So what’s the latest news on Disney & the Muppets. To be honest, folks, it’s pretty much a good news / bad news situation.
The good news is … The Walt Disney Company has actually set up a Muppets website. Which you can get to by clicking on this link.
The bad news is … This isn’t actually a new website. But — rather — just the old Muppets.com with some minor changes.
That the Mouse would seem to put so little thought into Kermit & Co.’s official debut on Disney.com (Other than to slap a “© Disney. All rights reserved.” and a “© Muppets Holding Company, LLC” on the old Muppets.com homepage) has obviously got Henson fans concerned that Disney’s only in this for the quick buck.
Certainly the news that Kermit the Frog, Statler & Waldorf made a live appearance at last month’s Los Angeles Screening (I.E. The annual industry event where TV program buyers from 150 countries fly into Hollywood to see presentations on the next season’s television programs) heartened some Henson fans. But when the news leaked out that the Muppets weren’t actually there to announce a new TV special or show, but — rather — just to entertain the crowd at the El Capitan … disappointment sunk in again.
To be completely fair … I should mention that my sources at Disney.com say that the Muppets.com site that they have up right now is just a place holder And that — sometime later this year — an all-new, content heavy version of the site will debut.
And — as for the Muppets returning to television anytime soon — while it’s true that nothing has officially been announced … Disney supposedly already several projects in the works for Miss Piggy & pals. One involves the Muppets taking on a more prominent role in the next Jessica Simpson / Nick Lachey TV special (Which is currently due to be taped in October, then eventually air in late November / early December). Another project involves reviving the Muppet Babies franchise. Only — this time — the toddler versions of Piggy, Kermie, Fozzie et al would be done in CG.
(In the spirit of full disclosure, I guess I should point out that the “Muppet Babies” CG TV series idea isn’t one that anyone at Disney came up with. But — rather — a project that was initially developed while the characters were still owed by the Jim Henson Company. Unfortunately, the folks at Henson lacked the money & the marketing might to make this series idea a reality. Whereas the Walt Disney Company has all the dough necessary to make a computer animated “Muppet Babies” series a reality. Though — that said — Disney is reportedly looking into ways that it can economize on this projected Toon Disney TV series. Among the ideas that the Mouse is supposedly considering in order to keep production costs down is having the “Muppet Babies” storyboarded in the U.S. and then animated overseas at a CG facility in Korea or India.)
“But what about the ‘Muppet Wizard of Oz”?,” you ask. “Wasn’t that TV movie that supposed to go into production this summer, and then pop up on ABC as a special to air during November sweeps?” Well … It’s looking like it could take a little while longer for Kermit & Co. to head “Over the Rainbow.” Though this project is still said to be a “Go,” it’s now looking less and less likely that the “Muppet Wizard of Oz” will wind up going before the cameras before the fall. In fact, according to some of the folks I’ve spoken with, this two-hour ABC special (Which is still tentatively slated to air as an episode of “The Wonderful World of Disney”) may not actually begin shooting ’til late November / early December. With this special then not airing ’til May of 2005.
And — once again — the economies kick in. Supposedly, Henson’s Muppeteers have been told that they’ll probably going to have to do some traveling in order to shoot “Oz.” In one scenario, the cast & crew is just heading over the US border to Vancouver in order to shoot the show. In another, more bizarre scenario, Disney’s accountants allegedly proposed sending the “Muppet Wizard of Oz” project to South Africa. Where (I’m told) the Mouse reportedly thinks that it can get a lot more bang for its buck.
So where does this leave the folks at the Jim Henson Company? Who were supposedly counting on some quick cash flowing in from Disney in order to keep the staff at the old Chaplin studio complex busy? To date, all that these folks have been busy doing is packing. Packing up all of the Muppet-related material in the company’s archives and shipping it over the hill to Burbank. For cataloguing by the crew at Disney.
Now that that’s done … The fear now is that the cutbacks will soon begin. As Henson pares back the size of its studio staff, getting the company’s head count down to a more manageable number.
According to someone I spoke with at Henson last week, ” .. People are scared here, Jim. There’s obviously not enough work in the pipeline to keep the whole staff occupied. ‘Good Boy’ sold well enough on video & DVD that MGM’s ordered a low budget sequel. So that’s at least some work. But the reality is heads are going to roll here soon. I’ve heard that Brian & Lisa are thinking of letting 2/3rds of the staff go. Cutting the company back to just a core group of 40-50 people.”
And — speaking of cutting — wait ’til you hear about the deal that Henson had to cut with Disney in order to keep Kermit’s image as part of their company logo. Because the Frog is now the Mouse’s property, lawyers for the Jim Henson Company allegedly had to get a special clause added to the acquisition contract. Which stated that — while Kermit the Frog was still to become the property of the Walt Disney Company — the Jim Henson Company would still have the right to include Kermit’s likeness as part of that company’s logo for a set number of years.
“How many years?” you ask. Ah … I’m working on that part of the story, folks. Still gathering up the Henson-related tidbits where I can and while I may.
But — for Henson fans — what with the news that the Walt Disney Company is taking a somewhat slow, very methodical approach to relaunching the Muppets as a viable franchise as well as the word getting out that the staff cutbacks should soon begin at the Jim Henson Company, maybe this really isn’t a “good news/bad news” kind of article. That — from where the Henson fans are sitting — this kind of looks like an all-bad news kind of article.
Tell you what? As soon as I get some good news that relates to the Muppets, I’ll post another article here at the site.
Your thoughts?