Henson sells Muppets to Disney

[Gremlin]

I felt a tremble down my spine when I read about the partnership with disney....some times bad mistakes happen twice thats why it's important to learn from the first one.

 

[Gremlin]

disney is a good company but it has changed

 

[Luke]

The agreement includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters."

Great we'll see new stuff but the fairly limited timespan worries me - and interesting they have that extra year consulting but maybe not producing. I can hear the dusty draw opening and the Muppet Haunted House and Muppet Time Travel scripts having the cobwebs dusted off them.

I also noticed in the article they have been negotiating this for 6 months, so officially (though who knows what was said before) that would mean the minute the kids took back control of the company .... and Rivikin was trying to persude their partners this was not the reason they bought the company back ? Bah !

 

[dmx10101]

"Get ready for cheap Muppet sequels!
by: kyler28 02/17/04 06:56 pm
Msg: 3 of 9

Muppet Movie 2 will replace Bob Hope, Orson Welles, and Steve Martin with David Spade, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey.

Muppets Take Staten Island will be the laugh-a-minute sequel to Muppets Take Manhattan.

Great Muppet Caper 2 (and 3) will explore how Michael Eisner managed to fool shareholders into thinking he's worth the $800 million he's made over the last decade..."

 

[Gremlin]

now that I think about it,Disney partnering up with henson in the early 1990's did well. there was the muppet christmas carol and dinosaurs that were fun it wasn't until the mid to late ninetys the muppets begin to slide

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I'm so totally not happy with this. They should have waited until Eisner was out. He is horrible.

Adding "Muppets" into the mix with classic Disney characters. Someone PLEASE tell me the last quality thing ever done with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy?!

 

[Cap Backfire]

OK, still on the fence.

Greater minds than me are at work here...

Things I want to be thankful for: The Henson kids aren't in charge anymore. When the master dies, it sucks to have the kids take over. Every time. There have been no major innovations with the Muppets for years now and the Henson kids were running the property into the ground, making minor advancements over the last few years. Denny's and Pizza Hut are the only companies using them right now, and even then only for minor commercial roles. So maybe it's time those two weren't in charge anymore.

Rerunning of the original show on disney channel in a decent timeslot. It has to happen!!! They rerun EVERYTHING on the 4 channels they have now! So this is very, very good. Even Muppets Tonight, which I've never seen will be rerun here so I can have SOME respect for Clifford and the crew.

New shows/ movies. OK, while you guys are all poo-pooing this idea, this could be very freaking great. Disney, when they put out original movies, do a phenomenal job of it. Nothing is done half-... Butted. They have some of the best writers in the business. OR have access to them. Let's see where this takes us!!!

Bad things: Does this merger/ buyout mean that there will BE no breaking away if things suck??? It doesn't sound like it. It sounds like the Muppets will belong to Disney, lock, stock and barrel. This may or may not be good.

Regarding the new shows/ movies (this was inspired by someone earlier thinking that Henson might or might not be used as puppeteers, and that there might be alternatives, or new ways to move the puppets...) I had no idea what the new way tomove the puppets would be (how else do you move a puppet for Pete's sake???)--- And this is the scary, nightmare thought I had. CGI. I hate to scare anyone, but it's a distinct possibility. They were the first to incorporate it into the Disneyworld Muppet 3-D show.

Dilution of the driving soul of the Muppets. If they don't keep the essence alive, things will go downhill fast. This has already been addressed by just about everyone, so I'll keep with your thoughts on that, cause mine mirror those more or less.

I hope this is a new beginning. I truly do. But if Disney forces the issues with action figures, I'm out. Straight out.

 

[dmx10101]

I can just see it, like that Rugrats Thornberries movie or the flintstones visit the jetsons show, it'll be the Muppets meet Mickey and friends. A animated short about Kermit and friends visiting Mickey and friends.

 

[Gremlin]

I'm so totally not happy with this. They should have waited until Eisner was out. He is horrible.

Adding "Muppets" into the mix with classic Disney characters. Someone PLEASE tell me the last quality thing ever done with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy?!

I agree fozzie, mickey and the gang hadn't got any good attenion for some time. who knows maybe they will do a mickey and muppet cross over movie[like freddy vs jason].

 

[Aaron]

wonder what phill thinks