the late jim henson, who invented kermit the frog at college park, and look who is pulling the strings at the lion king this week. but it was like pulling teeth to get bruce to go see what he thought was a kids show. >> once the show opens, i was amazed. was not at all what i expected, and it was wonderful. >> look who he shares company with every night of the week. >> the beak, with the index finger, and then the other hand to control the wings. >> so our charles village man is in charge of the stars on stage. >> this is mu faa sa. he was the original king. this is nalah. the back is form-fitted, particularly to that performer's head. this is a thermoplast. it's used in the medical industry. >> there's no way he knew or anyone else knew that one day he would be the mechanical genius of one of our greatest musicals, but then again, maybe he did. >> i made my own hand puppets and used to put on puppet shows in the backyard. >> talk about the circle of life, now the hippodrome is his foot yard. >> i feel like i have a dream job. >> nice, huh? once upon a time bruce was scared to death, w