The Jim Henson Company

History
Jim Henson formed Muppets Inc. in 1958, three years after Sam and Friends debuted. Aside from Sam and Friends, the majority of work that the company had until 1969 was creating characters for various commercials, variety show appearances, and the Muppet Meeting Films. In 1969, the company started creating characters for the popular children’s show Sesame Street.

For many years, Jim Henson had tried to sell several different shows to the major 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, Jim Henson was able to produce The Muppet Show for syndication. The success of The Muppet Show led to many movies, specials, videos, and more. The Muppet Show was originally owned by the British company ITC, but Jim Henson later purchased the rights to the show.

In the early 1980s, Jim Henson also formed Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which produced characters for shows such as The StoryTeller, Farscape, and Dinosaurs; and movies such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. It was also during the 1980s that Jim Henson produced new television series such as Fraggle Rock and The Jim Henson Hour.

In 1990, Jim Henson was in negotiations to sell the company to the Walt Disney Company, but Jim Henson died during the week that he was supposed to sign the contract, and his family decided to keep the company private.

In 1999, the Jim Henson Company owned two cable channels, The Kermit Channel (which was broadcast in Britain) and The Odyssey Channel (which was broadcast in the USA). Hallmark also co-owned these networks. The Odyssey Channel was later renamed the Hallmark Channel.

In 2000, Jim Henson’s children sold the company to a German company called EM.TV. EM.TV subsequently experienced major financial problems, filed for bankruptcy, and put the Jim Henson Company up for sale. That year, EM.TV sold the company's ownership of the Sesame Street Muppets to Sesame Workshop and sold the company's ownership of the Odyssey Channel and the Kermit Channel. The Walt Disney Company, Hit! Entertainment, Saban, Sesame Workshop, and Sony were among the companies who showed interested in owning the company. However, it was Henson's children who bought back the company in 2003.

In 2004, almost one year after owenership 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, who control the Muppets through the wholly owned subsidiary Muppets Holding Company LLC. The Walt Disney Company now owns all Muppet-related trademarks, including the word “Muppet,” that Sesame Workshop does not own.

Shortly after selling the Muppets to Disney, the Jim Henson Company made a special distribution deal with Hit! Entertainment to have many of its family programs released on DVD, video, and television. The current contract expires in 2009. Henson has also made a deal to help develop new Muppet productions for Disney, and still makes the Sesame Street Muppets. Henson is also currently trying to work on new productions without the Disney-owned Muppets. These productions include an animated prequel to The Dark Crystal, a feature-length Fraggle Rock movie, and an animated series, Frances.

Former Company Titles

 * Muppets Inc. (1955-1974)
 * Henson Associates (1974–1990)
 * Jim Henson Productions (1990-1997)
 * The Jim Henson Company (1997-present)
 * Owned by EM.TV & Merchandising AG from March 2000 to May 2003

Home Video

 * Muppet Home Video (1982)
 * Muppet Music Home Video (1985) (only one video, Doozer Music, released)
 * Jim Henson's Muppet Video (1985) (distributed by Playhouse Video)
 * Jim Henson Presents (1985-?) (distributed by Virgin Video in the UK)
 * Jim Henson Video (1993-1995) (distributed by Buena Vista Home Video)
 * Jim Henson's Preschool Collection (1994) (distributed by Buena Vista Home Video)
 * Jim Henson Home Entertainment (1998-present) (distributed by Columbia Home Video from 1998-2004, distributed by Hit! Entertainment from 2004-present)

Albums

 * MuppetMusic (????)
 * Jim Henson Records (1992-1994) (distributed by BMG Kidz!)

Software

 * Jim Henson Interactive