I saw wasn’t a person: It was an enormous blue dinosaur, the apatosaurus Monica DeVertebrae, who was the Sinclairs’ next door neighbor on the sitcom “Dinosaurs.” She’s at the end of the walkway from the parking lot into the back of the studio courtyard, greeting people as they make their way inside. I don’t know what I was expecting to see first, but a 15-ish-foot dinosaur puppet wasn’t it. I had the same feeling over and over as I explored the lot: I was continually surprised by the breadth and scale of the puppets the Jim Henson Company creates. They might be most famous for Kermit and Miss Piggy, but they’ve created so much more than that.Once they get inside the lot, visitors are greeted by Kermit the Frog.Julie TremaineAdvertisementArticle continues below this adMiss Piggy and Kermit, though, are everywhere, even on signs indicating the restrooms. The whole place has a historic feel to it, because the studio itself predates those Muppets by decades. The property the Jim Henson Company now owns was built by Charlie Chaplin in 1918. Chaplin wasn’t just a pioneer in comedy — he set the standard for a lot of things in early Hollywood, including quality of life for actors. On the premises, there are bungalows that were once living quarters, and also a schoolhouse, which is now offices. As I was wandering the property alone before my tour started, I found a lot of Chaplin’s memory there: There’s a mural of the Tramp outside the entrance to the Chaplin Stage (the lot’s soundstage) as well as one on the exterior of the building on La Brea. There’s also a set of his footprints, in his signature duckfooted gait, in the cement of the courtyard, just like there is in front of the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Behind these doors, Harry Styles and Taylor Swift have recorded songs.Julie TremaineThe studio changed hands after Chaplin departed, and eventually became A&M Records, owned by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss. That’s why there’s a state-of-the-art recording studio on the property. Not only did Styles and Swift record there, but so did Diana Ross, the Police, Gwen Stefani, Jane’s Addiction and countless others. It was where “We Are the World” was recorded and the video was filmed, with Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Cyndi Lauper and basically every other 1980s music superstar. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adBut back to the Muppets. Once the tour started, the first stop was the reception building, where guests are greeted by one person, a dozen or so puppets, and an entire wall of awards. In that space, there’s Carol, one of the “wild things” from “Where the Wild Things Are,” Dino from “The Flintstones,” and Deet and Hup from “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.” Beneath a portrait of Jim Henson, who died in 1990, there’s a 4-foot Kermit doll, and Kermit puppets from a few of his many eras. Carol from “Where the Wild Things Are” guards the former A&M Records vault.Julie TremaineThe tour continued into other buildings, including an office building where there’s a mural with every Muppet ever made, with Henson himself painted into the group. It was really nice to see how much his memory is kept alive at the company, which is now run by the Henson kids. Brian Henson, who directed new Muppet classics like “Muppet Christmas Carol” and “Muppet Treasure Island,” is now chairman. What I didn’t realize, as we were walking down a foliage-lined corridor on the lot, was that we were headed straight to Brian Henson’s office, and that we were about to meet the puppetry legend himself. AdvertisementArticle continues below this ad“Welcome to Jim Henson Studio,” Henson said as we shuffled into the room, full of toys and props, his voice as familiar and nostalgia-inducing as Kermit’s himself. “I’m Brian Henson. This is my office, and this is Charlie Chaplin’s office.” The space was one and the same. Henson went on to tell us about the history of the place and the challenges of running a modern studio in a designated historic landmark. His office was also once Jerry Moss’ in the A&M days; apparently Herb Alpert thought the only place acoustically perfect on the property was Moss’ personal bathroom, so he would lock himself in and work out his trumpet solos while Moss made business deals on the other side of the door. Brian Henson with Jim Henson Company awards and memorabilia in his office at Jim Henson Studios, which was once Charlie Chaplin’s office.Michael Tullberg/Getty ImagesDirector’s slates from the final scenes of “Labyrinth,” “The Dark Crystal” and “Muppet Treasure Island.”Julie TremaineAdvertisementArticle continues below this adNow, Henson’s office is full of artifacts from the company’s history: There are the director slates used in the last frames shot for “Labyrinth,” “The Dark Crystal” and “Muppet Treasure Island,” as well as the original model of Earl Sinclair from “Dinosaurs.” There are honest-to-goodness Emmys and Academy Awards for Jim Henson Company projects. And there are props used onscreen, like a goblin ax from “Labyrinth,” which Henson picked up and swung over his head to demonstrate how light puppet props need to be. The same with the Mystic staff from “The Dark Crystal,” and Tim Curry’s crutch from “Muppet Treasure Island.” But not that many items from those movies still exist. Henson explained that he’s of the same mind set his dad was: “The film is the artwork,” he said, not the props used to make the artwork. “You throw it all away after you shoot it.” After a truly magical experience in a place I never thought I would be, and meeting someone hugely important to my childhood I never hoped to meet, it was time for the show. As we left the office, we each got a “Puppet Up!” hot dog puppet signed by Henson himself. Aughra from “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” at the Jim Henson Company.Julie TremaineAdvertisementArticle continues below this adA few minutes later, I was in my seat, and Henson took the stage. “Welcome to the Jim Henson Studio and welcome to ‘Puppet Up! Uncensored,’” he said to the crowd. “It’s really cool for us to be able to do shows here at the lot because this really is a very secure lot. Our recording studio…

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