The Walt Disney Company and The Jim Henson Company

[dannyhooley]

Hi everybody,

I'm Danny Hooley, and I'm brand-new to the Muppet Central forum.

I'll be honest with you: I LOVED it back during the years 1992-1996 when Disney bought the rights to the entire Jim Henson Company library -- and by that, I don't just mean the Muppets like they do today, but also "Fraggle Rock," "The Dark Crystal," and everything else in between up to that point in time.

I'm proud to admit that I own most of the entire Jim Henson library that Disney released at the time -- save a few titles like "The Frog Prince."


I love "Fraggle Rock" & The Jim Henson Company & everything it stands for -- which is why I personally was upset when I heard that Disney had bought the Muppets from the Henson company and not the rest of the company. But that's just me.

 

[jackrb]

I once heard that Disney bought all the rights to the Muppets but HIT Entertainment bought the rights to Fraggle Rock and Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas so HIT gets Fraggles and Emmet Otter and Disney gets the rest.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry, but I have to correct that last statement for you. Hit was not the owner... Hit was a partnership (primarily for licensing and distribution) and it ended early last year. Henson's stuff is still self owned, and any deal they make is ONLY for distribution and licensing. Lionsgate is their partner in releasing Home Entertainment.

As for the 90's Disney partnership, that's what it was... a partnership that released movies and merchandise. Disney never officially owned the Muppets until they sold them (and Bear in the Big Blue House) in 2005 or so. Henson WAS owned by a German TV conglomerate for a while in the late 90's up until it went bankrupt and sold everything back to Henson (the Sesame Street characters were sold back to CTW/SW sometime when EMTV bought them, actually).

 

[frogboy4]

Welcome to the forum!
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Disney (Buena Vista) did release many great Muppet films on home video at a time when they'd been out of circulation for years! The rights have reverted back to the respective companies of ownership, but it was nice to see Disney help make the Henson creations popular to a whole new generation of people.

I personally support Disney ownership of the Muppets. (Of course, that's now that Eisner is gone. I can't trust a man who almost let Pixar get away.) Jim felt the characters belonged there and I do too. They'll give the Muppets a longevity they deserve.

As for Fraggle Rock, it was such a personal project from Jim and the whole gang that brought that into being. I don't feel right with Disney's ownership of the characters because they don't quite fit into the Disney model. However, I would support Disney financing and distribution of the Fraggles. We'll see what the new efforts under Henson and Weinstein give the Fraggle brand.

Again! Welcome to the forum! ​