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The Muppets Studio

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The Muppets Studio, LLC
FormerlyThe Muppets Holding Company, LLC (2004–2007)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedFebruary 14, 2004;20 years ago(2004-02-14)
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
United States
Key people
Leigh Slaughter (vice president)[1]
Products
  • Film
  • Television series
Brands
Number of employees
5 (2015)[2]
ParentDisney Live Entertainment(2019–present)[3]
Websitemuppets.disney.com

The Muppets Studio, LLCis an American entertainmentproduction companyand subsidiary ofThe Walt Disney Company,that owns and produces media content forThe Muppetsfranchise.[4]The division was previously formed asThe Muppets Holding Company, LLCin 2004 through Disney's acquisition ofThe MuppetsandBear in the Big Blue Houseintellectual propertiesfromThe Jim Henson Company.

The Muppets Studio manages the rights tothe Muppetscharacters, including supervising their appearances across Disney's various divisions, as well as producing films, television series, specials, theme park attractions, music recordings, publishing, and live performances featuring the characters.

History[edit]

Background: Disney and Henson's failed merger[edit]

In the late-1980s,Jim Hensonhad been in talks with DisneyCEOMichael Eisnerto sellJim Henson Productionsto Disney.[5]In August 1989, the two officially announced a deal for Disney to purchase Jim Henson Productions for $150 million.[6]The deal fell through several months after Jim Henson's death in 1990.[7]

Despite the collapse of the merger deal, by 1992, Disney and Jim Henson Productions had already struck a number of deals:

The Henson family subsequently sold the entirety of the Jim Henson Company to German conglomerateEM.TVin 2000. In 2003, the Henson family repurchased The Jim Henson Company from EM.TV.[10]

Disney acquisition and formation[edit]

Eisner, still interested in the Muppet properties, re-opened negotiations with the Hensons and announced the purchase ofThe MuppetsandBear in the Big Blue Houseassets fromThe Jim Henson Companyfor $75 million on February 17, 2004.[10]The acquired Muppet assets were then placed into The Muppets Holding Company with Chris Curtin as general manager withinDisney Consumer Products.[11]One of the first appearances that the Muppets made after the purchase was on the TV specialThe Nick and Jessica Variety Hourin April 2004, starringNick LacheyandJessica Simpson.[12]A new website was launched in November 2004 and the Muppets made an appearance on the 2004 Christmas episode ofSaturday Night Live.[13]

The first Muppet production under full Disney control,The Muppets' Wizard of Oz,went into production immediately and aired onABCin May 2005.[14]On July 30, 2005, Animal and Pepe the King Prawn made appearance on TheX Games11 Preview show of All Access onESPN2.[15]Bear's first appearance under Disney's control was in the reality show,Breakfast With Bearin 2005.[16]

A fiftieth birthday tour for Kermit, "Kermit's World Tour" was planned with leadership changes made just days before the tour began. The tour made its initial three stops before being canceled:Kermit, Texas;Johnson Space Centertour; and cake withThe RockettesatRadio City Music Hall,NYC.[13]Following Eisner's exit from Disney, new CEOBob Igerremoved the head of the Muppets Holding Company and several senior staff members hand-picked by Eisner.[13]The Muppets Holding Company was then paired withBaby Einstein(before it was acquired byKids II, Inc.in 2013) under Senior Vice President and General Manager R. Russell Hampton Jr.[13][17]

ABC, in October 2005, commissionedAmerica's Next Muppet,a script and five script outlines,[18][19]but ABC was reluctant to green lightAmerica's Next Muppet,[13]and it never got out of the planning stage.[10]Muppet Holding's new general manager instead licensed the Muppets out toTF1,a French television network, to produceMuppet TVin September 2006.[20]

The Muppets Studio[edit]

In 2006, the Muppets Holding Company was transferred from the Disney Consumer Products unit toThe Walt Disney Studios;with studio executives passing on oversight, the unit was placed in the special events group.[10][11]That same year, Disney contractedPuppet Heapto rebuild, maintain, and create puppet characters for the Muppets Studio. In April 2007, the Muppets Holding Company changed its name to The Muppets Studio under new leadership by Special Events GroupSVPLylle Breier.[13]

In 2008, The Muppets Studio began a licensing agreement withF.A.O. Schwarzto create a Muppet-themed boutique where customers can design their own Muppet.[10]In 2013,Disney Theatrical Productionsrevealed that a show based on The Muppets was in active development and that a 15-minute show had been conducted byThomas Schumacherto see how the technical components would work out.[21]

