Jim Henson's legacy trashed by Disney

[REINIER]

It has come to my attention (jimhillmedia) that Disney is considering
on producing educational shorts ( if not already, don't know for sure)
that make use of the muppet characters.

They did a lousy job on The Muppet's Wizard of Ozz bit.
I like Queen Latifah as much as the next guy, but what the F***!

By the Way is Disney the creative force behind
The Power of the Dark Crystal
Return to Labyrinth
The Fraggle rock Movie

Does anybody know, cause if they are I'm terribly afraid that they might
ruin something that could mean a revival for Brian Henson

[slave2moonlight]

I don't know for sure, but I don't think Disney is behind those films or putting them out. I could be wrong. Anyway, the only thing they bought (I think) is the Muppets themselves, and their films. I agree though, they haven't made good use of them. I'm a life-long fan of both the Muppets AND Disney, but the Muppets have been mis-guided since Jim died. Don't get me wrong, I love the Muppet Christmas Carol and I'm one of the few who loved Muppets From Space, plus Muppet Treasure Island is fairly good (love Treasure Island in general, but this one could have been better I think). They have really dropped the ball with the TV movies and stuff like that though, and I've never gotten used to the new Kermit guy(s). They wimped him out as soon as Jim died, just like they did with Mickey Mouse, though I think Mickey got some steam back with Mickey Mouse Works, Runaway Brain, and stuff like that. I really liked Mickey's Three Musketeers and wish they'd kept the direct-to-video animation around for more stuff like that and his "Upon a Christmas" films. But, getting back to the Muppets, yeah, I was disappointed in their "Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie" as well as the totally botched "Muppet Wizard of Oz." That one should have been SOOOOO good and it wasn't (should have shelled out the dough for Hilary Duff too).

[Dottie]

No, Disney is not behind the Dark Crystal Sequel or the Fraggle Rock movie, at least not in the creative process. The Disney Company doesn't own these franchises, they still belong to Henson's company just like the Sesame Workshop. It might be that Disney is going to distribute it, since HIT Entertainment which released the Fraggle Rock Season Sets does not distribute movies.
I am not sure about the Dark Crystal sequel, but it might be distributed by Disney too, but the JimHensonCompany is not gonna let them say anything which has to do with the creative process, since they do NOT own the Fraggles or te Drak Crystal, only the Muppets ans Bear in the big Blue House.

[Siren]

They did a good job with Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island. Muppet Wizard of Oz likely suffered because it didn't have the big movie budget of the other two, to pay better writers. Because that is the key to why Muppets is so successful....writing. The puppets themselves come in second to what makes them so fantastic and memorable.

Mirrormask was a Jim Henson picture and if my knowledge is correct, Disney had little to nothing to do with this movie. It was certainly not as successful as Labyrinth or Dark Crystal, but it still had the mark of a Henson movie without Disney bogging it down.

I am excited about the new Labyrinth and Dark Crystal movies. Never much for Fraggle Rock, but I'll probably see it anyways.

[Rowlf_The_Dog]

No, Disney is not behind the Dark Crystal Sequel or the Fraggle Rock movie, at least not in the creative process. It might be that Disney is going to distribute it, since HIT Entertainment which released the Fraggle Rock Season Sets does not distribute movies.

I don't think Disney will be distributing those feature films ... HIT has been recently using 20th Century FOX as their distributor for the Fraggle Rock sets ... So maybe FOX might release those movies ...

But all that could change if Disney picks up the rights to Fraggle Rock and some of the other Henson canon when they expire from HIT in a couple years ...

[Dottie]

But I do hope Disney is not gonna get its hands on the Fraggles. They are so special and have a mesage to deliver. Disney would try to make as much money with them as possible which was never Jim Henson's intension concerning the Fraggles.
I think the Fraggle Movie might be handled better if 20th Century Fox was to distribute it, which is possible since, as Rowlf said, Fox also released together with HIT the last Fraggle Rock set.
I just don't want anyone to mess with that movie. It could be so good if the right people do it.