Ron Howard Directs Documentary About Jim Henson in Idea Man Trailer (Exclusive)

Ron Howard is pulling back the curtain on Jim Henson in a heartfelt new documentary.

PEOPLE is exclusively debuting the first trailer for Jim Henson Idea Man, which features glimpses into the legendary puppeteer’s life and career. Henson is known for creating the Muppets and helping work on more iconic franchises like Sesame Street, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

The trailer includes archival footage from throughout Henson’s life, set to his iconic Muppet character Kermit the Frog’s song “Rainbow Connection” from 1979’s The Muppet Movie.

The documentary is produced with the cooperation of Henson’s family and also features interviews with Rita Moreno, Labyrinth star Jennifer Connelly, Henson’s four children, and his collaborators Frank Oz and Michael Firth.

Idea Man “takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early year’s puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show and beyond,” reads a synopsis for the film.

“Featuring new interviews with Henson’s closest collaborators and children, as well as never-before-seen materials from his personal archives — including home movies, photographs, sketches and diaries — Howard brings us an entertaining and insightful look at a man whose boundless imagination changed the world,” the synopsis adds.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Henson died in 1990 at 53; his characters and works have lived on in the 21st century through Disney, which purchased the rights to the Muppets characters from the Jim Henson Company in 2004.

The new movie from Howard, 70, marks his first feature film since 2022, when he directed the movie Thirteen Lives and the documentary We Feed People. The two-time Oscar winner has made a number of documentaries over his filmmaking career, including 2016’s The Beatles: Eight Days a Week and 2019’s Pavarotti, among others.

“As a documentary subject it immediately felt incumbent upon me to try to infuse the audience’s experience with as much of Jim’s creative flavor, originality, energy, fun and creativity as I possibly could,” Howard said in a statement.

Deadline reported back in 2021 that Disney and The Jim Henson Company were developing a narrative biopic of Henson’s life. In 2022, Lisa Henson, one of Jim’s four children, told PEOPLE the project remained in early development stages, but she described it at the time as a “fantastical biopic of my father.”

Jim Henson Idea Man, produced by Imagine Documentaries, is on Disney+ May 31.