Brian Henson on Labyrinth, Legacy, and Finding His Own Place in a Famous Family
For Brian Henson, growing up around puppets and film sets wasn’t unusual — it was simply home. Long before he carried any formal title, he was already absorbing the rhythms of storytelling, collaboration, and creative risk that defined his father’s work.
Nearly four decades after Labyrinth first reached cinemas, the film is returning to theaters this January. For Henson, now 62 and chairman of The Jim Henson Company, the moment is less about revisiting the past and more about how one deeply personal project helped shape who he became.
Learning the craft from the inside out
Henson knew early on that he wanted to work in the same creative world as his father, Jim Henson. As a teenager, he spent school breaks on film sets, learning puppetry and mechanics not from textbooks, but by doing.
By the early 1980s, he was already working professionally, drawn to the challenge of complex animatronic characters. That focus would become his calling card — and eventually, his way into Labyrinth.
Before that, he quietly built experience outside the family business. Working in England on productions like Return to Oz, he established himself as a capable filmmaker and puppeteer in his own right.
Stepping into Labyrinth
When Jim Henson began preparing Labyrinth, he needed a much larger puppeteering team than usual. At just 22, Brian was brought on as the puppeteer coordinator, responsible for training local performers.
He also took on the voice of Hoggle, one of the film’s central goblin characters. The role fit his growing specialty perfectly — Labyrinth was packed with intricate, technically demanding creations.
More importantly, the job gave him something he hadn’t fully felt before: professional legitimacy that didn’t rest on his last name.
A different kind of father-son relationship
Working side by side changed the dynamic between Brian and Jim Henson. On set, they weren’t just father and son — they were colleagues.
Brian says the experience allowed their relationship to grow into something more balanced and collaborative. It also gave him a clearer view of how his father thought about characters.
Jim Henson famously avoided the overly sweet or cute. He trusted his curiosity, leaning toward the odd, the playful, and the slightly unsettling — choices that made his work feel alive.
Lessons in leadership and trust
One of the most lasting impressions Brian took from Labyrinth wasn’t about puppets at all. It was about leadership.
Jim Henson trusted his collaborators deeply, even when their ideas strayed from his original vision. He believed creativity suffered when people were micromanaged.
That philosophy — trust first, adjust later — stayed with Brian. It’s something he’s carried into his own leadership at The Jim Henson Company.
Why the re-release matters now
Labyrinth is returning to theaters for a limited run from January 8 to 11, nearly 40 years after its original release. For Brian Henson, the timing feels right.
He believes the film was always meant to be seen on a big screen, where the scale, detail, and craftsmanship can fully land. Watching it at home, he says, only tells part of the story.
But beyond visuals, the re-release is about shared experience — sitting in a room full of people, reacting together, and letting a strange, imaginative world unfold in real time.
It’s a reminder that some stories don’t just live on screens. They live in the spaces we share.
