Every wonder where all the Muppets, creatures, and the costumes came from???

Jim Henson’s Creature Shop was housed in a warehouse unknown to nearly everyone…until now.

The Creature Shop is located in Queens, New York and is now offering tours of the workshop that includes meeting the puppet builder, seeing a demonstration of the puppets, and a photo op with some of the characters. 

The whopper is the price tag for the visit…$150 per person!

Jim Henson’s Creative Shop creative supervisor Jason Weber spoke on the shop and tour saying, “there is a level of expertise here that we’re sharing. It’s not just going to a pop-up store or something like that. Things are made one-of-a-kind, made by hand with artisans who have been trained for years and decades.”

Jim Henson died in 1990; but before his death he was responsible for iconic characters seen On “The Muppet Show”, “Sesame Street”, and “Fraggle Rock”.  Henson was also involved in creating creatures and props for “The Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth”. 

The 80 minute tour is available only on Saturdays.

The tour begins in a large room filled with props and creations; the only place during the tour where photos and videos are allowed.  Much of the work inside the workshop itself are proprietary and works in progress.

Among the displays in the large room is Oscar the Grouch in his garbage can surrounded by “trash”, a black throne from “The Dark Crystal”, and a giant Junior Gorg form “Fraggle Rock” that requires multiple puppeteers to operate.

Inside the workshop itself is a wide array of characters and costumes is various stages of completion.  Everywhere you look are bins and drawers filled with parts, pieces, fabrics, and furs for creating the characters.

Currently the Shop is working on the upcoming “Fraggle Rock” musical.

Previously, the Creature Shop has worked on “Five Nights at Freddy’s”, “Where the Wild Things Are”, and television sitcom “Dinosaurs.”

Creature Shop director Melissa Creighton said, “everything we do is custom. Everything we do is bespoke.

The original Creature Shop was founded during the 1960’s in Manhattan and has since moved all around New York City but has been located in Queens since 2009.  There is also a shop in Los Angeles, but they are not offering any tours.

Disney is the current owner of “The Muppets” and Sesame owns Big Bird and other “Sesame Street” characters.