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 format of being by the Muppets more than about them and had such features as celebrity interviews and comic stories. The popularity of the Muppets has been so pervasive that the characters have been viewed by the media as celebrities in their own right. The Muppets have received their own collective star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Kermit having his own individual star as well. The characters have also presented at the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards; made cameo appearances in such feature films as "Rocky III", "An American Werewolf in London" and "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"; and