Mickey Courts the Muppets

[Muppets1985]

Hey all look what else I just found... ...heres the link for it:


http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm?id=31776&referer=http://207.136.132.20/index.htm


see ya!

 

[BoyRaisin2]

OK, this makes 2 articles that say Disney's bidding for Jim Henson Co., and not just the library and characters.

 

[Luke]

Well $70 million would be cheap for the whole company, and Reuters are very well connected - they wouldn't make a mistake that big. So i would make an educated guess from stuff i've heard and say Disney are prepared to pay $70 Million for the Muppets without JHC, which has probably been the case all along with this sale, but they'll take JHC and all it's assets if they can get it for the same price - which i guess will be down to how desperate EMTV is. Personally i don't see Disney getting the entire company for $70 million, and i think chances of them succeeding in any way are slim. People on this site have really put across the vibe that Valentine has been completely counted out - if you read whats going on that simply is not the case.

I'll have to do a post on this whole Disney thing and how it could affect EMTV and JHC if they just bought the Muppets - lots of stuff that hasn't been said yet. For one, i do not EVER see the JHC continuing without the Muppets, EMTV would close it and just run all the other european production deals itself from Germany. People really think they'd continue to rent highly expensive studios and pay a staff of people when most of the business is done in London anyway ? Yeah right, Miss Piggy just flew past my window !

< > ----- wings

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Yeah, though I want Disney to buy...whatever it is they're trying to get, I'm not getting my hopes up.

Any theory why the Creature Shop isn't involved in anything?

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by BoyRaisin2
Any theory why the Creature Shop isn't involved in anything?

Cos it's worth WAY more money than they'd get if it's lumped in with the Henson Company Sale. There are lots of film companies who'd probably bid on the 'Creature Shop' as a puppetry/animatronics company to add to their own resources, but they wouldn't be interested in having to deal with the bother of an ailing TV production Company, their existing deals and all the baggage that brings.

Personally on the Disney thing, if they were going to take Henson as the actual Henson company it wouldn't be a bad thing because they'd spend so much money they'd have to keep it active. If all they take is the characters and the library then it's pretty much the end of Henson and also any regular Muppet productions - not having the baggage of the offices and staff means Disney can just put the Muppets away in the vaults and bring them out again every few years - which is 100% what i think Disney really wants to do with them - like they and Warner Bros have done with other nostalgic properties. So you'd get great Muppet stuff, top promotion, happy meals, merchandise, films and things once every three or four years but it'd be stone dead and whisper quiet the rest of the time.

 

[BoyRaisin2]

Hmm, now if Disney were to buy The Jim Henson Company, they would, I believe, still use the term(s) "Jim Henson's Muppets," "Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House," "Jim Henson's Brats of the Lost Nebula," etc for future projects. Now if Disney were just to get the hundreds of Muppets without buying Jim Henson Co. itself, do you think they wouldn't be able to use the "Jim Henson" name, unless the "Jim Henson" name would be part of the deal too? Though I want Disney to buy the Muppets, I don't necessarily want to hear Disney's Whatever unless it was a "Dinosaurs"-like project.

'Cause I think of the whole Turner/MGM deal of 1986, and now Warner Bros. uses the classic MGM films and toons in whatever way they want, but under Turner Entertainment Co., not Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. And when Classic Media bought the Harvey Entertainment characters a few years ago, the Casper-less Harvey became Sunland Entertainment and just focuses on sales of PM Entertainment's library on 150 films and 75 TV episodes (whatever they are). So can one of these scenarios be the future of Henson?

And since you have an educated guess or response to anything corporate, could Disney (or even Charles Rivkin) buy the Creature Shop if they wanted to, and how much do you think the Shop's worth if it's being sold SEPARATELY.

 

[BlueFrackle]

Guys,

I think it is majorly silly that anyone could think that Disney would change the name to 'Disney's Muppets', It could turn to 'Walt Disney Presents, Jim Henson's Muppets', But never 'Disneys Muppets'.

Do you think a Company like Henson wouldnt have thought about this ?
They would OBVIOUSLY have a clause against it, Its ludicrous!

 

[Luke]

Originally posted by BoyRaisin2
could Disney (or even Charles Rivkin) buy the Creature Shop if they wanted to, and how much do you think the Shop's worth if it's being sold SEPARATELY.

Anyone could buy the Creature Shop, but since i don't see the Henson Company continuing in business if the Muppets were sold without them i doubt Rivkin would be interested - if there is a lot of work and expertise there it'd probably go to one of the big film companies that do a lot of animated or CGI work so they can move into animatronics too. No idea as to the price - depends on their prospects.

As for the 'Jim Henson' name i think Disney would need some special clause or agreement to use it, like EMTV must do, as the 'Henson Legacy' controls it and not them. Maybe they'd just call them 'The Muppets' - i don't think they are stupid enough now to say 'Disneys Muppets' and as Warrick said i think the Henson Legacy even now has a clause in the EMTV contract that prevents the name being sold on.

I really don't think theres much chance of all this though, EMTV only need 28 million by the end of April. Wouldn't suprise me if another co-partnership deal comes along or they sell off another part of the company.

 

[BlueFrackle]

Guys,

I should think that one of the main things in the contract is the clause against anyone having there name over the Muppets, It will always be Jim Henson's Muppets.

Look at Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol, They both are -


Walt Disney Pictures
Presents
Jim Henson Productions
The Muppet Christmas Carol

 

[scarecroe]

Re: Guys,

Originally posted by Warrick
I should think that one of the main things in the contract is the clause against anyone having there name over the Muppets, It will always be Jim Henson's Muppets.

Look at Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol, They both are -


Walt Disney Pictures
Presents
Jim Henson Productions
The Muppet Christmas Carol

Well again, that's because neither of those films were Disney films. Disney just distributed them, the same way Columbia distributed Muppets From Space.