OK. I'm trying to find something out, and I'm not able to find my copy of Bear's Guide. (It's somewhere in the mess that is my room.) According to Bear's Guide, some college granted Cinderella an honorary Doctorate in honor of her services to literacy. My question is, which college awarded her one? (Was it in Central Florida? If so, was Cinderella the Disney Cinderella? (This would make her one of two Disney Characters with an honorary Doctorate (Kermit has one.)))
Thanks! This may help me find the answer to my question. I'm still unsure if this is Disney's Cinderella, but it could be. (If it is, she's only one of two Disney characters with an honorary Doctorate. (Kermit got his in 1996).) Now if they could give a Doctor of Library Science to Belle...
Where did Dr. Kermit get his doctorate from? Bears' Guide does mention that Kermit did get his doctorate, but not where from.
Kermit was awarded an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters on May 19, 1996 at Southampton College, where he also gave a commencement speech.[6] He is also the only amphibian to have the honor of addressing the Oxford Union.[7] A statue of Henson and Kermit was erected on the campus of Henson's alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003.
Well, I have confirmed that it was Disney's Cinderella, and she got her Doctorate in 1991, I believe. (It could be 1989. The Miami-Dade College Archivist says it was around 1989, but based on the Roger Rabbit Balloon in the picture, the Disney Librarian friend of mine says it was circa 1991.)
Hi - I'm not an expert on this but I've watched Sesame Street more than a couple of times. I don't think that Henson ever worked for Disney and I don't think Kermit is a Disney character. Kermit was a Muppet character and was created by Henson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Henson
All true, but Disney bought the "Muppet Show and Muppet Movie" characters (including Kermit) in 2004, after Henson's untimely death in 1990. Disney is reportedly working on a new Muppet movie. The "Sesame Street" Muppet characters (like Cookie Monster) are controlled separately by Sesame Workshop, a non-profit organization and successor to the Children's Television Workshop. The Muppets have been divided into two camps, so Kermit doesn't appear on Sesame Street anymore. The Fraggles are still controlled by the Henson family.
While technically true Kermit and all his buds are very much Disney characters and were bought in 2004. In Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) they have a section devoted to Kermit (and the muppets) including a 3D short movie. Hollywood Studios is one of the 4 Disney parks in Lake Buena Vista, FL. BTW if you haven't figured it out yet I am a Disney fanatic. Article about the purchase Just nine months ago, the Henson family announced they had agreed to buy The Jim Henson Co. from EM.TV & Merchandising, a now-bankrupt German media colossus. "Emotionally and psychologically we feel something has been put right," said Lisa Henson, daughter of the late family patriarch Jim Henson, who invented the Muppets and was also the voice of Kermit the Frog, the most illustrious Muppet of all. At the time of the sale back to the Henson family, which was unexpected, The Walt Disney Co. (nyse: DIS - news - people ) had also been trying to buy the Muppets. Indeed, in March of 2003, Disney Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner had said he was near a deal for The Jim Henson Co., "finally culminating years of romance." But family members rallied in the eleventh hour, and they bought the company instead for $78 million. Certainly they left the impression that having Disney own Kermit, Miss Piggy and all the rest would not be right, psychologically, emotionally or otherwise. But now they have sold the company to Disney--for an undisclosed sum--and have said that this is what Jim Henson would have wanted after all. Meanwhile, Eisner can use the Muppets as a trophy to show his many critics that he has not lost his touch. But the deal also shows what's wrong with a few titans dominating the media. Commenting on the sale to Disney in a press release, Lisa Henson said: "In the months before his death in 1990, my father Jim Henson pursued extensive discussions with The Walt Disney Company based on his strong belief that Disney would be a perfect home for the Muppets. As such, the deal we announced today is the realization of my father's dream, and ensures that the Muppet characters will live, flourish and continue to delight audiences everywhere, forever." More From Dan Ackman Neither Lisa Henson nor her brother Brian was available to speak beyond the press release, and company spokesmen would not give any further information on financial terms. Disney would not disclose sale terms either, nor would anyone say what changed since May that convinced the Hensons that Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and all the rest actually belong as a line item--actually a small part of a line item--on Eisner's balance sheet. The timing could not be more convenient for Eisner, even if Comcast (nasdaq: CMCSA - news - people ) is to be believed, as it is reportedly saying for now, that it will not raise the value of its takeover bid. While the price Disney paid for the Muppets is certainly not enough to much change the landscape of its battle with Comcast--by not reporting it, Disney says the price isn't even material to its shareholders-- it does show investors that Disney can still buy great characters, even if it's been a while since it showed the ability to create them (see "Burbank, We Have A Problem" and "Disney, The Sequel"). The deal includes the Muppet characters and licensing rights to the Muppet film and television library, as well as all the Bear in the Big Blue House characters, television library, copyrights and trademarks. It does not include the Sesame Street characters, such as Big Bird and Elmo, which are separately owned by Sesame Workshop. Henson family members will get consulting and production deals. They will also retain other assets such as ownership and rights to lesser-known Henson characters and Jim Henson's Creature Shop. That's something of a shame for Disney, since the family's special effects and animation studio could have perhaps helped it over its Pixar (nasdaq: PIXR - news - people ) separation anxiety. It's not as if the Muppets and Disney have been strangers. Disney has distributed some of the Muppet movies, though lately Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) has been doing the honors. There are Muppet attractions at Disney theme parks and Bear airs on Disney's cable channel. Previously though, the Burbank-based conglomerate had to license the rights from the founder or his family, except for the brief period where they were owned by EM.TV. There is something to be said for independent ownership of media assets. It allows a variety of voices and it may lead to some care being taken about how characters are exploited. Now Disney owns the Muppets, which it will exploit alongside even more profitable puppets like Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse (see "Top-Earning Fictional Characters"). For now, though, the Hensons are comfortable with Disney owning their birthright. In six months, perhaps they will have to be just as comfortable with Comcast.
Thanks for the details, Soupbone! (I'm somewhat of a Disney fanatic too, though not as much as others.) I just returned from a visit to Disney about a month ago. I greatly enjoyed it, especially my two bits of behind the scenes things. (One was a 1 hour tour backstage at "The Land", which I paid for. The other involved a tour of a Disney Library, which isn't normally given to outsiders. I only got to tour that library because things were slow, the library wasn't at Disney proper, I'm studying library techniques, and they checked me out first.)