The company was transferred in 2014 to Disney's new media unit,Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media,specifically DCPI Labs.[17][22]On April 3, 2015, a series of shorts namedMuppet Momentspremiered onDisney Junior.The series features conversations between the Muppets and young children.[23]By April,Bill Pradywas commissioned to write a script for a new Muppets pilot with the titleThe Muppets,[9]which was greenlit by ABC, and ran for one season.[24]

Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media became part ofDisney Parks, Experiences and Productsin a March 2018 company reorganization.[4]That same month, arebootof the 1980sMuppet Babiesseries debuted on Disney Junior.[25]A relaunch of the Muppets franchise was planned as of February 2018 for the then-unnamed Disney streaming service scheduled to be launched in 2019.[26][27]Soon two series were under development for theDisney+streaming service, the unscripted short-form seriesMuppets Now,and the scripted comedyMuppets Live Another Day.Live Another Daywas fromAdam Horowitz,Eddy Kitsis,andJosh Gad,and was planned as an eight-episode series which would depict events taking place afterThe Muppets Take Manhattan.[24]The series was atABC Signature Studioswith a pilot order when Muppets Studios vice president Debbie McClellan departed and her replacement, Disney Parks Live Entertainment senior vice president David Lightbody, wanted a different take on the project. Unwilling to drop their concept, the creative trio left the project.Muppets Nowcontinued development and premiered on the streaming service on July 31, 2020.[24][28]

Leadership[edit]

General manager
  • Chris Curtin, 2004–2005[14][13]
  • Russell Hampton, 2005–May 2006[13]
  • Lylle Breier, Fall 2006[13]
Vice-president
  • Debbie McClellan, c.2015–2019[29][24]
  • David Lightbody, 2019–present[24](senior vice-president)
  • Leigh Slaughter, 2020–present[30][1]

Projects[edit]

See also:List of The Muppets productions

Film and television[edit]

Theme parks[edit]

