MUMBAI; The Jim Henson Co, currently celebrating seven decades of making children talk to felt, has appointed DeAPlaneta Entertainment to handle European distribution and licensing for several of its beloved children’s programmes.
The agreement, signed as the puppet powerhouse marks its 70th birthday, covers distribution rights for award-winning shows including Dinosaur Train, Pajanimals, and Dot. Perhaps most notably, the deal includes the 1980s classic Fraggle Rock – proof that even after 40 years, audiences still can’t resist small creatures who live in caves and sing about radishes.
DeAPlaneta Kids & Family content and media sales director Carlos Biern waxed lyrical about the partnership: “We are firmly committed to celebrating children’s content that encourages viewing as a shared experience. There is no better example than the output of The Jim Henson Co,” he said, presumably without having his hand operated from below.
The Jim Henson Co chief operating officer & president Chris Lytton added: “Parents around the world know that our productions will be innovative, educational, and of course entertaining,” neglecting to mention how many of those parents still feel emotionally scarred by the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal.
DeAPlaneta Entertainment, a joint venture between Grupo Planeta and DeAgostini, has previously distributed acclaimed films including The Pianist, The King’s Speech, and 12 Years a Slave – all of which would have been markedly different had they featured Muppets.
The Jim Henson Co’s recent productions include the Oscar-winning Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio for Netflix and Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock for Apple TV+.
The company continues to operate from Los Angeles, New York and London, quietly refusing to acknowledge that most children today would rather watch a teenager unbox toys on YouTube than engage with a talking sock.
