Lighthouse Island is a half-hour telefilm which aired as the second half of The Jim Henson Hour's episode 102 on April 21, 1989. It later appeared as part of the Muppet Matinee programming block on Nickelodeon.

Plot[]

Zeb Norman comes to a strange small island town in search of the perfect gift for his fiancée, Rosalie. Zeb has never met Rosalie, but has fallen in love with her through an exchange of letters. He finds just what he's looking for in a pair of silver slippers at a local antique/curio shop owned by Clara Buford, but before he can obtain them, Clara insists that he accompany her to nearby dark, mysterious Hog Island so she can retrieve a pearl stolen from her by her rival, Fred. As it turns out, the pearl bestows upon its owner the power of transformation, and when Fred sees them coming, he takes action. As he takes on the form of a sea monster, a flying beast, and a giant tentacle, the success of Zeb and Clara's mission is suddenly very much in question.

Cast[]

• Chris Makepeace as Zeb Norman
• Helen Burns as Clara Buford
• Carolyn Dunn as Rosalie
• Jerry Nelson as Fred
• Margaret Moore as Fortune Teller
• John Dunsworth as Sam
• Marty Reno as Jake
• Bruce Armstrong as Carl
• Gordon Robertson as Polar Bear

Credits[]

• Written by Jerry Juhl
• Directed by Eric Till
• Jim Henson's Creature Shop Creative Supervisor: John Stephenson
• Production Designer: Russell Chick
• Music: Eric Robertson

Notes[]

• In its initial airing as part of The Jim Henson Hour, the special's opening scenes featured voice-over narration by Jim Henson. When the special was rerun on Nickelodeon as part of the Muppet Matinee series, the voice-over was dropped.
• The special was recorded on October 12 and 13, 1988, in Nova Scotia.^[1]
• The concept of Lighthouse Island was thought up by Jerry Juhl in 1971. Juhl had pitched the concept as an anthology series, and had asked Jim Henson to direct.^[2]
• The tavern patron Carl (played by Bruce Armstrong) is dubbed by Jerry Nelson.

Releases[]

iTunesdigital download

Sources[]