1958–1990 Jim and
Jane Henson officially founded Muppets, Inc. on November 20, 1958, three years after
Sam and Friends debuted on
WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Aside from
Sam and Friends, the majority of its work until 1969 was in advertising; appearances on late-night talk shows; and short "meeting films" primarily for enterprise use, produced from 1965 to 1996. In 1968, the company began designing characters and producing short films for the fledgling
Sesame Street, which premiered on
NET (succeeded by
PBS) in November 1969. One of the company's first characters to appear regularly on television,
Rowlf the Dog, originated in commercials for
Purina Dog Chow and became a regular character on
The Jimmy Dean Show from 1963 to 1966. During this time, the show's host,
Jimmy Dean, refused an opportunity to own 40% of the company, assuming that he did not attain that right. Jim Henson also pitched several different projects to the major American television networks, to little avail. Some ideas became unaired pilots, while others were never produced.
NBC included the Muppets as part of “
The Land of Gorch” sketch series on the first season of
Saturday Night Live (then just
Saturday Night). However, disagreements between Henson’s team and the SNL cast and crew ultimately led to the partnership dissolving. In 1976, producer
Lew Grade approached Henson to produce a weekly series in Grade's native United Kingdom. This series became
The Muppet Show, produced by
Associated Television (ATV) for the
ITV network. The success of
The Muppet Show led to the Muppets becoming an enduring
media franchise. Another company controlled by Grade,
ITC Entertainment, originally owned
The Muppet Show, among other Henson productions, but Henson acquired the rights to these productions in the 1980s. During this time, Henson formed
Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a special effects studio partially responsible for the films
The Dark Crystal and
Labyrinth; and television series
The StoryTeller,
Farscape, and
Dinosaurs. In 1983, the company launched a home video division,
Muppet Home Video. The company signed home video deals in North America with
Walt Disney Telecommunications and Non-Theatrical Company and other companies for international distribution. In 1985, it was reconsituted for home video as
Jim Henson Presents, and
Playhouse Video begin distributing titles under the new name '''Jim Henson's Muppet Video'
. The Muppet Video name was also used by Thorn EMI/HBO Video to release full-length tapes based on Fraggle Rock''. Later in his life, Henson produced
Fraggle Rock and
The Jim Henson Hour. In August 1989, Henson and
Disney CEO
Michael Eisner began merger discussions reportedly valued at $150 million, which also included a fifteen-year contract for Henson's personal "creative services." However, the deal did not include the rights to the
Sesame Street characters, which were owned by Henson, although merchandising revenue was split between Henson and the
Children's Television Workshop. Also during the negotiations, management of the company's Henson International Television distribution unit based in the United Kingdom purchased their unit from the company, leading to the establishment of
HIT Entertainment. On May 16, 1990, as negotiations continued, Jim Henson died of
toxic shock syndrome. Following Henson's death, neither Disney nor Jim Henson Productions could come to an accord. Negotiations officially ended in December 1990, and Henson remained an independent company.
1991–1999 The Henson family assumed management of the company, and Brian Henson was named president, chairman, and CEO in January 1991. In the following years, Henson entered into deals with several companies, including television rights to the Henson library with
Disney Channel and
Nickelodeon; a record label with
BMG Kidz; and a home media label called Jim Henson Video in partnership with
Buena Vista Home Video, which lasted until late 1997. In 1995, Henson entered into an agreement with
ABC to produce primetime television series, leading to
Muppets Tonight and
Aliens in the Family. Following the releases of
The Muppet Christmas Carol and
Muppet Treasure Island by
Walt Disney Pictures, Henson formed
Jim Henson Pictures with
Sony Pictures Entertainment. In 1998, the company signed a deal with
Columbia TriStar Home Video to launch Jim Henson Home Entertainment. By 1999, Henson held partial interests in two cable channels: The
Kermit Channel (broadcasting in Asia) and Odyssey Network (broadcasting in the United States), both jointly owned with Hallmark Entertainment. After Hallmark (through
Crown Media Holdings) assumed full ownership of these networks, the Kermit Channel was discontinued and Odyssey was renamed the
Hallmark Channel.
