We’re sad to share that longtime director of Muppets projects Peter Harris has passed away at the age of 88. The official Muppets twitter account shared the news with fans today and the director passed away on February 23rd, 2021.
As one of only two directors on the original The Muppet Show, Peter Harris is responsible for bringing 73 episodes of Jim Henson’s primetime classic to audiences. The show was added to Disney+ on February 19th for fans to relive and for a new generation to discover.
Disney/iTV
Peter Harris continued to direct Muppets projects throughout the 1980’s and into the early 90’s, including The Magical World of Disney special The Muppets at Walt Disney World. That TV special helped promote the new Muppet*Vision 3D attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then known as Disney MGM Studios), which was the last film Jim Henson directed before his death that same year.
A Muppet version of Peter Harris was created by Jim Henson’s Workshop for the short lived HBO series The Ghost of Faffner Hall in 1989. His last directing work for Jim Henson Productions was on the mid-90’s series Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, which featured puppet characters that were later used in Bear in the Big Blue House.
Our thoughts are with Peter Harris’ family, colleagues, friends and fans during this difficult time.