Jim Hill
Page 2 of 3
Disneyland Resort President Cynthia Harriss
and CEO of the Jim Henson Company Charles Rivkin
What's the deal here? Well, it's been rumored that the puppeteers that actually work the Muppets don't want to be swallowed up by the Walt Disney Company. These folks supposedly would rather own and operate the Jim Henson Company all by themselves.
Is this true? Well, there have been reports over the last month or so that President and CEO of the Jim Henson Company, Charles Rivkin has been meeting with various investment bankers about a possible staff sponsored buy-back of the Henson corporation. Particularly given some of the folks that Rivkin has been rumored to be meeting with, it's pretty obvious that he's looking for someone with fairly deep pockets to help underwrite the staff's attempt at buying the Jim Henson Company back from EM.TV.
Adding fuel to the "Muppeteers trying to buy back the Muppets" scenario was last month's announcement that Rivkin was hiring former PricewaterhouseCoopers hotshot Nancy H. Schultz to serve as the Jim Henson Company's new Chief Financial Officer. Why would Charles bring someone like Nancy -- who has worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP since 1986 and has heavy duty connections with many of the high rollers in today's entertainment industry -- on board unless there was some truth to the speculation that the Muppeteers are looking to buy back their freedom. Only someone with Ms. Schultz's considerable clout will be able to turn this particular dream in reality.
Another intriguing twist to this "Muppets Want to Buy Themselves" tale is the recent announcement of the first ever MUPPETFEST!, a weekend long celebration of Kermit & Co. that will be held September 22 and 23, 2001 at the Pasadena Center in Pasadena, CA. A co-production of the Jim Henson Company as well as Creation Entertainment (a Glendale, CA. that specializes in producing touring live events for fans), this two day long extravaganza will feature appearances by many of the talents behind the Muppets (including your favorite Muppet characters), behind-the-scenes demonstrations from Jim Henson' Creature Shop, screenings of rare footage, interactive exhibitions and other sensational muppetational events.
Entertainment industry observers can't help but comment on the intriguing timing of this first ever MUPPETFEST! event. After all, here's a chance for the public to demonstrate their love and continued enthusiasm for the Muppets -- as well as being an event that clearly demonstrate to potential investors that the Muppets are still a valuable commodity, still well worth investing in.
More to the point, by holding the MUPPETFEST! in Pasadena, that means that Hollywood's bigtime movers & shakers won't have to travel all that far to see for themselves if the public is still interested in the Muppets. All in all, this is a pretty audacious move on Rivkin &Schultz's part. Provided it works, of course ...
By the way, if you LaughingPlace.com readers would like to learn more about MUPPETFEST!, just click here to check out the official web page for the event.
Muppet*Vision at Walt Disney World
Mind you, for those of you who are still pulling for the Walt Disney Company to finally acquire the Muppets, don't lose hope yet, kids. My sources tell me that that deal is still very much in the works. So what's the cause of the prolonged hold-up? Surprise, surprise! It's money.
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