The Muppets film, "Muppets from Space", released by Columbia Pictures in 1999. In 2000, Henson was sold to EM.TV & Merchandising AG for $680 million. However, EM.TV was plagued with financial problems and the Henson family re-acquired the company in 2003, with the exception of the rights to the "Sesame Street" characters, which had been sold by EM.TV to Sesame Workshop. Fourteen years after initial negotiations began, Disney acquired the Muppets intellectual property from the Jim Henson Company for $75 million on February 17, 2004. The acquisition consisted of the Muppets and "Bear in the Big Blue House" properties, as well as
The Muppets other series such as "30 Rock". Following Disney's acquisition of the Muppets, puppets created by The Jim Henson Company are no longer referred to as Muppets. Puppets created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, such as those in "Labyrinth" and "The Dark Crystal", have never been considered Muppets, as they are generally more complex in design and performance than regular Muppets. The "Star Wars" character Yoda was originally performed by Frank Oz, one of Henson's regular performers, and is often described as a Muppet in media and reference works; he is not, however, and Henson was not involved in the character's