Jim Henson’s Lost ‘Tale Of Sand’ Screenplay Returns As Graphic Novel [20-Page Preview]

Written by Jim Henson and his frequent collaborator Jerry Juhl, Tale Of Sand was a completed 1974 screenplay discovered in the late master's archives. The dark and decidedly surreal story follows an unnamed man who finds himself in a tiny town that, even though it's in the middle of a seemingly endless desert, contains all manners of cultural anachronisms like swinging jazz clubs, monkeys playing cymbals, and hula girls. For mysterious reasons, the man is brought before the town's sherif, given a map he's told he cannot trust and told to run for his life into the desert in search of safety. From what, he does not know. The man is told, "Congratulations."

The unproduced Tale Of Sand screenplay has been adapted by Archaia and Ramön Pérez for release as an original graphic novel in November. Last weekend marked what would have been Jim Henson's 75th birthday, and Archaia observed the occasion by releasing a 20-page preview of Tale Of Sand. You can read those pages below.Working in cooperation with the Jim Henson Company, Tale Of Sand is adapted and illustrated by Ramón Pérez, creator of the Kukuburi and Butternutsquash webcomics, the graphic novel Rifts: The Machinations of Doom, as well as numerous projects for Marvel and DC Comics. You can check out loads of his work at his official website.

Join us as we explore this missing piece of Jim Henson's career in a celebration of his creative process. Discovered in the Archives of The Jim Henson Company, Tale of Sand is an original graphic novel adaptation of an unproduced, feature-length screenplay written by Jim Henson and his frequent writing partner, Jerry Juhl. Tale of Sand follows scruffy everyman Mac, who wakes up in an unfamiliar town, and is chased across the desert of the American Southwest by all manners of man and beast of unimaginable proportions. Produced with the complete blessing of Henson CEO Lisa Henson, Tale of Sand will allow Henson fans to recognize some of the inspirations and set pieces that appeared in later Henson Company productions.

[Via Archaia]