Henson sells Muppets to Disney

[King Prawn]

I don't know what to think anymore

 

[beaker]

so I think they could be persuaded to buy 50% of the Muppets leaving Henson still in control, they'll get half of what they're asking for (seeing as how for some reaosn they need money) and most importantly we'd be happy

????? 50%? That's even worse.

Well fellow MC goers...I said long ago I felt 2005, the 50th Anneversary of
the Muppets...that our beloved furry fellows would rise to greatness once again. I believe that to be true, I just didnt know itd be under the Disney banner. I guess Im still in shock...like most of what is reported Muppet buyout news, it seems like this is gonna be another red herring, tho I know better...

Finally...I dont give a crap that Sesame Workshop owns Sesame...or that
Disney owns the Muppet Show character brand, Bear...and that JHC owns Fraggle Rock. To me those four franchises WILL ALWAYS BE JIM HENSON's MUPPETS to us.

 

[Jennifer12]

Why do fans always think they have so much say in how business decisions are made? Reality check folks: As far as any company is concerned, you can buy their product or not. If you don't someone else will. I don't doubt that Henson appreciates their fans, but thinking we have any type of influence over multi-million dollar deals is dreaming. A nice thought, but not practical. Corporations are not democracies. Employees don't get a vote in every decision made, so it's a little fantasical to imagine that consumers do. Yes, sometimes a television show is renewed another season because of a petition, and sometimes a product is taken off the shelves if nobody purchases it, but M&A's have little to do with "fans."

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but this is not likely to be derailed because some people on a website (including me) don't like it.

Jen

 

[dbarrie]

I AGREE. I don't have a business background, but somehow your views on this topic make sense to me. The Henson kids are not dumb, and this decision to give Disney their main Muppet properties was not a spur-of-the-moment one. It was 14 years in the making.

OI MuppetFan

Not.

I mean c'mon, even I wouldn't do that, as a businessman anyway. Besides they already have a "consulting arrangement" and I'm sure these kind of issues came up in the negotiations. I don't think the Henson family, who are businesspeople, would sell two of their company's biggest franchises without seriously thinking about the pros and cons of doing so.

 

[Gobo_Tron2]

Wow, I picked an interesting time to crawl out of my little hole in the wall. Within 3 days of me struggling to get back to my Muppety self and then this happens. Sheesh! I never was the master of good timing..

In any event, at least some people know how I've felt about this scenario ever since news of it broke a couple years back that Disney was once again considering acquiring the Muppets - even to the point that I had to spend over a month making that Disney vs. Henson movie just to vent some frustration over it. I'm not happy about this at all. I still like Disney... sometimes, but I don't think I'd trust them with the Muppets even if they gave me contract saying that if they couldn't do a good enough job within 2 years they'd hand their purchase over to me for the mere cost of a flying rubber chicken. It's even more frightening in recent months when it turns out that it isn't only the fans who have had less-than-enthusiastic opinions about Eisner, so much so that members of the board including a member of the Walt Disney family are lining up at the ticket booth to see an enlightening new film entitled "The Resignation of the CEO". Ok, they've come up with some good stuff even in the last couple years - Pirates of the Carribean gave me some hope that there is still a spark of creativity burning somewhere in the dark recesses of the Disney think-tank (even though it appears more of that is due to Johnny Depp's inspiration rather than the writers, although the simple fact that they listened to his ideas at all is an additional sign of hope). But just looking at the way Disney often pulls their own ideas out of the past and refits them for the modern world, at a fraction of its original quality just so they can make some mediocre profit off of it, I could so easily see the same thing happening to the Muppets.

The other terrifying thought recently is Pixar leaving Disney to go onto better things, followed by Disney's sudden decomissioning of their animation studio with the intent of making no cartoons other than Computer-Generated ones. The obvious reason for this is the belief that traditional animation is outdated and they're only interested in pursuing what is new. Now, if Disney thinks that cel-animation is outdated, and that medium is only roughly a century-old, how are they going to treat puppetry, something that's ten times older? Unless they suddenly have a change of heart, the logical answer to that is horrendous CGI-versions of Jim Henson's Muppets - no puppeteers, which would certainly give Eisner more freedom to do what he wanted and rely less heavily on advice from JHC.

Even more scary is that Comcast is looking to purchase Disney, which if this happened or any other company purchased Disney, would make things even more difficult for our beloved characters. With every merger that takes place, it increases the chance that a property will suddenly get brushed under the rug to be heard from again. Under Disney is scary enough, but if Disney is pushed under yet another corporate giant, the odds of the Muppets getting crushed and buried under the weight becomes even more likely.

Sorry if anyone has covered this already but I haven't had the time to read through the entire thread yet and wanted to get my feelings out now.

