The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company
Private
Industry Puppetry, Animation, Computer graphics, Digital puppetry, Entertainment
Founded November 20, 1958
Founder Jim and Jane Henson
Headquarters Jim Henson Company Lot, Los Angeles, California; offices and production facilities in New York City and London
Key people
 Brian Henson
(Chairman)
Lisa Henson
(President & CEO)
Parent Independent
(1958–2000, 2003–present)
EM.TV & Merchandising AG
(2000–2003)
Divisions Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Henson Recording Studios
Website www.henson.com
Jim Henson Company in Los Angeles.

The Jim Henson Company (also known at various times as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.) is an American entertainment company, a leading producer of children's and family entertainment (despite some of the company's works containing mature content), and best known as the creators of the renowned Muppets characters.[1] Founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson and performing partner and wife Jane Henson,[2] the company is independently owned and operated by the children of its founders.

Henson has produced many successful television series, including The Muppet Show (later owned by Disney), Fraggle Rock, Dinosaurs, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Farscape, and creates the Muppet characters for the long-running PBS television series, Sesame Street. The company has also produced many films, including The Muppet Movie (1979), The Dark Crystal (1982), and Labyrinth (1986). Henson also operates Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a puppet, animatronics, and visual effects workshop, which has created characters and effects for Henson productions, as well as outside producers.[3]

In 1989, the company entered merger negotiations with The Walt Disney Company, but the deal fell through following Jim Henson's unexpected death in 1990. Following Henson's death and the calling off of the Disney merger, the company was taken over by Henson's children, Lisa, Cheryl, Brian, John, and Heather, with Brian at the helm. In 2000 Henson was sold to EM.TV & Merchandising AG, a German media company, but by the end of that year, EM.TV's stock collapsed, and the company was sold back to the Henson family in 2003. (EM.TV had in the interim sold the rights to the Sesame Street Muppets to Sesame Workshop in 2001.[4])

In 2004, Henson sold the rights to the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House to The Walt Disney Company, but retains the rights to the rest of its characters, program library, and assets. As of 2014, Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, and Heather Henson run the company (sibling and fellow co-owner John Henson died in February 2014). Brian Henson serves as chairman, while Lisa Henson serves as CEO.

Since 2000, The Jim Henson Company has been headquartered at the Jim Henson Company Lot, the historic former Charlie Chaplin Studios, in Hollywood, California.

History

1958 to 1990

Jim and Jane Henson officially founded Muppets, Inc. on November 20, 1958, three years after Sam and Friends debuted on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Aside from Sam and Friends, the majority of work that the company had until 1969 involved creating characters for various commercials, variety-show appearances, and a few meeting films for various companies (the company would produce its own meeting films from 1965 to 1996). In 1968, the company started creating characters and more than 20 short films for the popular children's show Sesame Street, which would debut on public television in November 1969.

One of the company's first characters to appear regularly on television, Rowlf the Dog, originated with commercials for Purina Dog Chow and soon became famous when he became a regular character on The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966. During this time the show's host, Jimmy Dean, turned down the opportunity to own forty percent of the company because he didn't feel that he had earned it.

For many years, Jim Henson had tried to sell several different shows to the major American networks, all of which turned them down. Some ideas (such as "Tales of The Tinkerdee") were made as unaired pilots, and some (such as "The Zoocus") were never produced. Then, in 1976, British media-mogul Lew Grade approached Jim Henson to produce a weekly show based in England, which became The Muppet Show broadcast on ATV. The success of The Muppet Show led to many movies, specials, videos, and more. The British company ITC originally owned The Muppet Show, among other Henson productions, but Jim Henson later purchased the rights to all productions originally distributed by ITC.

In the early 1980s, Jim Henson also formed Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which would go on to provide characters for shows such as The Storyteller, Farscape, and Dinosaurs; and movies such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. During the 1980s Jim Henson produced new television series such as Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour.

