Could Disney be selling The Muppets?

[muppetperson]

The Disney/Muppet situation is getting intriging.It appears Muppets Holding Company is no more and has evolved into Muppet Studios.Now I see master Replicas has revamped their website and the Muppets photo puppets are no longer in the Disney section??? They are now totally seperate from Disney.Could this be a sign of a seperation from Disney in preparation of a Sale?

 

[Barry Lee]

Hmmm... thats rather interesting. I might not wanna post my thoughts on the subject though right now.
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[a_Mickey_Muppet]

The Disney/Muppet situation is getting intriging.It appears Muppets Holding Company is no more and has evolved into Muppet Studios.Now I see master Replicas has revamped their website and the Muppets photo puppets are no longer in the Disney section??? They are now totally seperate from Disney.Could this be a sign of a seperation from Disney in preparation of a Sale?

what would even make u think that? all they did was change there company name. MR Pirates and Narnia line are no longer in the Disney section but that doesnt mean there sellin them! and the NEW # for MHC... now Muppet Studios (MS) is STILL a disney 818 # and thos numbers are ALL on the Disney lot.

 

[sarah_yzma]

I personally doubt that Disney would sell the Muppets. It would make more financial sense to keep them, even if it meant running them into the ground first.

If I recall correctly, is the MHC a temporarily company? Don't the Muppets go under full Disney control at some point? Or am I crazy?

And who picked the name Muppets Holding Company? It's too businessy

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Or am I crazy?

yeah! we ALL are! lol yeah i thought MHC (Muppets Holding Co. NOW Muppets Studio, LLC) was a temp name and then the "brand" would go full under (c) Disney name, but oh well i guess. I called them and got a ancer from a lady, she sayed the name change took place in Fall 06 but the NEW company name didnt show up until the Green & Red Christmas CD came out. and she aslo sayed "Muppets Studio" sounds more friendlyer and not too businessy. I never really liked the name "Muppets Holding...", and Muppets Studios, LLC. does sound better and NEW muppet things ARE in the works she sayed, but she couldn't say what tho! and that the Muppets are NOT leaving Disney (so we dont need to keep bring that up now) lol *YELLS OUT** hey Phil, time to change the copyright on the home page from "Muppets Holding Company, LLC." to the NOW "Muppets Studios, LLC."

 

[Luke]

They are actually now called "The Muppet Studio's LLC" (THE is very important i guess) and yeah this took place in late 2006. As for whether they are selling them or have many projects in the works, i have to seriously doubt those customer service people know anything at all, unless they have a set answer written down. Otherwise they'll just say whatever they think you wanna hear, lol. If anything was happening you'd be more likely to hear it right here first so its not really worth calling them.

I also doubt Disney would sell off the Muppets, more likely to just shelve them but they only really own the Muppets in name only anyway - the puppets are built and stored outside Disney, none of the puppeteers actually work for Disney, nor any of the writers, producers etc, the merchandise is designed and produced outside Disney and they very rarely use Disney studios or appear at Disney parks. The only thing Disney about the Muppets is about five people pushing pens at a desk. The only difference now is that even LESS is happening than under JHC, the sad truth is that Disney only really bought the Muppets to sell merchandise and make money from the tape library and DVD sales, anything else is just a bonus.

 

[muppetperson]

what would even make u think that? all they did was change there company name. MR Pirates and Narnia line are no longer in the Disney section but that doesnt mean there sellin them! and the NEW # for MHC... now Muppet Studios (MS) is STILL a disney 818 # and thos numbers are ALL on the Disney lot.

You make a good point about Pirates and Narnia (also Disney) no longer in the Disney showcase as well.But I still think I had reason to think that Disney might sell The Muppets.Since owning the Muppets, they have done more than just change the name.They have constantly changed the structure and down sized the company and cancelled projects after the Muppets havent been performing(popular wise) as hoped.Iger made a lot of the changes, giving the impression that he didnt like the Muppet purchase, so a selloff is always a possability.Plus Phillip has hinted about a big event happening, and I think it is more than a name change.As far as the phone number still being on the Disney lot,they are still Disney owned(at the moment) but you have to wonder why the company has moved to another extension?Someone has mentioned that Disney hasnt sold anything that they have bought, but I have read that they have sold off some sporting interests.

 

[Luke]

Someone has mentioned that Disney hasnt sold anything that they have bought, but I have read that they have sold off some sporting interests.

You're right in a way, at the end of the day they are a public company with shareholders who could decide to sell off anything, though very unlikely. It's worth it for Disney just to hold onto the Muppets if only to profit from TV distribution and licensing. Still, times are changing in the media, there's a bit of an economic slump in the industry and there could come a time when Disney change policy and decide to dispose off all the third party aquired offshoot companies and go back to basics concentrating on the original Disney characters.

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

but you have to wonder why the company has moved to another extension?Someone has mentioned that Disney hasnt sold anything that they have bought, but I have read that they have sold off some sporting interests.

after calling Disney for years, numbers on the Disney lot change ALL the time, belive you me! Yep the oNLY things that Disney has ever sold off was its basball team the "Angels" and hocky team "the Mighty Ducks" as for characters go... they keep em lock stock and barrel. Please there STILL sitting on "Doug" and havnt done anything new with him! and Disney's NOt the only company to do this... WB owns ALOT of HB stuff and aint doin to much with em... ok Scooby doo, but what about Flinstones etc, there NOT making much new stuff with them and like Paramount, they own Mighty Mouse and havnt done nothin with him for years eather!

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Luke,

yeah that lady could have just told me that "thing are in the works" probbly just to get off the phone with me! lol. I asked her about MC and she sayed "yes, we are very aware of the site". As for buying the "Muppets brand" i thought the hole deal of Disney buyin them (the Muppets) was to make $$$ of em with toys, close, DVDs, cds, The Disney parks etc and shell out somthin NEW every..... ONCE in a blue moon! btw are you 100% sure that the Muppet Puppets are not stored outside Disney? i thought they would be? I know Puppet Heap now bilds the puppets for Disney now. and other question is (and i've wondered this for somtime now..) how does the puppeteers/Muppeteers thing work now Disney gets on the horn with JHC says "hey we need steve (or dave, Eric or bill or whoever) for such and such" and JHC calls the Puppeteer/Muppeteer and says "hey Disney needs kermit (or Gonzo or Pepe or Fozzie) for such and such", does Disney pay Henson and then Henson pays the puppeteer(s) or what?

They are actually now called "The Muppet Studio's LLC" (THE is very important i guess) and yeah this took place in late 2006. As for whether they are selling them or have many projects in the works, i have to seriously doubt those customer service people know anything at all, unless they have a set answer written down. Otherwise they'll just say whatever they think you wanna hear, lol. If anything was happening you'd be more likely to hear it right here first so its not really worth calling them.

I also doubt Disney would sell off the Muppets, more likely to just shelve them but they only really own the Muppets in name only anyway - the puppets are built and stored outside Disney, none of the puppeteers actually work for Disney, nor any of the writers, producers etc, the merchandise is designed and produced outside Disney and they very rarely use Disney studios or appear at Disney parks. The only thing Disney about the Muppets is about five people pushing pens at a desk. The only difference now is that even LESS is happening than under JHC, the sad truth is that Disney only really bought the Muppets to sell merchandise and make money from the tape library and DVD sales, anything else is just a bonus.