Muppets Moving To Magic Kingdom
The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday it will buy the "Muppets" characters, including Kermit, Miss Piggy and others, from The Jim Henson Co.
Financial terms of the deal, which also includes Henson's "Bear in the Big Blue House" franchise, 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 Henson company 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 Henson company will retain its "Creature Shop," which builds the puppet characters and provides special effects for other studios, as well as the rights to its film and television library, including "Fraggle Rock" and "Farscape."
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.
It is also a coup for Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, who has been attacked by some who claim he lacks management skills.
"Michael Eisner's long-standing passion and respect for the Muppets gives me and my family even more confidence in Disney as a partner," Brian Henson said.
Munich-based EM.TV bought the Henson company in February 2000 for $680 million in cash and stock, then sold it back to the Henson family last July for $78 million in cash.