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It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

2 articles from 2002

9 October 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Media entrepreneur Haim Saban has reportedly offered to buy the Jim Henson company from its current German owners, EMTV, for $65 million, published reports said today (Wednesday). EMTV is also reportedly negotiating with Disney and Warner Bros. for a sale of the company. (Earlier, EMTV had put out the word that its asking price for the Henson company was $150 million.) Speaking to reporters at an industry conference in Cannes, Werner Klatten, EMTV chief executive, said: "We are very close to a deal. Mr. Saban is taking part in the race but we are also negotiating with two other parties." Last year, Saban, principally known for exploiting the Power Rangers cartoon characters, sold his half-interest in Fox Family Channel to Disney for $1.5 billion. The Henson Company, which produces animated feature films and TV specials on its own and develops versions of its Muppet creatures for other production houses, is currently putting finishing touches on It's a Very Muppet Christmas Movie.

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3 October 2002 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

The Los Angeles-based Project Islamic Hope, and its leader, Najee Ali, are taking credit for pressuring the Jim Henson Co. to drop a cameo performance by Snoop Dogg from A Very Merry Muppet Christmas -- although the Henson group maintained Wednesday that Dogg's scenes were removed because they "did not advance [the TV movie's] story line." However, today's (Thursday) Los Angeles Times, citing insiders familiar with the Henson Co., said that Henson executives were also concerned about the fact that the rapper is planning to release another "triple X-rated video" in the fall. In an interview with MTV News, Ali said Wednesday: "Snoop has openly advocated the use of drugs, he financially supported a pornographic video and he writes and performs music that is both sexually explicit and violent. This is not the image that our children should be exposed to in a Muppets [show]."

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2 articles from 2002