In August 1989, Jim Henson and Disney CEO Michael Eisner announced a deal in which Henson would merge his company with The Walt Disney Company. The deal, reportedly valued at $150 million, also included a fifteen-year contract for Henson's personal "creative services."[5] However, the deal did not include the rights to the Sesame Street characters, which were owned by Henson, although merchandising revenue was split between Henson and the Children's Television Workshop. Also, during the negotiations, management of the company's Henson International Television distribution unit based in the UK purchased their unit from the company, leading to the establishment of HIT Entertainment.[6]

On May 16, 1990, while still negotiating with Disney, Jim Henson died suddenly. Under the changed circumstances, the two sides could not come to an accord. Negotiations officially ended in December 1990, and Henson would remain an independent company.[7][8]

1991 to 1999

The Henson family took over management of the company, and Brian Henson was named president, chairman, and CEO in January 1991.[9] Over the next few years, Henson signed deals with several companies, including television rights to the Henson library with Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, a record label with BMG Kidz, and granting Disney's Buena Vista Home Video, the home video distribution rights to the entire Henson Productions library up to that time.[10]

In 1995, Henson signed a deal with Capital Cities/ABC to produce primetime television series, a deal which led to Muppets Tonight and Aliens in the Family. And after producing The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island with Walt Disney Pictures, Henson formed Jim Henson Pictures with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

By 1999, The Jim Henson Company held partial interests in two cable channels: The Kermit Channel (broadcasting in Asia) and Odyssey Network (broadcasting in the United States). Hallmark Entertainment also co-owned these networks. In 2001, after Hallmark (through Crown Media Holdings) took full control of these networks, the Kermit Channel was taken off the air and Odyssey was renamed The Hallmark Channel.

2000 to 2004

In 2000, the Henson family sold the company to the German media company, EM.TV & Merchandising AG, for $680 million.[11][12] That summer, EM.TV sold Henson's stakes in the Odyssey and Kermit cable channels in exchange for an 8.2% stake in Hallmark-controlled Crown Media Holdings.[13] By the end of 2000, after EM.TV subsequently experienced major financial problems, EM.TV sold the company's ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets and Henson's small interest in the Noggin television network to Sesame Workshop,[14] and by early 2001, the Henson Company itself was put up for sale.[15] The Walt Disney Company,[16] Viacom,[17] HIT Entertainment,[18] AOL Time Warner,[19] Haim Saban,[20] Classic Media,[21] as well as Henson management, among others, were all parties reportedly interested in acquiring the company.

In December 2002, a deal was announced in which EM.TV would sell a 49.9% stake in Henson to an investment group led by Dean Valentine, a former executive at Disney and UPN.[22] However, in March 2003, the deal fell through, blamed on financing issues on Valentine's part.[23] In May 2003, EM.TV was reportedly nearing an agreement to sell Henson to a partnership between Classic Media and Sesame Workshop (with financing from Sony Pictures Entertainment),[24] until the Henson family stepped in and bought back the company for a closing price of $84 million.[25]

In 2004, almost one year after ownership of the Henson company was returned to the family's hands, the Jim Henson Company sold the rights to The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House characters to the Walt Disney Company,[26] who now control the Muppets through the wholly owned subsidiary, The Muppets Studio. Disney now owns all Muppet-related trademarks, including the word "Muppet" (though Sesame Workshop still has permission to use the term for its Sesame Street characters through a license from Disney). In the teaser for "Stuffed and Unstrung", a post-Muppet Henson production, the characters of Bobby Vegan and Samson Knight made it clear that they weren't "Muppets."

2004 to present

On April 1, 2004, the company and HIT Entertainment agreed to a five-year global distribution and production deal which included distribution of 440 hours of the company's remaining family library include Fraggle Rock, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Hoobs and Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories.[27] After that deal expired, Henson signed on with Lionsgate Home Entertainment, then subsequently, Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment.

Following the sale of the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House franchises, the company started to become involved with computer animated projects, including the direct-to-video Unstable Fables series and the television shows Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train, as well as the traditional puppetry series, Pajanimals. The company formed Henson Alternative, which made adult puppetry shows, including the live puppet improv shows known alternatively as Puppet Improv, Puppet Up, and Stuffed and Unstrung.

For years the company had been trying to get a Dark Crystal prequel and a Fraggle Rock movie made. In recent years the Fraggles have been making a number of new appearances, usually at special events. The Fraggles appeared with Ben Folds Five in the music video "Do It Anyway", and in 2013, Gobo and Red Fraggle hosted a Fraggle Rock marathon on the Hub Network.

