Members of the Henson household have issued a press release this weekend, capturing down rumors that The Jim Henson Firm was planning on promoting its Los Angeles studio lot to the Church Of Scientology. Per Deadline, the Firm—which, each story about this concern should be fast to remind you, not owns the Muppets, though they do nonetheless have custody of the Fraggles—mentioned by way of a spokesperson that “With reference to latest rumors in regards to the sale of the La Brea studio lot, the Henson household isn’t in any enterprise dealings with the Church of Scientology, and that group isn’t in consideration as a possible purchaser of the property.”
Usually, we wouldn’t essentially spill ink on a hypothetical L.A. actual property deal—particularly one which isn’t, y’know, occurring—however the Henson model stays so beloved, and Scientology’s so… “Fully wonderful in a means that no one must name a lawyer about”… that there’s a bizarre cost in considering the Church proudly owning a part of the corporate’s historical past. (Value noting, too, that the Jim Henson Firm Lot was acquired in 1999, having previously been Charlie Chaplin Studios, so it’s not like Jim Henson himself ever truly labored there.) Regardless of all that, it nonetheless in some way felt just a little icky (in a means no one must name a lawyer about) to think about the Henson legacy turning into intermingled with that of L. Ron Hubbard, even in a really tangential means, and so there’s a bizarre reduction in being advised the sale isn’t going by way of.
That being mentioned, the Lot is on the market, in case you’re available in the market for manufacturing workplaces that presumably as soon as held at the very least just a few conferences in regards to the making of Farscape. (Okay, shit, now we sort of need it.) The household’s assertion went on to say that, “It’s nonetheless the household’s intention to maneuver The Jim Henson Firm to a brand new location it will probably share with Jim Henson’s Creature Store, however at the moment the household isn’t in escrow with any purchaser.” (There are literally two extant Creature Store places lately; the New York location does a lot of the hand-puppet stuff, whereas a Burbank location does bigger builds; we’re guessing the Firm intends to merge its dwelling house with the California store.)
