Jim Henson made a chaotic Oscar-nominated fever dream about time—and it's NINE MINUTES of jazz-fueled insanity.
Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this 9-minute experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson. Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, "Time Piece" enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Short Subject.
Direction
Henson's live-action debut is gloriously unhinged.
Editing
Rapid-fire cuts that would make MTV jealous.
Sound
Jazz score that weaponizes syncopation.
Director
Jim Henson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Henson personally performed every sound effect and puppeteered his own body through rapid-fire costume changes, often shooting single frames at a time.
This MoMA-premiered short arrived the same year as 'The Sound of Music'—imagine Academy voters comparing Julie Andrews to Henson's screaming clock man.
US
