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 taking time, often up to a year, slowly developing their characters and voices. The characters are also "test-driven, passed around from one Henson troupe member to another in the hope of finding the perfect human-Muppet match". When interacting with them, children tended to believe that the Muppets were living creatures, even in the presence of the puppeteers. On September 17, 2002, Rhino Records released "", a compilation album of music from "The Muppet Show" and subsequent film outings. The Muppets also released "", with John Denver in 1979. Under Disney ownership, albums featuring the Muppets have been released by Walt