The Jim Henson Company is an American company founded in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is now run by his children, Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, John and Heather; Brian and Lisa serve as co-chairs and co-CEOs. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades. The company's units include Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a renowned animatronics and visual effects workshop.
The Jim Henson Company used to have an international television distribution arm, Henson International Television, however, its use was shortlived only to be sold to members of Henson and renamed HIT Entertainment.
The company was originally founded as Muppets, Inc. The name was later changed to Henson Associates (commonly abbreviated as ha!), then to Jim Henson Productions in 1988, and its present name in the late 1990s.
As full-time Art Director in 1975, Michael K. Frith joined ha!, who moved to a new production company, Sirius Thinking Ltd., first producing the PBS children's educational show Between the Lions.
Nine months before Jim Henson's death on May 16, 1990, he was negotiating the sale of his company to The Walt Disney Company for a reported $150 million. However, the deal fell through after his passing and the company remained independent.
On February 21, 2000, it was announced that German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG would buy The Jim Henson Company for $680 million. Soon after EM.TV's stock began to plummet and Henson was put up for sale a year later.
In May 7, 2003, the Henson family repurchased the Henson Company for $78 million. Nine months later they sold the rights to the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House to The Walt Disney Company, 15 years after the first Disney-Muppet deal had been announced.
Kermit the Frog served as the mascot for The Jim Henson Company until the sale of the Muppet characters to Disney.
In March 15, 2005, The Jim Henson Company announced that they are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the company with a number of events, starting with screenings of The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth on April 23 at the Newport Beach Film Festival. 2005 marks 50 years since the premiere of Jim Henson's first show on TV, Sam and Friends.
The Jim Henson Company Studios at La Brea Avenue, Hollywood are the former Chaplin Studios which were built by Charles Chaplin in late 1917, and sold in the 1950s. The hit Sci-Fi Channel series "Ghost Hunters" did an episode there when it was supposedly haunted by Charlie Chaplin's ghost.
