How The Muppet Movie Set the Stage for Universal’s Muppet Deal (Ep. 39)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 February 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of The Epic Universal Podcast, Jim Hill and Eric Hersey continue their deep dive into The Muppets’ surprising relationship with Universal Studios, exploring how Jim Henson’s creations almost found a home with the studio long before Disney. Plus, they cover the latest Universal news and updates. Highlights include: The Muppets & Universal: How The Great Muppet Caper and The Dark Crystal were distributed by Universal, and why the studio took a risk on Jim Henson’s boldest project. Jim Henson’s Hollywood Struggles: The challenges Henson faced in getting The Dark Crystal financed and how Universal nearly lost faith in the project. Volcano Bay’s First-Ever Nighttime Event: What to expect from Universal’s new after-hours water park experience. Epic Universe Updates: A first look at Universal’s life-size animatronic dragons appearing at Epic Universe’s Isle of Berk. Harry Potter’s New Wands at Epic Universe: The latest sneak peek at the exclusive wand collection coming to the Ministry of Magic. This episode blends theme park history, Muppet nostalgia, and the latest Universal Studios news. If you're a fan of The Muppets, Universal Studios, or Hollywood what-ifs, this one’s for you! Support Our Sponsor: Be Our Guest Vacations Planning your next Universal vacation? Be Our Guest Vacations is a Platinum-level Earmarked travel agency with concierge-level service to make every trip magical. Their team of expert agents plans vacations across the globe, from Disney and Universal to cruises and adventures, ensuring you have the best possible experience without the stress. Book Now Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:39.7	Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup.
0:45.3	Welcome back to the Epic Universal podcast.
0:48.3	I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill, and this is the podcast where we cover the latest
0:53.4	universal news, rumors, and history.
0:56.3	And as always, I'm joined by Eric Hersey, who you're looking kind of tired, Eric.
1:03.3	Have you been up late watching something?
1:05.6	I actually did.
1:06.6	I actually did.
1:07.4	I did watch the S&L 50, and it was like almost three hours long.
1:11.1	It was. So we watched it on Peacock, so I didn't watch it live, but there was enough buzz going around.
1:15.2	It was actually the topic of discussion for my team and I that morning.
1:20.0	And there were, you know, mixed results on some things.
1:22.9	And, and, and, and, but yeah, I stayed up, I think until midnight watching it last night.
1:26.1	So a little bit better, I guess, than if I was watching it live.
1:29.0	Jim, did you get a chance to check any of that out?
1:31.2	I did.
1:32.3	I did.
1:33.3	And again, what was interesting is I want to say earlier in the week, they actually showed the very first episode.
1:43.1	And again, I'm elderly folks.
1:46.3	It's 65, soon to be 66.
	...

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