Why Disney? Or Episode One: The Phantom Mouse

[danielromens]

Again let me remind folks of what the good people at disney did around the original sale. If you recall a brochure ready "Disney's Muppets" was out for their arrival to the park. This is after Jim's Death and before a final sale. I'm sure they'll keep the name around huh?

 

[Phillip]

"Disney's Muppets" was being used in promotional material as well.

 

[Luke]

Yeah but lets put this in context, through the wonders of a little something called 'forward planning', if Disney were using 'Disneys Muppets' in that short a time after Jim's death, he would likely have known about it before he died.

As for the Henson name remaining - i think its a little different now. At that time the Muppets were more a current brand, now they are considered a little more nostalgic and of course, Jim's name is still a big draw. I really doubt they'd ditch it as it now has a kind of legendary status. People seem to just want to badmouth Disney on their exploits of long ago (and thats fine with me) but you should consider some of the plus points too. They've just done superb work on the MTI DVD, actually producing new extra matierial, commentary etc for a film they could have just put out on its own. Does that not show they are attempting to treat the Muppets with some respect when they could have put the money into 'Pinochio 6' or whatever else they are producing themselves ?

This is the kind of thing that p*ssed me off about the Jim Hill article - if there was ONE thing that showed that Disney were wooing the Henson company then it was the fact they actually worked with JHC for the first time in ages to produce new muppet matierial for that DVD but did it get a single mention ? Nope !

 

[ZootandDingo]

Originally posted by Phillip Chapman
"Disney's Muppets" was being used in promotional material as well.

I apologize if this was already discussed at some point, but is that why Henson took action against Disney and thus killing the original deal? I know the deal was aborted for a variety of reasons such as the loss of Jim, but I'm curious what the Henson company's major complaint was?

I thought when I first heard about it that the problem was Disney was starting to sell Muppet products in stores without the okay from Henson, but back then matters of business were not much to keep my ear glued to the television, so I can't say I bothered to learn much more than that at the time.

What were the specifics of Henson's problem?

 

[frogboy4]

The bit I know about it concerns the sizeable slashing of Disney's asking price after Jim's death. Under the deal he had much creative control over the Muppets but could retire anytime. The deal hadn't been completed before he died and their was a lawsuit against Disney for changing their asking price. It was all rather tacky on Disney's part in my opinion. They still had to settle out of court so I'm sure they would have played their cards differently had they known the outcome. Henson Co had liquidated much of their licensing deals so that's why it was so hard for them to bounce back and why it was difficult to locate Muppet stuff. That's about all I know.

 

[Blind Pew]

Originally posted by frogboy4
I have never been or will ever be much of a Disney supporter for anything, but...
If you think that the other companies won't exploit the Muppets for gain, you are kidding yourself. It's the nature of the entertainment business. The question really is - what will the company do with the Muppets once they have been merchandised to death - Disney will likely keep them around for generations to enjoy while Viacom or Time Warner may hide them away.

So true........ and if they merchandise them to death, believe me, I'll buy.

 

[radionate]

Jim Hill wrote some really interesting stuff on the Disney/Henson relationship at www.laughingplace.com

It gives a little insite into the buisness side of the relationship, and the ultimate downfall.

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

I just wanna stay in my own li'l world where I can enjoy classic Disney and classic Muppets and nothin' bad ever happens.

 

[beaker]

disney pros and cons

disney pros:
best darn looking new edgy 2d/2.5d animated features
and 3d features. (who are the competition kidding...spirit, shrek, ice age, blechh!) disney has dug themselves out of that horrific cliched bad animation hole from the 90's(ie: the stale save the princess two talking sidekicks and a emperor...worked fine with aladdin...but then pocahontas, hunchback, mulan, hurcules...ugh)
and into the more hip vein(ie: emperor's new groove rocked)
So theyve shown they can finally change.

cons: the absolute destruction of a property
look what they did to the great nightmare before christmas merchandise. and we all know roger rabbit is really half time warner, being as virtually more than half the characters are
looney tunes. As everyone would agree, limited partnership with Disney has worked and will work, but an all out buyout might not work. But after the emtv(eMpTyV?) fiasco, perhaps anything is better. Folks, were talking about the much anticipated glorious and triumphant return of the Muppets...which company is going to help make that happen?

Finally, I do have my doubts about the others. Viacom has the cool as heck invader zim, and warner owns the matrix franchise.
so that makes me happy...but would they have the skills to really push the Muppets into a glory not seen since the 80's?
Fox has shown its maligned ill begotten tastes with sludge like greg the bunny, and the gillions of horrific 'reality' tv specials.

I expect we'll find out whoever it is by year's end, and hopefully by mfest2(which Im hoping to hear about on here soon)

:: beaker ::

 

[frogboy4]

beaker

I get your point but I have to disagree with your comments about Shrek and Ice Age (I won't even see Spirit, though).

Shrek fared even better at the box office than Monsters Inc (also a good film) and Ice Age made a mint as well - breaking records in its opening weekend.

I don't predict that Lilo and Stitch will do that well - it just looks icky to me and I can't imagine myself buying a ticket and sitting through it.

That being said, I agree that Disney is still the best bet for the Muppets. I just didn't agree with the other stuff you said. Everyone I've met enjoyed both Ice Age and Shrek.