Creative Genius Behind ‘The Muppets’ Dies of Cancer-Related Complications at 78

After the passing of Jim Henson in 1990, the company he created was without its moral center. It was comparable to when Walt Disney died in 1966. It took years for the Walt Disney Company to recover from the loss of its creator.

It took several creative people to get the Jim Henson Company back into feature films and on television. David Barrington Holt was one of the people who helped guide the Jim Henson Company through the years without its creator until the company was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.

Sadly, David Barrington Holt died of complications from cancer this weekend.

David Barrington Holt established the first Jim Hensons Creature Shop in Los Angeles in 1993. From 1991 to 1994, he produced and helped create the creatures for ABC’s television show Dinosaur. 

During his more than two decades running the Jim Hensons Creature Shop in Los Angeles, Barrington Holt oversaw advancements in 3D computer-generated animation and the creation of the Henson Performance Control System, which allowed a single user to operate computer-driven puppets.

David Barrington Holt, longtime manager of the @hensoncompany’s @CreatureShopTV in L.A., has died. https://t.co/7oX817RdeF pic.twitter.com/0A5x2kjCux

— Muppet Stuff (@MuppetsStuff) April 8, 2024

David Barrington Holt was born in England at the end of World War II. After receiving a B.A. in industrial design from London’s University of the Arts, he studied at the Royal College of Art and British Rail.

In the mid-1980s, he founded Hero Models, which supplied models and effects for television shows, feature films, and commercials. He even created a working Thames flood barrier pier for the London Science Museum.

Two years later, he was named deputy supervisor of the Creature Shop in the U.K. and was promoted to creative supervisor for the Jim Henson Company.

Former head of Jim Henson's Creature Shop David Barrington Holt dies at 78 https://t.co/tnk4NY1sl2

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During his two decades in film and television, he worked on dozens of film projects and spent three years consulting for Walt Disney Imagineering in its research and development department.

His son, Chris Holt, told the Hollywood Reporter: 

He could design and build an animatronic rabbit that you would swear would take a carrot right out of your hand or a model train that, if you were much smaller, you could board and ride to the adventure of a lifetime.

David Barrington Holt is survived by his son and wife, Svetlana. He was 78 years old.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.