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Brian Henson Sells Dark Puppet Comedy 'Happytime Murders'

by Ethan Anderton
October 12, 2010
Source: Heat Vision

The Henson name is synonymous with puppets, and Brian Henson, the son of the late Jim Henson, is still continuing the family legacy, albeit in a slightly different direction. Heat Vision reports Lionsgate has picked up Happytime Murders, a comedic thriller from writer Todd Berger (with Brian Henson directing) which takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, but the non-humans are considered second-class citizens. When a puppet cast of an 80's childrens show called "The Happytime Gang" starts to get murdered one-by-one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes the case with his human partner.

Sounds like a darker, puppet-infused version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and that's not a bad idea at all. What was once a risky project has now been given life thanks to Lionsgate, but this isn't a puppet movie for the kids. Described as Avenue Q (a raunchy Broadway stage musical with puppets) meets L.A. Confidential, Happytime Murders sounds like it's just for the adults. Personally, I think it's great when filmmakers take creative liberties with cinematic elements usually intended for family films and give them a mature, adult spin. And after seeing the crazy photos for We R Animals, maybe we're in for a new trend. Sound good?

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