In addition to all the great details that exist now and those that never did, it makes me wonder how much fun some of them would have been.

It also made me a little sad thinking of what might have been had Jim Henson simply been diagnosed correctly and survived. I’m still in the process of listening to the podcast, so maybe they will mention it, but in discussing the contractual wrangling between Eisner and Henson – how long it took and how Henson felt about his end of the bargain, even though he wanted to sell only to Disney because he thought they would be good custodians of the franchise – Jim didn’t mention what was potentially the biggest sticking point, among many.

Eisner constantly hounded Henson about and made announcements implying that Disney was in the process of buying the muppets INCLUDING the Sesame Street characters. This annoyed Henson to no end. I forget if it was in the Street Gang book or another story I read, but the normally quiet, seemingly easy-going, non-confrontational Henson yelled angrily at Eisner “Michael, there you go AGAIN!” and left the event they were attending. It was the root of a great amount of stress for Henson. Some say that it played into his exhaustion and death (ie, it made him physically weaker to fight against his infection), but that’s a really tough thing to prove and if you know how Henson died, you realize that the misdiagnosis of essentially a bad sore throat and his own reluctance to seek another opinion soon enough are what took his life.

The result, as you’re probably aware, is that Disney got the muppets and Sesame Workshop (do you still think of it as the Children’s Television Workshop, too?) got to hold on to the Sesame Street muppets. I just find it fascinating how cute, loveable, happy fictional characters can be the cause of such real-world corporate bare-knuckled brawling.

Dave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUACDizIggI&feature=related

Muppets Ahoy!

They DO still take risks here and there, after all.

However (and believe me, I understand that I’m in the small minority here!), I for one am VERY relieved that most of the things mentioned never came to being. I listened in absolute HORROR as Jim described how close we came to seeing the Muppets actually take over Disneyland. I cannot believe that anyone would find it acceptable that Mickey and friends would disappear from the park for even one day, let alone an entire Summer, and be replaced by Kermit, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy. If that had happended on my vacation, I would have demanded my money back, turned around, and gone back to the airport. I guess I’m just too much of a Disney “purist”, but I feel the same way about the new deal with Marvel. The first time I see Spiderman climbing the side of the castle, that will be the last time I set foot inside a Disney park.

Disney does seem to always find a way too make these “marriages” work. Star Wars fits at Disneyland because of the theming of Tomorrowland and Indiana Jones works in Adventureland. These also fit in Hollywood Studios in Florida because, well, it’s Hollywood! Even the 3D Muppetvision show is fine in California Adventure and Hollywood Studios for the same reason. But, please, let’s leave it at that. These characters just don’t fit anywhere else, especially the Magic Kingdom!

Again, I realize everyone seems to love the Muppets and I am probably alone here, but I just had to get this off my chest!

Thanks!