The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it will buy the “Muppets” characters, including Kermit, Miss Piggy and others, as well as the “Bear in the Big Blue House,” franchise from The Jim Henson Co. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Disney’s been after the property for a while. It’s odd, because I suspect it will become fodder for permanent attractions at the theme parks, when the casts of any number of Disney flicks, including some very successful ones, have been quickly discarded.
The deal, which is expected to close in about two months, culminates a decades-long pursuit of the Muppets by Disney, which came close to acquiring the characters in 1990. The deal fell apart shortly after the death of company founder Jim Henson.
The company then was bought by German media company EM.TV, which sold it back to the Henson family last year.
The deal does not include the Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who were sold earlier by EM.TV to the Sesame Workshop.
Ah … but does that mean that Disney now owns Farscape? Hmmmmmm …
The Jim Henson Co. will retain its “Creature Shop,” which builds the puppet characters and provides special effects for other studios, as well as the rights to its film and television library, including “Fraggle Rock” and “Farscape,” among others.
Oh, frell.
It is also a coup for Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who has been attacked by some who claim he lacks management skills.
[…] Munich-based EM.TV bought The Jim Henson Co. in February 2000 for $680 million in cash and stock. The company sold it back to the Henson family last July for $78 million in cash.
Hopefully, ah, Eisner’s “management skills” will overcome that sort of devaluation in the brand.
You say “frell” like it’s a bad thing Disney won’t get its three-fingered mitts on Crichton, Aeryn, and Sparky… would we really want a Disneyfied “Farscape” movie? 😉
As opposed to no Farscape movie? Not sure about that.
Of course, there’s already a permanent Muppet show at Disney’s California Adventure.
There’s been a lot of cross-fertilization between the companies so far (akin to Disney/Pixar); it was definitely a good buy for Disney (assuming the price was reasonable).