Jim Henson Home Entertainment

Jim Henson Home Entertainment logo.

Jim Henson Home Entertainment was the home video label of The Jim Henson Company. It was first used in 1998 as the banner title for video releases of various Henson productions distributed by Columbia TriStar Home Video. The name would continue to be used after the company switched to HIT Entertainment for distribution.

Columbia TriStar first announced a video distribution deal with Henson in May 1998. The first releases from the label, debuting in September of that year, were volumes collecting episodes of Bear in the Big Blue House. These were soon followed by reissues of three Christmas specials: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Christmas Toy, and A Muppet Family Christmas. The slate expanded to include volumes of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, reissues of the first three Muppet movies, and episodes of The StoryTeller amongst others.

With DVD coming into prominence, the 1999 DVD releases of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth were released concurrently with their VHS counterparts. Most of the other Muppet films and specials (excluding The Christmas Toy) didn't receive DVD releases until 2001. In 2002, the label released one direct-to-video production, Kermit's Swamp Years.

In a departure from the Columbia TriStar deal, Henson and Time-Life released the Best of the Muppet Show video line, originally offered on a subscription basis from 2001 to 2002. Columbia TriStar then picked up the series, rebranding and reissuing the first eight volumes for a wider commercial release. Five additional volumes to the existing fifteen had been announced, but the 2004 purchase of the Muppets by The Walt Disney Company effectively put an end to the video series. Bear in the Big Blue House releases also transitioned to Disney for the short term.

At the same time, the Henson Company signed a new distribution deal with HIT Entertainment, which gained the home video rights for many of their remaining family properties for several years. Columbia TriStar, which was renamed Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, continued to release DVD volumes of The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss until as late as 2008. Sony retains the rights to distribute Henson productions in their fold, including theatrical releases by Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures, as well as The Dark Crystal and The Storyteller, and have recently got back their distribution rights to Henson properties, although those releases are not branded using any label.

The Jim Henson Home Entertainment logo continued to appear infrequently on Henson video releases from Sony through 2011. The logo was even used for HIT's Fraggle Rock releases; appearing on a copyright screen plastered on the end credits of their early video compilations, and in print on the bottom of the first three Fraggle Rock season box sets.