The Jim Henson Company

**The Jim Henson Company** is an American entertainment company.  It started with **Muppets, Inc.** in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson.  Henson is the creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company become popular worldwide.  They were well known in family entertainment for more than forty years.

In 1969, the company started making characters and more than 20 short movies for the popular children's show _Sesame Street_.

One of the company's first characters regularly on national television was Rowlf the Dog.  He was first made for Purina Dog Chow commercials.  He became famous when he became a regular character on _The Jimmy Dean Show_ from 1963–66.

In 1976, British media mogul Lew Grade asked Jim Henson to make a weekly show based in England, which became _The Muppet Show_. The success of _The Muppet Show_ led to many movies, specials, videos, and more.

In the early 1980s, Jim Henson also formed Jim Henson's Creature Shop.  It made characters for shows such as _The Storyteller_, _Farscape_, and _Dinosaurs_; and movies such as _The Dark Crystal_ and _Labyrinth_.  It was also in the 1980s that Jim Henson produced new television series such as _Fraggle Rock_ and _The Jim Henson Hour_.

In 1990, Jim Henson was talking to The Walt Disney Company about selling his company. Henson died during the week that he was going to sign the contract.  His family decided to have the company keep the rights to the characters. However, on December 18, 1991, The Walt Disney Company bought the distribution rights to the entire Jim Henson Company library up to that time.

In 2000, Jim Henson’s children sold the company to the German media company, EM.TV. In January 1, 2001 they sold the _Sesame Street_ Muppets to Sesame Workshop.  In 2003 Henson's children bought back the company. In 2004, they sold the rights to _The Muppets_ and _Bear in the Big Blue House_ characters to The Walt Disney Company. The Walt Disney Company now owns all Muppet-related trademarks, including the word “Muppet”.

### Films

|scope="col"|Production company|scope="col"|Title|scope="col"|Release date|scope="col"|Production partners|scope="col"|Distributor|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|_Time Piece_|||Pathé Contemporary Films|||||||
|_The Cube_|||NBC|||||||
|_The Muppet Movie_||rowspan=3|ITC Entertainment|Associated Film Distribution||||||
|_The Great Muppet Caper_||Universal Pictures||||||||
|_The Dark Crystal_||Universal Pictures||||||||
|_The Muppets Take Manhattan_|||TriStar Pictures|||||||
|_Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird_||Children's Television Workshop|Warner Bros.|||||||
|_Labyrinth_||Lucasfilm|TriStar Pictures|||||||
|_The Witches_||Lorimar Film Entertainment|Warner Bros.|||||||
|_Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D_||Walt Disney Imagineering|Disney-MGM Studios Walt Disney Attractions|||||||
|_The Muppet Christmas Carol_||Walt Disney Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures Distribution|||||||
|_Gulliver's Travels_||Hallmark Entertainment|NBC|||||||
|_Muppet Treasure Island_||Walt Disney Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures Distribution|||||||
|_Buddy_|||rowspan="3"|Sony Pictures Releasing||||||
|_Muppets from Space_||Columbia Pictures||||||||
|_The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland_||||||||||
|_Rat_|(UK)|||||||||
|_Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story_||Hallmark Entertainment|CBS|||||||
|_It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie_|||Universal Pictures|||||||
|_Good Boy!_||||||||||
|_Five Children and It_|||Capitol Films|||||||
|_Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars_||Hallmark Entertainment|Syfy|||||||
|_The Muppets' Wizard of Oz_|||ABC|||||||
|_MirrorMask_||Destination Films||||||||
|_Unstable Fables: 3 Pigs and a Baby_||rowspan="3"||rowspan="3"|Genius Products|||||
|_Unstable Fables: Tortoise vs. Hare_||||||||||
|_Unstable Fables: The Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show_||||||||||
|_Sid the Science Kid: The Movie_|||PBS NCircle Entertainment|||||||
|_Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day_|||Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|||||||
|_Lily the Unicorn_|||Amazon Prime Video|||||||
|_Turkey Hollow_|||Lifetime|||||||
|_The Star_|||Sony Pictures Releasing|||||||
|_Dinosaur Train: Adventure Island_|||PBS Universal Pictures|||||||
|_Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio_||||||||||
|_The Portable Door_|April 7, 2023|Story Bridge Films||||||||
|_Jim Henson Idea Man_|May 31, 2024|Imagine Documentaries Diamond Docs Fifth Season|rowspan="2"|Disney+||||||
|_Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip_|March 28, 2025|||||||||
|Untitled _Labyrinth_ spin-off sequel|rowspan="2"|TBA||Sony Pictures Releasing||||||
|_The Buried Giant_||Netflix||||||||

