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Lately, I've been wondering if The Jim Henson Company was desperate to sell the Muppets to Disney back in 2004. For one, I don't think we knew that the company was in talks with Disney regarding selling the characters. Of course, I don't know how common it is for such buyouts to be known about in advance.
But also, I've been wondering this because of a comment made by Gelflingwaldo in the Christmas Toy DVD thread, about Disney's policy being to not "rent" it's characters out to the competition. Now, we know that Sesame Workshop made a deal to continue releasing Kermit appearances in Sesame Workshop productions. I don't know if it's just a deal with Henson that carried over with Disney, or if Sesame Workshop had to negotiate again with Disney. And I know that when Disney bought the rights to Oswald a few years later that a deal was made for Universal to continue releasing the Oswald shorts that the company still owned. Of course, perhaps Universal did that knowing of the Emmet Otter situation.
But still, the people at the Jim Henson Company should have known about the various crossovers over the years, and should have known to make a deal to allow them to release anything they may continue to own featuring appearances by Kermit and other Muppets uncut.
But also, I've been wondering this because of a comment made by Gelflingwaldo in the Christmas Toy DVD thread, about Disney's policy being to not "rent" it's characters out to the competition. Now, we know that Sesame Workshop made a deal to continue releasing Kermit appearances in Sesame Workshop productions. I don't know if it's just a deal with Henson that carried over with Disney, or if Sesame Workshop had to negotiate again with Disney. And I know that when Disney bought the rights to Oswald a few years later that a deal was made for Universal to continue releasing the Oswald shorts that the company still owned. Of course, perhaps Universal did that knowing of the Emmet Otter situation.
But still, the people at the Jim Henson Company should have known about the various crossovers over the years, and should have known to make a deal to allow them to release anything they may continue to own featuring appearances by Kermit and other Muppets uncut.