Lisa Henson learned about cross-generational entertainment from the master. Her father is the late Jim Henson, and she says that growing up in the Henson household was exciting and inspiring. Now, as co-chief executive officer of The Jim Henson Company and a mother of two, she's carrying on not only her father's work, but also his parenting philosophies.

Henson's company's latest venture is a series of wacky DVDs – "unstable fables" as she calls them – that are intended to appeal to both adults and children. The first in the series, Three Pigs and a Baby, is a twist on the classic fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs, and tells the story of a group of special ops wolves who hatch an ingenious plan to infiltrate the pigs' brick house. In the end, everyone learns about what makes a family and about acceptance (and, one assumes, about not eating one's adoptive parents), but, Henson says, the moral's not the point, the humor is.

"These movies have a good heart, but they're driven by comedy," Henson says. "We really focus on a lot of jokes that play on two levels, one for adults and one for kids so everyone can sit down and enjoy what they're watching."

Jim Henson wasn't the kind of father to leave his work behind him at the office. Even at home he was focusing on his creative projects and thinking about what he was writing or directing, and sharing his thoughts with his five children. He also encouraged them in their own creative pursuits.

"It was inspirational because when he talked to you he was not just telling you what you wanted to hear," Henson says. "He was very stimulating to be around."

Because they grew up around the Muppets and the constant, evolving puppetry, Henson, who is the eldest, says that they were not the kind of children to believe the puppets were alive. She and her siblings visited the sets of their father's shows and saw the nuts and bolts of how her father and his associates created the magic that the rest of the world saw. Jim Henson would also talk with his children about what they saw and he would take that input into meetings and use it to improve on the process. At the time, Henson says she used to think, "Those professionals don't want to hear that." Now it's the approach she takes with her own children.

"That feels very true to me now," Henson says. "At one point I even read a feature film script out loud to my son when he was 7 and his response was so gratifying to me. He opened up a document on the computer and wanted to write a sequel!"

As a young woman, Henson went on to attend Harvard University, graduating with degrees in folklore and mythology. She was also the first female president of The Harvard Lampoon. She says growing up in what was almost a "pre-professional" environment gave her a good feel for the movie business and the world of producing. After her father's early death, she and her siblings took over the running of his company and continue to develop and produce projects that carry on the legacy their father started.

Lisa Henson laughs when asked how she juggles work and motherhood. "This is the wrong moment to ask me that because I just called home and told the kids to eat dinner without me," she says.

But, she notes, that's an exception. She does try to get home as often as possible to enjoy family dinners and spend time with her kids, Julian Otis, 10, and Ginger Otis, 7.

"I'm not the kind of producer who feels I need to be on set every moment that something is going on," Henson says. "But I do try to get home for dinner every night and keep regular hours so the kids can count on a consistent schedule because I think that's important."

Like her father did, Henson gets her kids involved in her working life by bringing them to the set when she can. She feels you should assume as much maturity from a child as possible, and they'll live up to your expectations.

"I remember when my son was 4 years old taking him on the set of a movie called Good Boy about talking dogs," Henson says. "It was so fun for him and he was able to be completely quiet on set for hours. I let them see as much of the process as I can, because they love to come and see the characters and look at rough cuts like I did when I was a kid."

Henson is also interested in making educational programming fun and interesting in the same way for which her father was legendary. Right now she's very excited about her company's latest television venture, a science readiness show for preschoolers called Sid the Science Kid. It will premier on PBS in the fall of 2008. There are also two more unstable fables in the works, one based upon the Tortoise and the Hare, and the other upon Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

"We use the original story as a framework to hang broad comedy on," Henson says. "We also decided to go with stories that weren't maybe as well known as some of the others and haven't been done as a long form movie. People won't necessarily already have a Pixar version of these stories in their brain."

While the stories are funny and designed to appeal to a wide audience range, underneath the comedy, always, is the message of the Muppets, Henson says, that a family is whoever in your life loves you enough to take care of you.