### Television

From 1969 to 2000, Henson was contracted to design and create Muppet characters for _Sesame Street_. With the exception of occasional appearances in the Muppets franchise, the characters were used exclusively for _Sesame Street_, but Henson legally owned these characters prior to their acquisition by Sesame Workshop. The only exception was Kermit the Frog, who was featured in other projects prior to _Sesame Street_. Sesame Workshop retains the rights to use any _Sesame Street_ footage featuring the character.

The sale ended any direct affiliation between The Muppets and _Sesame Street_, although the series retains use of the term "Muppet" under license from Disney. Many of the puppeteers continue to perform with both The Muppets and _Sesame Street_ franchises. While no longer owning the _Sesame Street_ characters, Henson continues to design them. This list excludes pre-2001 _Sesame Street_ co-productions outside the United States.

#### TV series

|scope="col"|Production company|scope="col"|Title|scope="col"|Creator(s) / Developer(s)|scope="col"|Release date|scope="col"|Production partners|scope="col"|Network|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|_The Muppet Show_|rowspan="2"|Jim Henson|1976–1981|Associated Television ITC Entertainment|ITV (UK) Syndication (US)|||||||
|_Fraggle Rock_|1983–1987|CBC (Canada) HBO Television South|CBC (Canada) HBO (US) ITV (UK)|||||||||
|_Muppet Babies_|Jim Henson: Jeffrey Scott|1984–1991|rowspan="3"|Marvel Productions|rowspan="2"|CBS||||||
|_Little Muppet Monsters_|Jim Henson|1985||||||||||
|_Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series_|Jim Henson: John Semper & Cynthia Friedlob|1987|NBC|||||||||
|_The StoryTeller_|Jim Henson: Anthony Minghella|1988–1990|TVS|NBC (US) Channel 4 (UK) HBO (US) (Greek Myths)||||||||
|_The Jim Henson Hour_|Jim Henson|rowspan="2"|1989||NBC|||||||
|_The Ghost of Faffner Hall_||Tyne Tees Television|ITV (UK)|||||||||
|_Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories_||1990|Television South West|ITV (UK) The Disney Channel (US)||||||||
|_Dinosaurs_|Michael Jacobs Bob Young: Jim Henson|1991–1994|Michael Jacobs Productions Walt Disney Television|ABC||||||||
|_Dog City_|Jim Henson: Peter Sauder J.D. Smith|1992–1995|Nelvana Limited|Fox Kids (US) YTV (Canada)||||||||
|_CityKids_|Jeffrey Solomon|1993–1994|The CityKids Foundation|ABC||||||||
|_Secret Life of Toys_||1993||The Disney Channel (US) BBC (UK)||||||||
|_Jim Henson's Animal Show_||1994–1998|Survival Anglie, Ltd.|Fox Kids (seasons 1–2) Animal Planet (season 3)||||||||
|_Muppets Tonight_||1996–1998||ABC Disney Channel||||||||
|_Aliens in the Family_|Andy Borowitz Susan Borowitz|1996|The Stuffed Dog Company|ABC||||||||
|_The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss_|Dr. Seuss (characters)|1996–1998||Nickelodeon||||||||
|_Bear in the Big Blue House_|Mitchell Kriegman|1997–2006|Shadow Projects|Playhouse Disney||||||||
|_Brats of the Lost Nebula_|Dan Clark|1998–1999|Decode Entertainment Wandering Monkey Entertainment|The WB (US) YTV (Canada)||||||||
