Brian Henson is doing a good job

[Fozzie Bear]

Produce rather than direct; I'd rather he performed rather than direct. I would LOVE for Frank Oz to come in and do some directing; at least he wouldn't have to perform any.

 

[Luke]

Seriously, Jim wanted to BUY Disney??? I guess all geniuses are a LITTLE crazy... I can't think of a point where Jim mighta been big enough to even THINK about that, let alone pull it off... HAHAHAHA!!!

Ummm sometime between 1980 and 1985 actually when Henson was hot coming off the back of TMS and Disney was going through a poor period financially. This was pre-Eisner.

 

[Luke]

The EM.TV decision was stupid, but I guess he had no way of knowing.

The EM.TV decision was brilliant, a stroke of genius. They sold a company for over 600 million dollars with all sorts of clauses and restrictions in the contract meaning the new owner couldn't do very much without their permission. Then they sat and watched as the company realised how they had over-paid and were so tightly bound to the contract they could never really do anything about it but sell. Then they were in the right place at the right time to buy it back for a fraction of what they were paid for it. I'd hasten a guess that in the back of their mind they knew EM.TV would find it hard to get a buyer and companies like Disney and Viacom wouldn't follow through a deal like that with a company in trouble. It was probably always their plan to try and sell to Disney themselves. Yeah it was a decision that stunk for the fans (although the Europeans did alright) and was a big risk for the Muppets future legacy though.

..... and Foz, the Henson kids like Eisner. Brian Henson had some problems with him at one time but overall the Henson family (including Jim) have been very tight with Eisner. I doubt very much they had inside information he was being demoted and decided to sell based on that. If anything they probably want to deal with him more than anyone.

 

[BoyRaisin2]

>>Then they were in the right place at the right time to buy it back for a fraction of what they were paid for it.<<

THAT was a stroke a genius. I'll always remember that morning.

>>Brian Henson had some problems with him at one time<<

BOOOY, did he.

>>If anything they probably want to deal with him more than anyone.<<

So despite recent gossip by Jim Hill of buyer's and seller's remorse, this deal will go through, if it hasn't already?

 

[Luke]

So despite recent gossip by Jim Hill of buyer's and seller's remorse, this deal will go through, if it hasn't already?

If the media "gossip" is to be believed it does seem there is stuff going on between Disney and Henson. I think Hill exagerated things a lot though. With these kind of things you can always expect some last minute hesitation, especially with Disney but i expect it will probably be pushed through regardless. I'm sure there are people in the wider management of both Disney and Henson who don't like the deal but i've not heard anything to say Eisner, Brian or Lisa are against it. Henson being a private company that's all that matters, it's one heck of a good business deal despite the obvious doubts about what this will mean for the Muppets legacy. Has that ever bothered the Henson kids yet though? It is a binding contract but i'm not sure whether Eisner has to get final board approval and that might be the snafu. Perhaps if he sensed resistance he wouldn't risk a high profile defeat but if a Henson/Disney deal goes down for a second time it's going to be one heck of an embarrassing story for them anyway.

I think ultimately it's a better deal for Henson than Disney. All the Henson deals of late all tie in nicely together. They'd have Disney funding the Muppets and taking all the risks yet the characters will still remain in their "stable" and they have that production and consulting deal. The hope would also be that Disney also started distributing the JHC "fantasy" brand including new films. Then they'd have HIT Entertainment (who are a fantastic company) distributing and licensing all of Henson's "family" catalogue off the back of the Muppets renewed popularity at Disney and also have a big and powerful partner in them to produce all those pre-school ideas they had which were succesful in the UK before they had to close down production there. It's getting back to exactly what Jim Henson wanted - all of the admin and business side of JHC being moved elsewhere and turning into a streamlined busy production house with the Muppet characters specifically being handled and backed by a major player to give them that recognition as evergreen classics for future generations in the way Disney characters are rather than just being seen and used as a piece of pop culture that fades in and out as trends dictate. Not that i think that could have been avoided though or that there won't always be an element of it.

 

[dwayne1115]

HaHa

Well thank you luke, i was also kind of thinking the sell to EMT was not really a smart move,but with all that you said you made it much much clearer. So he is a bteter person then i thought wow and HA HA you folks out ther who where like me where wrong which for Brian is a good thing.

 

[Whatever]

The EMTV sale did however result in the sale of Sesame Street characters to the CTW, splitting up the Muppets.

 

[ravagefrackle]

personally i think he should leave the buieness all togother , his work is sub par and doesnt do a thing for me,

 

[dwayne1115]

Well seperating SS with the muppets was not good at all. to see aperences from SS muppetrs in "classic" muppet things is trulu trulu missed. but still the money aspect of it sound preety good to me. but then agine i maybe wrong.

It would also seem to me that Brian would hold dear SS becaues he helped his father work on some of the cartoon shorts or sothing like that. i hope one day the SS and classic muppets will one day be back together.

 

[Stryder Wolfe]

yeah, but haveing the SS muppets owned BY ss ensures that they are safe and will always be okay to use on the street, which may not have been possible otherwise...so while it seems strange, it's probably for the best