Another trippy short by Jim Henson: The Cube (1969)

( posted from Guatemala / Xeni ) Following up on yesterday's link to a surreal short film by Jim Henson, here's an even earlier classic by the man who would become best known as creator of the Muppets.

Jim Henson's The Cube (1969) is about a guy who finds himself trapped inside a 4 x 4 cube. Other people come inside to visit, but he can't seem to leave with them, even if those characters invite him out. Snip from dialogue:

Professor: Excuse me, I know this is a bad time but I just wanted to congratulate you and shake your hand.

The Man in the Cube: Oh? On what?

Professor: Well, as I interpret what you're doing here, this is all a very complex discussion of Reality versus Illusion. The perfect subject for the television medium!

The Man in the Cube: What do you mean, television?

Professor: Well, this is a television play.

The Man in the Cube: What?

Professor: Oh, you don't believe that?

The Man in the Cube: Of course not!

Professor: I should have thought you'd want to. After all, there's only one other possible explanation.

The Man in the Cube: Which is?

Professor: Hallucination. That you are altogether insane.

[Ed note: Or, that it's a YouTube play.] Video Link, here's a better quality link, more about the short on IMDB. (Thanks, Zack Lara, and Randy Perry)

Previously on BB:

  • Experimental, surrealist Jim Henson work from the 1970s

    Reader comment: Marc in Barcelona, Spain says:

    Hey Xeni, I'm a boingboing.net maniac! Your blog is great. I wanted to add my 2 cents into that story about Jim Henson you just
    posted. There's a film from the famous Spanish surrealist-Director "Luis Buñuel"
    called "El Angel Exterminador".

    I suspect Jim Henson took the idea from that film.

    The plot summary from IMDB :

    "After a lavish dinner party, the guests find themselves mysteriously
    unable to leave the room… and over the next few days all the elaborate
    pretenses and facades that they've built up by virtue of their position
    in society collapse completely as they become reduced to living like
    animals… "

    I've watched it and it's an excellent movie. I strongly recommend it to
    you.