Question about Disney and licensing characters.

[Rugby]

Why is it that Kermit needs to be removed from and many scenes need to be edited out of every re-released Muppet production that comes out from a different company than Disney(ie emmett otter, christmas toy, muppet family christmas), but yet Disney has no problem letting NBC use their characters for Very Muppet Christmas, Letters From Santa, and appearances on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? It's been said they don't rent out their licensed characters to other companies, but what's the difference when Disney is affiliated with ABC, yet NBC gets anything it wants.

 

[dwmckim]

Why is it that Kermit needs to be removed and many scenes need to be edited out of every re-released Muppet production that comes out from a different company than Disney, but yet Disney has no problem letting NBC use their characters for Very Muppet Christmas, Letters From Santa, and appearances on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? It's been said they don't rent out their licensed characters to other companies, but what's the difference when Disney is affiliated with ABC, yet NBC gets anything it wants.

Am answering in terms of the way Disney sees it and am in no way implying i understand or agree with it...

First off VMX happened before Disney bought them (2002 vs 2004).

As per LTS and Macy's Parade vs Xmas Toy and Emmet, the main difference is allowing their characters to be seen on other networks that Disney doesn't own vs. being seen on dvds that's not theirs. NBC may not be owned by Disney but Disney still sees there being a benefit. They know its silly that any celebrities that fall under their umbrella can only appear on stations/networks they own since that limits their exposure. Muppets Studio (hence Disney) retains ownership of LTS even though NBC broadcasts it. Disney financially benefits. Likewise guest appearances on shows promotes the Muppets and benefits more than hurts them.

To use an analogy, think of all the current Disney stars recording music like Hannah Montana/Miley, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato - to make the largest impact, their music should be played on as much radio and tv stations as possible, not just ones owned by Disney. They may play the heck outta them on Disney's radio channel but they sure aren't gonna keep them from being played on any other major radio station playing hit music.

As per the dvds - well that's harder to defend (and their attempts to do so falls flat) but these are direct competitors in Disney's eyes. Sesame can get away with in due to their non-profit status. But Disney doesn't want to play nice in terms of letting "our big money making star" appear on "your small potatoes rinky dink" attempt at diverting funds away from "our dvd market". Flat out corporate greed. "If we don't own 'em, we won't co-operate...maybe you should sell 'em to us..." Disney has given Muppet fans lots of reasons for us to love them, almost get down on the ground and be kissing those Mickey Mouse shoes even...but this practice of theirs isn't one of them and remains a sobering reminder of some of the darker aspects of the Disney Company.

Disney could play fair and work out a deal where they financially benefit as well from the sales of Kermit-included Emmet and Toy dvds...they just don't wanna. They're being the playground bullies on this issue refusing to play along with anyone else if they can't have 100% of the marbles even if it just means having no friends, everyone hating them and no one being happy.

 

[minor muppetz]

Those are good points, though I wonder how one would explain Disney allowing for Kermit to make a cameo in Mister Magoriums Wonder Emporium, a movie from FOX. I haven't seen the movie but I assume it's on DVD.

It's also a bit odd when just a few years after buying the Muppets, Disney retained ownership of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Universal was allowed to release the Oswald shorts it still owns on the Woody Woodpecker and Friends DVDs. The Henson's should have tried to make a deal back when the sale was made and it was decided that Henson keep the rights to Emmet Otter and Christmas Toy.