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 "The Muppet Show" ended its five-year run. "The Muppets Comic Strip" was printed daily from 1981 to 1986. By the end of its initial run, the comic strip was seen in over 660 newspapers worldwide. Special strips were also created in color, exclusively for issues of "Muppet Magazine". The only film in the franchise to see a comic book adaptation was "The Muppets Take Manhattan". The comic book series was adapted by Marvel Comics in 1984, as the 68-page story in "Marvel Super Special" No. 32, August. The adaptation was later re-printed into three limited series issues, released under Marvel's