Now that Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band have signed with Disney, The Jim Henson Co. is getting a new band together, acquiring rights to the collectible toy and storybook property The Skrumps. The company is developing animated television projects based on the quirky members of a struggling rock band called Grumblebelly.
Created by John Chandler, the Skrumps are a colorful troupe of Skrumpland residents trying to make it as rockers. Henson is working with existing characters like feisty drummer Skrumpy, and has created new crew members including lead singer Wishbone and his No. 1 groupie, Raisins. Brian Henson, Lisa Henson, John Chandler and Craig Bartlett (“Hey, Arnold!”) will executive produce and Bartlett will also be a writer on the project. of lead singer wishbone, a dreamer with rock star ambitions, Skrumpy, the feisty drummer and Raisins, a smart, sensible tomboy who has a crush on wishbone and tags along on his adventures.
The Skrumps will be animated using the Henson Digital Performance Studio, the company’s proprietary animation system which allows puppeteers to animate characters in real time. Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett is writing the television program and will also serve as exec producer, along with Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and John Chandler.
In addition to bringing the property to television, The Jim Henson Co. plans to launch it across all media including the Internet and ancillary platforms including merchandising and publishing. For a limited time, audiences can now meet the characters, send e-cards, download coloring pages and see the world premiere of their rock video, directed by Brian Henson, exclusively at Yahoo! Kids (www.yahookids.com). The three main characters even have their own blogs at the site.
“When you create something like The Skrumps, you hope that people will see them in the same light as other beloved characters in popular culture,’ Chandler comments. ‘I couldn’t be more pleased to see that The Skrumps have found a home at The Jim Henson Co.”
“The Skrumps have a great new look that is very striking,’ adds Lisa Henson. ‘Each character has its own quirky personality with a rich background and they all share strong relationships that feel quite real. In this way, The Skrumps demonstrate the very same qualities that have defined our company’s strongest character groups.’
The company recently launched The Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up!‘ Uncensored,’ a live puppet improvisational show that has played to sold out crowds in Aspen, Hollywood and Edinburgh, and premiered as a special on cable network TBS. The Company has also announced the creation of Jim Henson Designs, a merchandise collection inspired by Jim Henson’s earliest sketches. More information on the company can be found at www.henson.com.
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