It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to close the Muppet studio tonight.
While The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to The Muppets in 2004 (plus Bear in the Big Blue House), its creators — The Jim Henson Company — remains a separate entity to this day.
In fact, the company is still run by the Henson family themselves. Following Jim Henson’s tragic death in 1990, his children Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, Heather, and John Henson (the latter of whom also passed away in 2014) stepped up to lead the studio, which currently has its headquarters in Los Angeles.
At least, for now, as The Jim Henson Company has officially put the Jim Henson Company Lot up for sale.
Located in the heart of Hollywood, just off La Brea Avenue, the studio has a long history in the industry. First built in 1919, it was previously A&M Studios and, before that, Charlie Chaplin Studios. The Jim Henson Company took over in 2000 when it made the location its headquarters.
Upon buying the studio, Brian Henson — who serves as chairman of the Jim Henson Company — said, “When we heard the Chaplin lot was for sale, we had to have it. It’s the perfect home for the Muppets and our particular brand of classy but eccentric entertainment.”
Fast-forward 24 years, and The Wrap reports that the sale is “part of a much longer-term strategy to have The Jim Henson Company and our renowned Burbank-based Jim Henson’s Creature Shop under one roof, which is not feasible in Hollywood due to the space the Shop requires.”
The company’s history hasn’t been exactly smooth in the past few decades. Around the time it bought the Jim Henson Company Lot, it was sold to German conglomerate EM.TV Merchandising for $680 million. In 2003, the Henson family repurchased the company due to EM.TV’s poor management.
It was at that point that it sold the Muppets to Disney — a long-term dream come true for then-CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner — for $89 million. The studio has since released Muppets projects such as The Muppets (2011) and last year’s Disney+ series Muppets Mayhem.
While The Jim Henson Company may no longer possess the rights to the Muppets, a 12-foot Kermit the Frog dressed as the Charlie Chaplin character The Tramp (a nod to the site’s history) currently stands outside the iconic Hollywood lot.
The exterior of the lot – which was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument – was also used for scenes in The Muppets where Walter (Peter Linz) and his human brother Gary (Jason Segel) attend a tour and overhear Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) plotting to purchase the studio – a rather ironic plot line, considering current events.
Jim Henson was recently memorialized with his own documentary, Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024), now streaming on Disney+.
Have you ever visited the Jim Henson Company Lot?
