Posted on: Wednesday, February 18, 2004

'Muppets' joining Disney's kingdom

By Gary Gentile
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co. said yesterday it will buy the "Muppets" characters, including Kermit, Miss Piggy and others, as well as the "Bear in the Big Blue House," franchise from The Jim Henson Co.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal, which is expected to close in about two months, culminates a decades-long pursuit of the Muppets by Disney, which came close to acquiring the characters in 1990. The deal fell apart shortly after the death of company founder Jim Henson.

The company then was bought by German media company EM.TV, which sold it back to the Henson family last year.

The deal does not include the Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who were sold earlier by EM.TV to the Sesame Workshop.

Negotiations between Disney and the Henson family continued about six months.

The Muppet characters already exist in Disney theme parks in a 3D film, while "Bear in the Big Blue House," is a long-running show on the Disney cable television channel.

Disney plans to make new television shows, video games, movies and other products with the existing characters as well as develop new characters in the coming years.

"We have been very impressed by how the Disney company treats its own characters," said Lisa Henson, who, with her brother Brian, is co-chair and co-chief executive of The Jim Henson Co. "We feel if the Muppets are treated with as much care in the long term as Walt Disney's characters are, we will have properly served the legacy."

The deal includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters.

The Jim Henson Co. will retain its "Creature Shop," which builds the puppet characters and provides special effects for other studios.

The announcement is a much-needed boost for Disney, which has been under attack for weeks from ex-board members and is the subject of a hostile takeover bid from cable television giant Comcast Corp.