That revision of the Goodbye song, BethC, tugged at my heart. Depressing, but somehow beautiful. Sometimes a pity due to political reasons that Henson couldn't put together some kind of little farewell, just in case the worst happens as a result of this. Something similar to that has been going through my mind and your script inspired me to go ahead with it. It maybe somewhat ill-timed and some might declare it inappropriate as they did the first installment of that saga, but the way I'm feeling since this news broke demands that I make a sequel to the original DvH trailer. But for those of you who are looking for another humerous (though it will have its funny parts) video, might not get exactly what they're looking for. The first project reflected my agressive feelings at the time, 'take up arms and fight'. But my feelings are definately not the same this time around. The 'Overlord' has won and there's no reason to fight.

This is indeed one of the darkest days I've ever seen. I wanted to cry when I first read the headline. Somehow I feel like Jim has died a second time. Having it happen once was hard enough.

Let's all just pray that Eisner isn't as evil and sinister as some of us fear he is.

Time to say good-bye to your home, Places you've known, Heart like a stone, As you go.
Time to scramble down from the dream, List rock and stream, Golden and green while you go.
Good-bye, Good-bye, And every eye is dry. Leavin', there's no grievin' just a rainbow in the sky. Good-bye, Good-bye. Good-bye, Good-bye.
Time to say good-bye to our own, To our only home, Only place we've known like a glove. Every dream we dreamed happened here, Laughter and tears, Moments and years that we loved.
Good-bye, Good-bye, And every eye is dry. Leavin', there's no grievin' just a rainbow in the sky. Good-bye, Good-bye. Good-bye, Good-bye. Good-bye, Good-bye. Good-bye​

 

[King Prawn]

I think I made it pretty clear in my post that I didn't know what I was talking about, that I had no real solution for this and was just suggesting stuff. I made it clear after eveything I said that there probably was a reason why that hadn't happened yet but I'll leave it at that.

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Hi im new here

Hi-ho,

Im new here.... I've been snoopin around here the last few days now and i have to say I DON'T trust Eisner eather (i did catch em on CNN the other night) But hey look on the bright side... NEW MUPPET stuff for us Muppet fans man!!!! lol I loveeeeeeee Muppet 3d in Disney land CA, I hope NEW Muppet things do come to the Disney parks and SOON!!!

 

[scarylarrywolf]

The 'Overlord' has won and there's no reason to fight.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but this is my personal reaction:

Wrong. The "Overlord" may have one, but we can fight as fans through influence. The power of writing to the company and letting them know just how important this deal is to fans -- putting them on edge -- is what we have to work with. It may be small, but if you don't use it, you'll have the guilt of doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING toward the cause for a long time to come.

 

[dwmckim]

Im also of the mindset that petitions are largely a wasted effort...theyre not looked at very seriously by people in this kind of decision making place...they may sometimes have an effect in programming decisions but to Disney who sees this as a decade and a half dream ... it wont be taken seriously ... especially since the decisions already been made.

So those who feel a need to take some kind of action need to do so with that reality in mind...while there is a too insignificant to be taken into consideration chance that the decision can be reversed or not taken all the way though, we need to go with the reality that this is a done deal.

EVen before seeing other people here were considering it, ive also planned on writing into Disney and this is something i reccomend...well written snail mailed letters still have the most clout in big business. There are many passionate and eloquent fans here that can do a lot of good by writing. The approach ive been planning on is a very diplomatic but real commentary on what the Henson fan community both hope and fear; what we do and dont want to say short and long term not just in output but in behind the scenes dealings/approach. Thankfully they have a consulting deal with Henson and we all hope theyll offer the best guidance possible but to hear from the other side of the equation how the end users who will ultimately buy or pass up an end product can also make a huge difference. Theres actually a lot of lessons that can be learned from the Save Farscape campaign....one is that mailed letters do make a difference (especially when they come in volume) and ESPECIALLY when theyre not overly negative or angry...yes we all feel very passionately but if the tone is overall that of angry, you can count on the letter being tossed aside as the impulsive rumblings of a fanatic.

On another note, i wouldnt spend too much time worrying about Fraggle Rock. Just because Disney didnt buy the rights to it doesnt mean they wouldnt love to have it as a product they can air on television or release on video. In fact, Henson holding onto FR has more potential to be a good thing because without the Classic Muppets, JHC will really have to get behind their remaining properties...which would tend to indicate more of a realistic chance well see them start marketing the Fraggles more aggresively (a move that is already underway...what with the new FR merchandise at Hot topic.)

 

[scarylarrywolf]

Beautifully stated. I just wonder, since I intend to incorporate some statements from MC and mention the site in general, should we keep this site anonymous? If things seem too negative toward Disney over here, that might give them more of a motive to shut us down, if they dare.