The Muppets Do IBM

Here’s a cool piece on how Jim Henson did some short films for Big Blue way back when. It includes the films via YouTube.

The other night, I watched the (dated tech, but still highly creepy) Colossus: The Forbin Project (made in 1970). It’s one of those “Our system is foolproof! What could possibly go wrong?” stories so beloved by the dystopian science fiction movement that started to take off in the latter half of the 60s and kept grinding us down through the 70s till Star Wars suddenly arrived and made sci fi fantasy fun again. Basic story: Man hands the keys to Earth’s security over to a big computer and gives our whole nuclear arsenal into its control.

Foolproof! What could possibly go wrong?

I keep visualizing Colossus designating the Muppets as its liaison to a terrified global population.