Henson sells Muppets to Disney

[Cap Backfire]

I hear ya...

OK Rockstar Girl,

I have heard and acknowledged your statement. I for one, feel that your post does add a much needed positivity to this board right now.

And if MuppetFest was any good for the Muppets in the first place, I don't see why Disney would scrap it. It would just be under their reigns now. This could be very, very good.

So come on guys, at least TRY and see the positive light in this... Some of the recent thoughts have made ME change my mind just a little..l

josh.

 

[Beebers]

Dude, are ya serious? Whoah! I havent heard anything about this in the news or pop culture stuff(then again I dont watch tv, heh)

Yes, they really did it. One projectile vomitation is worth a thousand words. As it were.

 

[Luke]

would you rather that The Hensons kept it and did nothing with it?

Actually they were doing a lot with it - just because they didn't tell you personally what their plans were didn't mean they weren't planning stuff. They were actually getting a lot more stable lately.

Now if you'll excuse me i'll get back to my donut ... Mmmm donuts ....

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

Actually they were doing a lot with it - just because they didn't tell you personally what their plans were didn't mean they weren't planning stuff. They were actually getting a lot more stable lately.

Now if you'll excuse me i'll get back to my donut ... Mmmm donuts ....

But maybe now they can worry less about business and more about singing and dancing and making people happy. This might really be a way of liberating the company's spirit.

 

[Beebers]

Now there's a novel idea. Wouldn't that be nice? It really would. Only time will tell.



So much, too, is going to depend upon the writing for the characters, as it would no matter where they were residing. This has been in my view the glaring weak point for zee Muppets for a very long time now. We'll just have to see what happens.

Perchance zee Beauregard et. al. will get their script agented and save zee day, one never knows.

 

[Luke]

But maybe now they can worry less about business and more about singing and dancing and making people happy. This might really be a way of liberating the company's spirit.

Why? They still have all the same problems. They will still need to stay afloat and get the properties they do still own working for them? I really doubt offloading the Muppets means they now all they have to do is sit back and make Muppet projects galore with a care in the world. If anything, there is now MORE pressure on them to develop new things themselves to fill the gap. Sure, they get to consult and work on any new Muppet stuff but thats all down to what Disney wants, when they want it - and a company like Diz is gonna be even more strict about them keeping to budgets and sticking to schedule.

Not that i'm trying to put a downer on this - i'm one of the more optimistic ones about it but this certainly does have a lot of problems around it, and people assuming that Henson definitely couldn't have got along without this are probably wrong.

 

[dbarrie]

I agree that the timing of this deal could've been better, and I agree that both companies are in a fragile state at the moment, and I agree that Michael Eisner's gotta go. I also agree that mistakes were made the last time they attempted to work together. But this deal, sorry to say, was bound to happen sooner or later. Maybe something positive or redeeming will come out of it, like better promotion and products like complete seasons of TMS and MT on DVD, or reissues of the movie and TV soundtracks on CD. Maybe the mistakes of the past have been learned and will finally be corrected.

Since I made the previous posting, I've read the editorial that Phillip wrote, and I must admit that I am troubled by some of the details. My initial understanding was that Disney bought ALL the Muppet characters except the Sesame Street ones. Since the JHC is still independent, couldn't their separate agreement with Disney trigger a revival in its fortunes? Maybe it could stimulate the JHC to reissue the other Muppet stuff like Fraggle Rock and re-energize itself so it can create new Muppet projects (despite being in competition with itself under Disney)

The jury's still out on this one, but I'm just disenchanted with the so-called fans wanting to give the Disney-Henson union a write-off. A fan without faith is no fan at all, IMO. Our voices and consumer power -- not to mention the future of the Muppets themselves -- may certainly implode if keep bickering amongst ourselves.

OI MuppetFan

the animosity...or is it "animal-mouse-ity"?...toward the idea of a disney-muppet co-venture is not completely unfounded.

anybody remember all the same kind of b.s. being spouted by brian and mr. bob iger when abc was all set to enter this wonderful creative partnership with the jim henson company some years ago? wasn't this ABC under Disney's watch? they didn't give "muppets tonight" more than, what, 6 or seven episodes before yanking it. plus, they only promoted it as another kiddie show, if at all. and anybody remember that other sitcom entry in the grand legacy...with the alien in the family?

love mr. walt disney and what he and his company accomplished all you want...i know i do. but don't be deluded into thinking the thing walking around calling itself "Disney" today is the same animal.

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

Why? They still have all the same problems. They will still need to stay afloat and get the properties they do still own working for them? I really doubt offloading the Muppets means they now all they have to do is sit back and make Muppet projects galore with a care in the world. If anything, there is now MORE pressure on them to develop new things themselves to fill the gap. Sure, they get to consult and work on any new Muppet stuff but thats all down to what Disney wants, when they want it - and a company like Diz is gonna be even more strict about them keeping to budgets and sticking to schedule.

Well, my brain knows that these concerns are valid, but my heart won't admit it. I'm just going to assume that the great amount of exposure and new material that this move will result in will compensate for the downsides. I'm too stubborn to be practical...

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

I'm on the fence with this one. On the one hand, I wish that the Muppets could have stayed completely in the Henson's hands. On the other hand, hopefully this move will prove to be beneficial to both parties in the long run.

I like this thread better than the two Muppet communities over at LiveJournal. At least here there's a bit of rationality in the reactions to this. Over there people are acting like the Muppets have one foot in the grave.

-Kim

 

[MuppetNewsFlash]

Well I think in the end this will be a GREAT thing not just a good thing, and not just for Disney and the Muppets but for JHC as well.

Think about this, now that Disney and JHC will have something regular working together, who do you think Disney will push for when projects come up for films, like say the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe that they are going to be making, with shared interest between the companies it would make sense for Disney to have Henson Creature Shop do the work on this and other such projects.