With all of the most beloved Muppet characters now in the hands of Disney and their deep pockets, that means the Henson company has more money to revive some of their other creations. Creations like the Fraggles.
Muppet Central News reports that The Jim Henson Company is working to create a new Fraggle Rock feature film. Reportedly, the movie will feature Fraggles in outer space (not the one with stars, our world), far away from Fraggle Rock. They aren't going for a kids movie here, they're shooting for family film, a movie that will appeal to the now adults who watched them as kids, as well as their kids.
The thing that might seem a little confusing here is that part of the Henson Company's reason for selling the Muppets to Disney, was to free themselves up to pursue more "adult" projects like the upcoming film MirrorMask and the unfairly cancelled TV show "Farscape". But according to Muppet Central News, the studio has now expanded their goals to revive some of the other, non-Muppet Henson creations from the past, including those that are friendly to kids. Their hope is reportedly that they can re-establish their power in family-entertainment… a goal which would have been a lot easier had they not sold off Kermit and the Muppets.
So look, if this is all true, I'm really hyped to see a Fraggle movie. As a general rule I'm hyped to see anything the Henson Company does. But their strategy over there seems a bit… confusing. I liked the idea of them selling off the Muppets to the capable folks and Disney to focus on more mature entertainment. To pursue family entertainment without Kermit and the gang… well that just doesn't make any sense. It's starting to sound like Brian Henson and the boys are chasing their tales.
Thanks to Sido Helmes for the tip.
