That didn’t take long. Less than a week after it came to light that Sesame Workshop, the people behindSesame Street, had filed a lawsuit against STX over their upcoming R-rated puppet comedyThe Happytime Murders, the case has been resolved. A judge has ruled in favor of STX, soThe Happytime Murderscan continue to use the tagline “All sesame. No street” in their marketing.
“We fluffing love Sesame Street and we’re obviously very pleased that the ruling reinforced what STX’s intention was from the very beginning, tohonor the heritageof The Jim Henson Company’s previous award-winning creations while drawing a clear distinction between any Muppets or Sesame Street characters and the new world Brian Henson and team created. We believe we accomplished that with the very straightforward no sesame,all streettagline. We look forward to continued happytimes as we prepare to release Happytime Murders this summer.”
This statement, more or less, is a “no hard feelings” kind of thing. Brian Henson, the son of Jim Henson, actually directedThe Happytime Murders. Despite the fact that this movie is clearly a far cry from anything his father ever did withThe Muppetsor with TheJim Henson Companyin general, it stands to reason that the man would want to honor his father’s legacy. Even if that involves puppets doing drugs, committing murder and being involved in prostitution. When news of the lawsuit first broke,STXresponded by revealing Fred Esq., with the fictional puppet lawyer releasing this statement on the matter that said, among other things, “While we’re disappointed that Sesame Street does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position.” That confidence turned out to be well-founded. Maybe STX can get Fred Esq. his own spin-off procedural courtroom drama?
If STX had lost this lawsuit, it could have been costly as they would have had to remove the tagline from all of their marketing. That’s a big plus, especially considering that the movie’s first trailer has already racked up millions of views since arriving online a couple of weeks ago. While that certainly has a lot to do with the content, the tagline isn’t hurting anything. Well, except maybe Big Bird’s feelings.The Happytime Murdersis set to arrive in theaters on August 17. you may check out the statement from STX for yourself below. This news comes to us courtesy ofHollywood Reporter.
