For decades, the artisans inside a cavernous warehouse in Queens, New York, have quietly crafted some of the most beloved characters in entertainment history. Now, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is pulling back the curtain.
This year, the workshop opened its doors to paying visitors for the first time, offering a rare glimpse of the craft behind the characters. The 90-minute tours cost $150 per person and include meeting a puppet builder, watching a puppetry demonstration, and taking photographs and videos with some of the shop’s best-known creations.
Jason Weber, the shop’s creative supervisor, said the tours are meant to spotlight the artisans whose work is usually invisible. “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,” he said. “Things are made one-of-a-kind, made by hand with artisans who have been trained for years and decades.”
The shop was founded by Jim Henson, the late puppeteer who created the Muppets in the 1950s and later brought “Sesame Street” characters to life. The Queens facility — and a sister studio in Burbank, California, which is not currently offering public tours — has produced characters for films including the 1986 fantasy “Labyrinth,” starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly, and the 1982 dark fantasy “The Dark Crystal.”
In recent years the shop has expanded into horror, creating the animatronic antagonists for the 2023 film adaptation of the video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The film’s success brought the shop a new generation of fans, Weber said.
The tour program arrives as the entertainment industry increasingly embraces behind-the-scenes studio experiences. The Creature Shop’s combination of puppetry, engineering and artistry makes it a distinct stop, company officials said.
Information about booking tours is available on the shop’s website.