Staff

Henson Family

Leadership

Other staff members

Filmography

Film

Television

This list excludes pre-2001 Sesame Street co-productions outside the United States. From 1969 to 2001, Jim Henson Productions contracted to create and provide Muppet characters for Sesame Street. With the exception of occasional appearances in The Muppets franchise, the characters were used exclusively for Sesame Workshop, but The Jim Henson Company technically owned the characters they created. In 2001, Sesame Workshop bought the rights to all Muppets used on Sesame Street, except Kermit the Frog. After Jim Henson's death, Kermit rarely featured. Because Henson had not created Kermit for the exclusive use of Sesame Workshop (as he created Kermit 14 years before "Sesame Street" began) and Kermit was the main character of The Muppets franchise as well, his case would have required a special agreement. Sesame Workshop owns all footage of Kermit on Sesame Street, and new and previous episodes of Sesame Street can continue to use that footage. The deal ended any direct affiliation between The Muppets and Sesame Street with two exceptions: both franchises employ many of the same puppeteers, and by agreement Sesame Street may still use the term "Muppet" with permission from Disney, who holds the legal trademark to the term. While no longer owning the characters used on the show, The Jim Henson Company continues to design and build Muppet characters for Sesame Street in their New York workshop.[29]

Direct to video

Theme parks

Web content

Henson Alternative

This list contains the mature projects of The Jim Henson Company under its Henson Alternative banner:

Other productions

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gritten, David (1990-08-19). "The Next Muppetmeister?". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  2. ↑ Jones, Jim Henson: The Biography (2013). p. 75.
  3. ↑ Eller, Claudia; Philips, Chuck (1995-05-12). "Sony Nears Deal With Jim Henson Productions". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  4. ↑ http://www.henson.com/sesamestreet.php
  5. ↑ Swansburg, John (December 6, 2013). "Muppet Man". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  6. ↑ "HIT Entertainment PLC History". Company Profiles. fundinguniverse.com. Retrieved 8 April 2013.
  7. ↑ Zonana, Victor F. (1991-04-18). "Henson Heirs Allege Disney Is Illegally Using Muppets". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  8. ↑ Citron, Alan (1990-12-14). "Miss Piggy and Friends Won't Get Together With Mickey and Minnie". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  9. ↑ Willman, David (1992-07-26). "Jim Henson's Children Put Together a String of Big Deals to Keep Alive". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  10. ↑ Stevenson, Richard W. (December 19, 1991). COMPANY NEWS; In Thaw, Henson and Disney Strike Deal on Home Videos. New York Times.
  11. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2000/022100.shtml
  12. ↑ Hofmeister, Sallie (2000-02-22). "German Firm to Buy Henson for $680 Million". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  13. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2000/072600.shtml
  14. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2000/120400.shtml
  15. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2001/031301.shtml
  16. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2001/013001.shtml
  17. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2001/013101.shtml
  18. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2001/020101.shtml
  19. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2001/031201.shtml
  20. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/100802.shtml
  21. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/120602.shtml
  22. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/122402.shtml
  23. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2003/030703.shtml
  24. ↑ http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2003/050903.shtml
  25. ↑ Verrier, Richard (2003-05-08). "Muppets Returning to Hensons' Hands". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  26. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (18 September 2008). "Fuzzy Renaissance". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  27. ↑ Rossingh, Danielle (April 2, 2004). "HIT seals deal for Henson catalogue". Telegraph. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  28. ↑ Knapp, JD (July 1, 2017). "STX Sets Dates for ‘Molly’s Game’ and ‘Happytime Murders’". Variety. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  29. ↑ James, Meg (2004-02-18). "Kermit Is Now Part of Magic Kingdom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-10-18.
  30. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie. "‘Top Puppet’: NBC Orders Reality Special From ‘The Voice’ Producers, Muppet Creators & Craig Ferguson". Deadline.com. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  31. ↑ Petski, Denise. "‘The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance’: Jim Henson Prequel Series Set At Netflix". Deadline.com. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  32. ↑ Videos. Muppet Collectibles . Muppet Central.com. Accessed on November 25, 2013.
  33. ↑ Zad, Martie. "Muppet Group Offers Eight New Songs." The Washington Post. 1993. HighBeam Research. (November 25, 2013).
  34. ↑ Maes, Nancy. (March 7, 1996) Tish Hinojosa's Music Bridges Two Cultures. Chicago Tribune. Accessed on November 26, 2013.
  35. ↑ Martie Zad. (July 2, 1995) "Muppets, Kids Join in Series For Preschoolers." The Washington Post. 1995. HighBeam Research. Accessed on November 26, 2013.
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