J.K Rowling Has Won The Jim Henson Award

The Jim Henson Company has awarded J.K Rowling, the Harry Potter author, with the highest honor.

It is the first edition of the prize, created by the company to honor any "individual, organization or product that makes the world a better place by inspiring people to celebrate life."

Therefore, the first "The Jim Henson Celebration Honor" went to Rowling, on the grounds of her "imagination and originality in creating the fantastical world of Harry Potter and for the amazing impact these books have had around the world."

Another three awards have been given: "The Jim Henson Creativity Honor" - to The Gorillaz, virtual band, "The Jim Henson Community Honor" - to Bill Haber, for community service, and "The Jim Henson Technology Honor" - to The Prius, for gas-electric hybrid automobile.

The Jim Henson Company has been an established leader in family entertainment for 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and computer graphics.

Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets (the rights to which are now owned by The Walt Disney Company),
Henson is the recipient of nearly 50 Emmy Awards, nine Grammy Awards and two Oscar Awards. Recent projects include the Saturn Award-winning 'Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars' and the features 'Five Children and It' and 'MirrorMask'. The company also produced the television feature 'The Muppets' Wizard of Oz' for Buena Vista Television.