2000–2004 In 2000, the Henson family sold the company to the German media company
EM.TV & Merchandising AG, for $680 million. That summer, EM.TV sold Henson's stakes in the Odyssey and Kermit cable channels in exchange for an 8.2% stake in Hallmark-controlled Crown Media Holdings. By the end of 2000, after EM.TV subsequently experienced major financial problems, EM.TV sold the company's ownership of the
Sesame Street Muppets and Henson's small interest in the
Noggin television network to Sesame Workshop, and by early 2001, Henson itself was marked for sale. Disney,
Viacom,
HIT Entertainment,
AOL Time Warner,
Haim Saban,
Classic Media, as well as Henson management, among others, were all parties reportedly interested in acquiring the company. In December 2002, a deal was announced in which EM.TV would sell a 49.9% stake in Henson to an investment group led by Dean Valentine, a former executive at Disney and
UPN. However, in March 2003, the deal was canceled, citing financial issues on Valentine's part. In May 2003, EM.TV was reportedly nearing an agreement to sell Henson to a
consortium between Classic Media and Sesame Workshop (with financing from Sony Pictures Entertainment), until the Henson family re-acquired the company for a closing price of $84 million. Four months later in September of that year following the re-acquisition of The Jim Henson Company by the Henson family from EM.TV in May of that year, The Jim Henson Company had shuttered its British production operations as its two UK/European executives Martin Baker and Angus Fletcher departing the company. In February 2004, Henson sold the Muppets and
Bear in the Big Blue House to Disney, who subsequently formed
The Muppets Studio (known at that time as The Muppets Holding Company). The term "Muppet", likewise, became a legal trademark of Disney; Sesame Workshop retained permission to use the term for its
Sesame Street characters under a perpetuity license from Disney.
2004–present On April 1, 2004, Henson and
HIT Entertainment agreed to a five-year global distribution and production deal which included distribution of 440 hours of the company's remaining library including
Fraggle Rock, ''
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Hoobs and Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories. In addition, the agreement also included the production of new properties, including Frances
, in which both companies co-produced and also both co-own the copyright to the series. After that deal expired in April 2009, Henson entered into similar agreements with Lionsgate Home Entertainment on August 10, 2009 and later with Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment three years later on October 25, 2012. As well, the company became involved with computer-animated projects, including the direct-to-video Unstable Fables series; Sid the Science Kid; Dinosaur Train; and Splash and Bubbles, as well as the puppet series Pajanimals''. Henson later formed Henson Alternative, which specializes in adult content, including the live shows known alternatively as
Puppet Improv,
Puppet Up!, and
Stuffed and Unstrung. In recent years, the
Fraggle Rock characters have made several appearances, usually at special events. The characters appeared with
Ben Folds Five in the music video for "Do It Anyway"; and in 2013, Gobo and Red Fraggle hosted a
Fraggle Rock marathon on the
Hub Network. In 2019,
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, a prequel to
The Dark Crystal, premiered on
Netflix. In 2022,
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, a reboot of
Fraggle Rock, premiered on
Apple TV+. On August 10, 2022, the company signed a worldwide distribution agreement with
Shout! Factory which would allow Shout! to distribute thirteen series and specials from the Jim Henson catalog on home entertainment and streaming platforms across all territories. A similar worldwide distribution agreement went into effect on January 5, 2024, for streaming, video on demand, broadcast, digital download, packaged media and certain non-theatrical rights for the films
Labyrinth and
The Dark Crystal, as well as behind the scenes specials
Inside the Labyrinth and
The World of the Dark Crystal. On June 20, 2024, the company announced they were planning to sell the Jim Henson Company Lot (now known as
Chaplin Studios) off La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, which it purchased in 1999, as “part of a much longer-term strategy to have The Jim Henson Company and our renowned Burbank-based Jim Henson’s Creature Shop under one roof, which is not feasible in Hollywood due to the space the Shop requires.” In November 2024, film producer
McG and musician
John Mayer bought the lot for $40 million. The color statue of
Kermit the Frog statue, dressed as
Charlie Chaplin's character
The Tramp, which stands above the studio's main gate since June 2000, was donated to the
Center for Puppetry Arts. On February 25, 2025, the company appointed DeAPlaneta Entertainment as its distributor and licensor for several Henson properties such as
Fraggle Rock,
Dinosaur Train,
Dot. and
Pajanimals in European territories. ==Staff==