Disney in talks to buy Muppets

[sidcrowe]

DrGoshposh: Hey, what kinda puppet do you use for your avatar?

I'm not crazy about Disney, either. What can you say about a dump that produces "Snow Dogs?"

I wish a big outfit would buy them. Heck, there are probably a bunch of private millionaires who could buy them. Steven Jobs of Apple could buy them. There are lots of wonderful possibilities, but none of them are showing up, and sadly, we get small-time weasels and a giant moron called Saban

Until someone cool shows up, Disney is the lesser of the evils we've seen so far. It's sad

 

[DrGoshposh]

Sid

My avatar is the Flub-a-dub from the Howdy Doody Show. The Flub-a-dub is eight animals in one. He has a duck's bill, a cat's whiskers, a cocker spaniel's ears, the neck of a giraffe, the body of a dachshund, a seal's flippers, a pig's tail and the memory of an elephant. He was created by the show's writer/resident genius Eddie Kean who later said that the budget was only big enough for one animal puppet, so he made the most of it. Flub's a great character.

Sorry, I have an over abundance of Howdy Doody trivia in my head, and need to let it out every now and then.

Scott

 

[sidcrowe]

DrGoshposh: Well, there's no better place for that trivia than here

 

[Fozzie Bear]

GoshPosh,

Create a thread called "Howdy Doody Appreciation Thread" in General Discussion!! I didn't realize that about the character in your avatar!!

Cool.

FOZ

 

[Chilly Down]

Again, everyone: valid points criticizing Disney. But if not them, who?? Disney diplomatically said "we're one of many" in the article, but so far as we know, they're the only ones in the running. The company that currently owns them hates them and wants to get rid of them. That's not a situation they can stay in for long. At least I wouldn't want them to.

I don't think anyone's been blasting Valentine, at least not recently, and not in regards to this thread. (Valentine's press release fails to impress me, though; that's what they ALL say during the buyout process.) Valentine didn't go away because anyone criticized him at any point on this website. Valentine went away because he couldn't get anyone to cough up an even paltry sum for the Muppets with him. And continuing to praise him won't bring him back.

As for Disney, they aren't going to buy the Muppets just to bury them. That makes no sense. They want to make as much money as possible off of whatever they own. Sure, their other departments are struggling right now, but that's *why* they would want to bring in something new and fresh (for them) and see if they can generate some revenue from it.

Of course, we all wish Jim had bought Disney back in 1985 so we wouldn't have to be going through all of this. But there's nothing that can be done about that now. The ball must be played where it lies.

And for that matter, there's no playing we can do that will affect where they end up anyway. I'm glad we had this discussion, but I do hope we all keep in mind that our friendships, and mutual appreciation of the Muppets, are far more important than studio politics that we have no control over anyway. (So far, we all HAVE remembered that. I just think it's good we remind ourselves every now and again. Even I need to hear it.)

I think I need a nap.

 

[BoyRaisin2]

And just the mere possibility that The Muppet Show or Fraggle Rock might return to TV for the first time since August 2001 should make anyone rejoice.

That, and it was two years ago today since EM.TV announced their intentions, so this rollercoaster must end before EM.TV sells another Henson asset.

And I just took a nap, so I can go all night...

 

[frogboy4]

I feel if Sesame were part of the deal, Disney would have already snatched them up.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I hope irony isn't lost to us...

Disney is a capitalist demon that must be destroyed!!

(Grabs up bee bee gun, slingshot, and some gravel! Runs out the door with a battle yell)

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

(Comes back in.)

It's raining. Nevermind.

(Turns on Lion King.)
****************

I think we realize it's inevitable that the JHC is going to ultimately get devoured into the Disney mix, and if it isn't soon it'll be in the future.

The worry exists that we will lose the "Jim Henson" part of The Muppets' name and see "Disney" slapped on it. Not only that, but to recap the fear that they'll sugar-coat-Disney-ize the Muppets and suck away all their creativity and make the Muppets be "Disney" stock. Not to mention that it's already been pointed out that there are folks whose jobs are at stake.

Then again, Disney does have a tendency to drag things out either in corporate purchases or titles:
"Disney presents: Jim Henson's Muppets" (as someone pointed out) would be acceptable if they have to put their stamp on it.

Like I said before:
Officially, I'm against it, period.
UNLESS Disney gets them and gives them creative freedom.

 

[Beauregard]

I think that Disney can do some good with the Muppets. They did make MTI and MCC.

 

[scarecroe]

Originally posted by Beauregard
They did make MTI and MCC.

[sigh] No they didn't.