Victory is Ours!

[beaker]

Well, today is cause for jubilation and relief for Muppet fans across the globe...V-Day, the moment we've been all waiting for after 3 years of uncertainty. Finally the evil media giant has been slayed, the mouse has been fended off, and in the end the wonder, imagination, and love of the frog triumphed.

The Muppets are *finally* back home where they can belong...and soon
the rebuilding, the restoration, and a new direction can begin.

As Muppet fans, we have watched in agony for the last decade plus as our furry fleece and felt friends have wraithed in obscurity and uncertainty. Does this mean the JHC buyback is the end of this decade+ quagmire? Does it mean we are right back to 1999? I believe JHC has learned their lesson.

a new era is forming...When the streaming Muppety banners unfurl from atop the structures, the trumpeted seraphim choir hall sings...and the afterbirth of a new beginning has been tilled...a nation of new sillyness, laughter, wackyness and celebration shall emerge. I have confidence in the vision of Rivkin, the combined prowess of the Henson kids, and a renewed sense of direction.

I believe 2004 may finally be that triumphant return afterall....the rightful continuation from 1989 I dream for.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

YAY!!

I have never been so jubilant in my whole life!

Today i also received my autographed picture of me and Brian Henson which I sent to him, so it's even better...

He sent a note back on his stationary that reads "Thanks for the picture!" because I sent him a copy of the photo as well, and the top of the stationary reads: Brian Henson Productions...and...

What does that mean? He has his OWN organization? Isn't the JHC offices at 1416 N La Brea Ave in Hollywood??

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Well, today is cause for jubilation and relief for Muppet fans across the globe...V-Day, the moment we've been all waiting for after 3 years of uncertainty.

Well, "victory's been ours" for about a little over a week now, but we'll see how it goes from now.

The merchandise is impressive though.

 

[BlueFrackle]

Guys,

Thank god!

Now lets get back onto that track that we were trying to get on before EM.TV bought the company !



see ya

 

[Beauregard]

Wa-oooooooooooooo!!!!!!

In celebration:

- - ?

 

[beaker]

Thank god!

Now lets get back onto that track that we were trying to get on before EM.TV bought the company !



see ya

Agreed! Now JHC can finally get back to the dream at hand! I feel like the end of Return of the Jedi, where the evil empire was thwarted! heh
EM.TV *and* Disney beaten? Oh yeah!

 

[Luke]

Victory is ours ? You'd hardly know it - is it ? Yeah the sale was approved by the shareholders but does the company just pass over today or was there some kind of final agreement signed ? You'd think they would do a press release or something.

As for the company getting back on track from where they left off - sorry to dissapoint you kids but they weren't really upto much back then and things were going from bad to worse. I think if anything they are planning to continue the good work that Rivkin started under EMTV. It's not about anything being slayed - EMTV were doing a good job at first and allowing the Henson people to go in the direction they wanted. If it had carried on that way and developed rather than run into problems i don't think anybody would be complaining. The future will be about keeping up the Muppet rebirth that started with the year of 25th anniversary celebrations - that's the key, keeping the Muppets in the public eye and slowly capitalising on that popularity with merchandise, films and TV shows.

If anything people should be thanking EMTV - ok, they did turn out to be run by a bunch of crooks but once they ran into problems they could have also made things a LOT harder for Henson. They could have just given up on the Muppets and retired it as a bad investment, put the company on ice until it was sold, meaning no anniversary and no Muppetfest, they could have easily sacked Rivkin and Brian replacing them with German suits only interested in making money. Henson and EMTV did have bad times in the relationship but for the most part it was fairly amicable and at least they allowed Henson to try to grow and develop even if it could only give very limited resources and had to make some difficult decisions (cuts and redundancies) along the way - though that is part and parcel of running any business that has problems.

........ it's nice they are back home though, but i wouldn't expect any major changes just yet - things have been ticking along fine !

 

[Fozzie Bear]

The future will be about keeping up the Muppet rebirth that started with the year of 25th anniversary celebrations - that's the key, keeping the Muppets in the public eye and slowly capitalising on that popularity with merchandise, films and TV shows.

Right on, reverend! Preach it!!

I complained about the EM.TV sale from the beginning, before it went bad. If only I could be so precognitive about my own decisions as I am about others' I'd fare okay in life. But, alas! Such is not my case. *sigh*

I think at this point the JHC folks are going to have to 'prove' to themselves, the entertainment community, and the fans that they CAN do it and be a big entertainment company all over again.

Let's hope they do.

FIZZY

 

[Luke]

Yeah i wasn't too happy about the sale to EMTV either - i can't believe that Henson's kids sold the whole legacy to a German company. I guess it was made easier for them by $680 Million being waggled in front of their face, mounting company problems and also false promises that they would be silent parents .... but still, i'm big enough to acknowledge EMTV were doing a fantastic job at the start (or at least allowing JHC to do a fantastic job) and it seemed their plans were genuine. They really raised the Muppets profile very quickly, at least in Europe and i'm sure the U.S would have been focused on soon enough and would have got the same treatment. It should probably be more of a case of thanking the almighty frog in the sky that things didn't get much worse and saying bad kids, naughty kids .... don't do it again. If the Muppets don't make enough money or this rebirth dies down after a few years they probably will do though, and they'll have the sense to negotiate with Disney to make sure they have some greater kind of control over how the franchise is used and walk away with sacks more money. The lesson to be learned is that even when you're multi-millionaires in Hollywood and are pretty much sorted for life - money still talks volumes, even when family is involved !

 

[Fozzie Bear]

He sent a note back on his stationary that reads "Thanks for the picture!" because I sent him a copy of the photo as well, and the top of the stationary reads: Brian Henson Productions...and...What does that mean? He has his OWN organization? Isn't the JHC offices at 1416 N La Brea Ave in Hollywood??

But what about that?

I've always considered EM.TV a bad-guy (for lack of better terminology) and have blamed Brian Henson for that deal--why, I dunno on either account. It's just where my decisions have led me. HAD all things turned out okay, I would have had to tuck my tail and say I was wrong about the EM.TV deal, but nothing during their reign can I bring myself to be thankful of---HOWEVER, I wasn't ever on the European front, so I can't say 100% what they did or didn't do there. As far as USA appearances et al, I kind of figured JHC would have had that going on anyways.

Still, what's this with Brian Henson Productions??