[Whovian2018]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance Quazar

Well, yeah, that's what Whovian said. Disney no doubt wanted the Sesame characters, too, and Jim (who was co-owner of them) said no.

Yep, but the sale of Sesame Street had nothing to do with Disney.

Many people are under the impression that Disney has owned the Muppets since 1990. This is mostly due to the fact that Disney helped the Jim Henson Company produce some stuff in the 90's. They made Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, air Muppets Tonight on ABC and the Disney Channel, and aired Dinosaurs on ABC. They also helped produce a short lived TGIF show called Aliens in the Family which was a Jim Henson Company show. The deal never actually went through, but Disney was basically courting the Jim Henson Company for a decade before they finally got part of what they wanted, the branding for The Muppets.

Now, the Jim Henson Company is a splintered shell of its former self. Sesame Street lives on as its own thing, with puppets still being made by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. Fraggle Rock and other Muppet properties that did not have Fozzie, Piggy, Kermit, etc, stayed with the Jim Henson Company. Disney took The Muppets, the branding for characters that originated from The Muppet Show, all the Muppet movies, The Jim Henson Hour Muppet TV segments, Muppets Tonight, and other productions that featured characters from The Muppet Show.

I totally get why the general public, and even many fans, have trouble with this weird splintering of the company. When Happy Time Murders was released, so many people thought it was Disney doing it.