Web series[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abPotter, Courtney (Summer 2020)."Muppets Now is a Stream Come True".D23.Disney.RetrievedJune 26,2020.
  2. ^Jurgensen, John (September 10, 2015)."The Muppets Grow Up and Go Back to Prime Time".The Wall Street Journal.RetrievedSeptember 28,2015.
  3. ^"Some Exciting News from the Muppets Studio About 'The Muppet Show'".
  4. ^abWang, Christine (March 14, 2018)."Disney announces strategic reorganization, effective immediately".CNBC.RetrievedMarch 14,2018.
  5. ^Givens, Bill (Spring 1990)."The Mouse & The Frog".Animation Magazine.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  6. ^Swansburg, John (December 6, 2013)."Muppet Man".The New York Times.RetrievedSeptember 28,2015.
  7. ^Burr, Ty (May 16, 1997)."The Death of Jim Henson".Entertainment Weekly.RetrievedFebruary 7,2012.
  8. ^Willman, David (July 26, 1992)."Jim Henson's Children Put Together a String of Big Deals to Keep Alive".The Los Angeles Times.RetrievedOctober 18,2010.
  9. ^abGoldberg, Lesley (April 3, 2015)."'Muppets' Revived at ABC With 'Big Bang Theory' Co-Creator ".The Hollywood Reporter.RetrievedApril 6,2015.
  10. ^abcdefgBarnes, Brooks (September 18, 2008)."Fuzzy Renaissance".The New York Times.RetrievedDecember 29,2012.
  11. ^abMasters, Kim (October 20, 2011)."Kermit as Mogul, Farting Fozzie Bear: How Disney's Muppets Movie Has Purists Rattled".The Hollywood Reporter.pp. 3 of 4.RetrievedAugust 20,2013.
  12. ^"The Nick & Jessica Variety Hour (2004) - IMDb"– via www.imdb.com.[unreliable source?]
  13. ^abcdefghiJim, Hill (April 29, 2007)."Monday MouseWatch: Will the third time be the charm with Disney's Muppet revival project?".jimhillmedia.com.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  14. ^abc"Disney's plan to relaunch the Muppets".Muppet Central.com.AP. May 19, 2005.RetrievedFebruary 20,2013.
  15. ^Cave, Steve."THE MUPPETS GET A TASTE OF THE X GAMES".About Sports.About.com.RetrievedFebruary 24,2015.
  16. ^abCrosby, Sherry Joe (November 25, 2013)."When a Bear Comes to Breakfast".Daily News.Los Angeles, CA: HighBeam Research. Archived fromthe originalon June 10, 2014.RetrievedFebruary 24,2015.
  17. ^abSuddath, Claire (September 17, 2015)."Meep Meep TV".Bloomberg Businessweek.RetrievedSeptember 29,2015.
  18. ^Schneider, Michael (October 25, 2005)."Muppets pull strings at ABC".Variety.RetrievedSeptember 24,2007.
  19. ^"'Muppets' may return to primetime TV ".USA Today.AP. October 25, 2005.RetrievedFebruary 24,2015.
  20. ^abJames, Alison (September 17, 2006)."Les Muppets on a French roll".Variety.RetrievedNovember 25,2013.
  21. ^Cox, Gordon (June 11, 2013)."Disney Theatrical Eyeing Muppets On Stage".Variety.RetrievedJune 12,2013.
  22. ^"Kyle Laughlin".disneyconsumerproducts.com.Disney Consumer Products. Archived fromthe originalon September 29, 2015.RetrievedSeptember 29,2015.
  23. ^abKelley, Seth (March 17, 2015)."Kermit Talks to Kids in Disney Junior's 'Muppet Moments'".Variety.RetrievedMarch 19,2015.
  24. ^abcdeGoldberg, Lesley (September 10, 2019)."'The Muppets' Disney+ Comedy Series Scrapped ".The Hollywood Reporter.RetrievedSeptember 10,2019.
  25. ^Schwartz, Dana (January 25, 2018)."Meet the new Muppet Baby! A first look at Summer the penguin".Entertainment Weekly.
  26. ^Goldberg, Lesley (February 21, 2018)."Disney Planning Another 'Muppets' Reboot for Its Streaming Service".The Hollywood Reporter.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  27. ^Jarvey, Natalie (January 19, 2018)."BAMTech Taps Apple Veteran to Lead Disney OTT".The Hollywood Reporter.Prometheus Global Media.RetrievedMarch 9,2018.
  28. ^Coggan, Devan (May 20, 2020)."Disney+ will get Muppetational with new Muppets Now series in July".entertainment weekly.RetrievedNovember 12,2020.
  29. ^Spangler, Todd (May 4, 2015)."The Muppets Take YouTube in Video Mashups".Variety.RetrievedMay 4,2015.
  30. ^Itzkoff, Dave (July 28, 2020)."It's Time to Re-Re-Re-Meet the Muppets".The New York Times.RetrievedJuly 28,2020.
  31. ^(July 25, 2008)Miley Cyrus meets the Muppets in Disney Channel special.Variety. Variety Media, LLC.
  32. ^Grow, Kory. (October 18, 2013)Lady Gaga to Celebrate Thanksgiving With the Muppets.Rolling Stone (Wenner Media).
  33. ^Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 7, 2015)."'The Muppets,' Comedy from 'Community' Star Ken Jeong Among ABC Orders ".Variety.RetrievedMay 7,2015.
  34. ^Holloway, Daniel (October 26, 2016)."'Muppet Babies' Reboot Begins Production at Disney Junior ".Variety.RetrievedOctober 26,2016.
  35. ^Goldberg, Lesley (August 23, 2019)."'Muppets' Shortform Series a Go at Disney+ ".The Hollywood Reporter.Prometheus Global Media.RetrievedAugust 24,2019.
  36. ^Del Rosario, Alexandra (May 7, 2021)."'Muppets Haunted Mansion': Disney+ Sets First-Ever Muppets Halloween Special Event ".Deadline Hollywood.RetrievedMay 7,2021.
  37. ^Slaughter, Leigh (March 7, 2022)."New Series 'The Muppets Mayhem' Starring The Electric Mayhem Band Coming to Disney+".Disney Parks Blog.
  38. ^Deitchman, Beth (October 3, 2016)."The Muppets Make History at Magic Kingdom Park".Disney D23.RetrievedOctober 8,2016.
  39. ^Graser, Marc (December 6, 2013)."Watch: The Muppets Star in New Series of 'Muppisodes'".Variety.RetrievedDecember 8,2013.
  40. ^Graser, Marc (August 1, 2014)."Disney Launches The Muppets Digital Series".Variety.RetrievedFebruary 25,2015.

External links[edit]

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