Is the Jim Henson Company involved at all in the new movie?

[Chris Graham]

I was looking over IMDB for company credits for Disney's "The Muppet's" and saw a company called Legacy Effects is doing the animatronic character effects work for the new movie. Which got me wondering is Henson Company is in no way involved from a production end on his film? I see in "Letters from Santa" JHC gets no cedit, so dose this mean that now the Muppet's are now being handled totally by Disney? Are the puppets no longer built by JHC? The Muppets are obviously Disney to do with it wants to but it would be a shame to think that there no longer involved. Just weird thinking a Kermit Puppet being produced by someone else then the Creature Shop.

 

[Duke Remington]

I highly doubt that Henson would've been involved with this film.

 

[D'Snowth]

Unfortunately... no... no, they're not... I mean I THINK Brian MIGHT be consulting with them, considering he's had some inside info in the past regarding the production and whatnot, but other than that, JHC is basically too wrapped up in their CGI PBS shows and Puppet Up! tours and such.

As for the Creature Shop no longer being involved, I'm sure they could've done something better with this Walter character, I'm very disappointed with what they came out with: he looks way too simple and generic like one of those poorly constructed puppets you get at Christian bookstores at jacked up prices.

 

[Chris Graham]

Brian is in the movie or at least his characters are played by him. It just seems like an odd point for us older Muppet fans. I mean the puppets look great overall but i tend to agree with you about Walter and the Robot. But Disney has owned the Muppets now for 8 years, so they do move on. JHC may not have been able to handle the load from this. I live in Los Angeles and know they no longer have the Burbank creature shop, its been moved to the hollywood facility. I just hope this is a huge hit and my Niece and Nephew can fall in love with The Muppets like i did at there age. Thats what this is about keeping the muppets alive, just a interesting turning point.

 

[Drtooth]

I highly doubt that Henson would've been involved with this film.

If they did, the movie would have been delayed fifty times and then unofficially cancelled, but they'd say it's still coming.

As for the Creature Shop no longer being involved, I'm sure they could've done something better with this Walter character, I'm very disappointed with what they came out with: he looks way too simple and generic like one of those poorly constructed puppets you get at Christian bookstores at jacked up prices.

Walter's all about Kermit/Roosevelt Franklin levels of simplicity. Something that's more expressive than something like Zondra or one of the complex Mother Goose Stories puppets. They were clearly going for the twerpy looking childlike Muppet, not something more complex, and I think it fits the character perfectly.

 

[Duke Remington]

If they did, the movie would have been delayed fifty times and then unofficially cancelled, but they'd say it's still coming.

Walter's all about Kermit/Roosevelt Franklin levels of simplicity. Something that's more expressive than something like Zondra or one of the complex Mother Goose Stories puppets. They were clearly going for the twerpy looking childlike Muppet, not something more complex, and I think it fits the character perfectly.

I share your views, Drtooth and we should appreciate poor, sweet, innocent little Walter the way we do.

 

[dwmckim]

When Disney bought the Muppets, they bought them from Henson. Henson Co. no longer has any kind of ownership or control over them. If Disney seeks Henson's (the company or the family's) input, they can and are wise to do so but they don't have to.

Muppets are currently built by Puppet Heap (which employs former Henson workers). People work for Disney's Muppet Studios division who are carry-overs from the Henson days. But Disney and Henson Company are two different companies with the former fully owning the Muppet brand now.

But we do know that there was at least some Henson Company involvement with the latest film - Henson's studios is where the Muppet Studios parts of the film were shot. Aside from that, we may need to wait to read the credits to find out if there was anything beyond that.

 

[dwmckim]

Brian is in the movie or at least his characters are played by him.

Do we have any real info on this though? The only "indication" of this being true are people who don't really know what they're talking about putting guesses as opposed to facts on imdb. Not only have we not heard anything elsewhere but none of Brian's characters have been spotted in the trailers/ads.

 

[Chris Graham]

And if i'm not mistaken the NY production facility is no more correct? I mean like i said before the JHC is a much smaller company now that beyond the PBS shows really doesn't do much.

I'm very excited to see what Disney dose with The Muppets if this is a success. Thanks for the imput.

 

[Chris Graham]

Do we have any real info on this though? The only "indication" of this being true are people who don't really know what they're talking about putting guesses as opposed to facts on imdb. Not only have we not heard anything elsewhere but none of Brian's characters have been spotted in the trailers/ads.

According to the credits on IMDB Brian plays Sal Manilla / Dr. Van Neuter (voice). He may not preform, but usually IMDB dosn't make mistakes, at least this close to the release. He may only say 2 lines so who knows.