The Muppets the Muppets film and television library. Exceptions included the "Sesame Street" characters, which were previously sold to Sesame Workshop; the "Fraggle Rock" characters, which were retained by Henson; and the distribution rights to "The Muppets Take Manhattan", "Muppets from Space", and "Kermit's Swamp Years," which were retained by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Following the acquisition, Disney formed The Muppets Holding Company (later known as The Muppets Studio), a wholly owned subsidiary responsible for managing the characters and franchise. As a result, the term "Muppet" became a legal trademark of Disney; under license from Disney, Sesame Workshop continues to use the term
The Muppet Show the Muppets: Rocky Mountain Holiday"), while Dudley Moore reappeared in the special, "The Muppets Go to the Movies". Additionally, several guest stars from the series had cameos in one of the first three Muppet theatrical films. Originally, the producers had to call on their personal contacts to appeal to them to appear, especially considering that doing so meant an overseas trip to Britain to do so. However, the situation changed when the renowned ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev offered to appear; his performance on this unusual TV program produced so much favourable publicity that the series became one of the most