|_Mopatop's Shop_|: Jocelyn Stevenson|rowspan="3"|1999–2003|Carlton Television|rowspan="2"|ITV (CITV)||||||
|_Construction Site_||||||||||||
|_Farscape_|Rockne S. O'Bannon|Hallmark Entertainment|Nine Network (Australia) Sci-Fi Channel (US)|||||||||
|_Family Rules_|Russell Marcus|1999||UPN||||||||
|_The Fearing Mind_|Billy Brown|2000–01|Angel/Brown Productions|Fox Family||||||||
|_The Hoobs_|Jocelyn Stevenson Brian Henson|2001–2003|Decode Entertainment|Channel 4 (UK) TVOKids (Canada)||||||||
|_Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola_||2001||Hallmark Channel||||||||
|_Bambaloo_||2002–2003|Yoram Gross-EM.TV|Seven Network ABC TV||||||||
|_Animal Jam_|John Derevlany|2003||TLC Discovery Kids||||||||
|_Frances_|Russell Hoban: Alex Rockwell Halle Stanford|2008|HIT Entertainment|||||||||
|_Sid the Science Kid_||rowspan="2"|2008–13|KCET (2008–09) KOCE-TV (2010–12)|PBS Kids|||||||
|_Jim Henson's Pajanimals_|Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell|Sixteen South John Doze Studios Ingenious|PBS Kids Sprout|||||||||
|_Dinosaur Train_|Craig Bartlett|2009–20|Info-communications Media Development Authority Sparky Animation FableVision Snee-Oosh, Inc. (uncredited) Tail Waggin' Productions|PBS Kids||||||||
|_Jim Henson's The Possibility Shop_|Courtney Watkins|2009–2011||||||||||
|_Hot Dog TV_||2010||Cartoon Network||||||||
|_Me and My Monsters_|Mark Grant Claudia Lloyd: Rebecca De Souza|2010–2011|Tiger Aspect Productions Sticky Pictures|Network Ten (Australia) CBBC (UK)||||||||
|_Wilson & Ditch: Digging America_|Joe Purdy Craig Bartlett|2010–2012||PBS Kids||||||||
|_That Puppet Game Show_|Jamie Ormerod|2013–14|BBC Entertainment|BBC One||||||||
|_Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge_||2014||Syfy||||||||
|_The Doozers_||2014–2018|DHX Studios Halifax|Hulu (US) Kids' CBC (Canada)||||||||
|_Hi Opie!_|Barbara Slade|2014–2016|marblemedia|TVO Kids||||||||
|_Dot._|Randi Zuckerberg|2016–2018|Industrial Brothers|CBC Kids (Canada) Universal Kids (US)||||||||
|_Splash and Bubbles_|John Tartaglia|2016–2018|Herschend Studios|PBS Kids||||||||
|_Word Party_|Alex Rockwell|2016–2021||rowspan="3"|Netflix|||||||
|_Julie's Greenroom_|Julie Andrews Emma Walton Hamilton Judy Rothman|2017||||||||||
|_The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance_|Jim Henson (characters): Jeffrey Addiss Will Matthews|2019||||||||||
|_Fraggle Rock: Rock On!_||2020||Apple TV+||||||||
|_Earth to Ned_||2020–2021|Marwar Junction Productions|Disney+||||||||
|_Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time_|Duff Goldman|2021||Discovery+||||||||
|_Harriet the Spy_||2021–present|Postworks New York Wellsville Pictures Titmouse, Inc.|rowspan="3"|Apple TV+|||||||
|_Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock_|Jim Henson (original series): Matt Fusfeld Alex Cuthbertson|2022–present|New Regency Fusfeld & Cuthbertson Regional Entertainment|||||||||
|_Slumberkins_|Alex Rockwell|2022|Factory|||||||||
|_The Storyteller_|Jim Henson (original series)|TBA|Fremantle|||||||||
|_Lore Olympus_|Rachel Smythe|TBA|Webtoon|||||||||

