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Sesame Street creators sue over Jim Henson Company's 'indescribably crude' new puppet film

Melissa McCarthy (left) appears in The Happytime Murders
Melissa McCarthy (left) appears in The Happytime Murders

The creators of Sesame Street have launched legal proceedings against film company STX Entertainment, arguing that the marketing campaign for a Jim Henson Company-produced new foul-mouthed puppet film tarnishes the Sesame Street brand.

Sesame Workshop, the charity which was founded “to use the medium of television as a tool to help children learn,” enlisted Jim Henson to make the puppets in 1969. Henson, who died in 1990, then went on to create The Muppets and Fraggle Rock, and founded the Jim Henson Company, now run by his son Brian.

On Thursday Sesame Workshop filed a suit in New York against STX Entertainment, alleging that its marketing campaign for The Happytime Murders, featuring naughty and foul-mouthed Henson puppets, tarnishes the Sesame Street brand.

The film tells the story of a puppet cast from a 1980s television show that begins to get murdered one by one, prompting a police investigation that ropes in Melissa McCarthy’s character and her puppet partner to look into the killings.

Brian Henson, son of the late Jim Henson, directed the picture and the Jim Henson Company also helped produce.

The recently-released trailer and other promotional materials make clear the film is decidedly adult in tone, with scenes of drug use and sex by puppets with a tagline that reads: “No Sesame. All Street.”

Sesame Workshop wrote to SFX Entertainment on May 18, ordering they cease using the Sesame Street references. 

On Thursday, they filed court papers accusing the marketing campaign of seeking “to capitalise on the reputation and goodwill of Sesame Street.

“While the trailer at issue is almost indescribably crude, ‘Sesame’ is not trying to enjoin defendants’ promotion or distribution of their movie. 

“It is only defendants’ deliberate choice to invoke and commercially misappropriate ‘Sesame’s’ name and goodwill in marketing the movie – and thereby cause consumers to conclude that ‘Sesame’ is somehow associated with the movie – that has infringed on and tarnished the ‘Sesame Street’ mark and goodwill.”

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The lawsuit also contains screengrabs of social media reactions.  One tweet read: “I’ll never look at muppets/sesame street the same way.” 

An STX spokeswoman on Friday issued a tongue-in-cheek response, attributing the company’s statement to a fictional puppet named Fred, Esq. 

“STX loved the idea of working closely with Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company to tell the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they’re not performing in front of children,” the statement said.  

“While we’re disappointed that ‘Sesame Street’ does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. 

“We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer.”

The Happytime Murders is due to be released on August 17.