##### As a contributor

- _The Tonight Show_ (1955–1961)
- _The Jimmy Dean Show_ (1963-1966)
- _Sesame Street_ (1969–present)
- _Saturday Night Live_ (Season 1)
    - "The Land of Gorch" segments (1975–1976)
- _The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange_ (2012–2014)

#### TV specials

- _Hey, Cinderella!_ (1969)
- _The Great Santa Claus Switch_ (1970)
- _The Frog Prince_ (1971)
- _The Muppet Musicians of Bremen_ (1972)
- _Out to Lunch_ (1974)
- _The Muppets Valentine Show_ (1974)
- _The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence_ (1975)
- _Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas_ (1977)
- _The Muppets Go Hollywood_ (1979)
- _John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together_ (1979)
- _The Muppets Go to the Movies_ (1981)
- _Of Muppets and Men_ (1981)
- _The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show_ (1982)
- _Rocky Mountain Holiday_ (1983)
- _The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years_ (1986)
- _The Tale of the Bunny Picnic_ (1986)
- _The Christmas Toy_ (1986)
- _A Muppet Family Christmas_ (1987)
- _Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting_ (1989)
- _The Muppets at Walt Disney World_ (1990)
- _The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson_ (1990)
- _Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree_ (1995)

### Direct-to-video

- Jim Henson Play-Along Video (1988)
    - _Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear: A Comedy Show Starring Fozzie Bear and You_
    - _Mother Goose Stories: Miss Muffet, Songs of Sixpence, Little Boy Blue_ (1987–1990)
    - _Neat Stuff... To Know and Do_
    - _Peek-A-Boo, A Big Surprise for Little People_
    - _Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along: Rowlf teaches kids about music_
    - _Wow, You're a Cartoonist!_
- Muppet Sing Alongs
    - _Billy Bunny's Animal Songs_ (1993)
    - _It's Not Easy Being Green_ (1994)
    - _Muppet Treasure Island Sing Along_ (1996)
    - _Things That Fly_ (1996)
- _Muppet Classic Theater_ (1994)
- Jim Henson's Preschool Collection (1995)
    - _Mother Goose Stories: Humpty Dumpty_
    - _Mother Goose Stories: Mary Had a Little Lamb_
    - _Muppets on Wheels_
    - _Yes, I Can Be a Friend_
    - _Yes, I Can Learn_
    - _Yes, I Can Help_
- _Kermit's Swamp Years_ (2002)

### Web content

- _The Skrumps_ (2007)
- _The Sam Plenty Cavalcade of Action Show Plus Singing!_ (2008)

### Henson Alternative

The following list contains projects of The Jim Henson Company under its Henson Alternative banner.

#### Movies

|scope="col"|Title|scope="col"|Release date|scope="col"|Production partners|scope="col"|Distributor|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|_The Happytime Murders_|||STX Entertainment|||||

#### Television series

The first eight series are produced under its Henson Alternative banner exclusively in North America before premiering worldwide in 2015.
- _Tinseltown_ (2007)
- _Alt/Reality_ (2010–2011)
- _Simian Undercover Detective Squad_ (2012)
- _Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del_ (2006)
- _Del's Vegas Comedy Binge_ (2007)
- _Late Night Liars_ (2010)
- _Marvin E. Quasniki for President_ (2011–12)
- _Neil's Puppet Dreams_ (2012–13)
- _Ketchup with the Hot Dogs_ (2013–14)
- _Good Morning Today_ (2013–14)
- _No, You Shut Up!_ (2013–2016)
- _The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell_ (2018)
- _The Miskreants_ (2019-2020)

#### Stage shows

- _Puppet Up! - Uncensored_ (2005–present)
    - _Stuffed and Unstrung_ (2010–2013)

#### Other productions

- The Muppet segments of the Nintendo Digital Event, shown during E3 (2015).
- _Star Fox Zero_ commercial (2016).

## Infobox (company)

- **name**: The Jim Henson Company
- **logo**: The Jim Henson Company logo.svg
- **image**: HensenStudios Dec2006b.jpg
- **image caption**: The Jim Henson Company Lot in Los Angeles
- **former names**: Muppets, Inc. (1958–1976)
Henson Associates, Inc. (1976–1987)
Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (1987–1998)
- **type**: Privately held company, Private
- **industry**: Entertainment
- **founders**: Jim Henson, Jim and Jane Henson
- **hq location**: Jim Henson Company Lot
- **hq location city**: Los Angeles, California
- **hq location country**: U.S.
- **key people**: Brian Henson
()
Lisa Henson
()
- **products**: Puppetry, Animation, Computer graphics, Digital puppetry, Entertainment
- **owner**: Henson family
- **parent**: Independent
(1958–2000)
Constantin Medien, EM.TV & Merchandising AG
(2000–2003)
Alphabet, Inc.
(2003–present)
- **divisions**: #Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Jim Henson's Creature Shop
Jim Henson Company Lot#Henson Recording Studios, Henson Recording Studios
Jim Henson Animation Studios
#Henson Alternative, Henson Alternative


## Infobox (company)

- **name**: Jim Henson Television
- **logo**: Jim Henson Television logo.png
- **logo size**: 200px
- **logo caption**: The Jim Henson Television logo used from 1997 to 2006.
- **type**: Division (business), Division of The Jim Henson Company
- **industry**: Television production
- **founder**: Jim Henson
- **fate**: Disbanded and folded into The Jim Henson Company
- **hq location country**: United States
- **area served**: Worldwide
- **products**: Television series