We live in such a weird world.
Bet you didn’t think you’d ever live to see where one, child-friendly muppet company is suing another over inappropriate use of said muppets.
Yet, here we are.
Sesame Workshop — creators of PBS’ Sesame Street — filed a lawsuit on Thursday against STX Entertainment, saying that the marketing campaign for the upcoming Happytime Murders is tarnishing their brand.
The Happytime Murders is an R-rated Melissa McCarthy comedy that’s being released later this summer. It’s, more or less, supposed to be the untold story of what muppets do when they aren’t on screen; that mostly being sex, drugs and alcohol.
The film is directed by Brian Henson — son of the late Jim Henson.
“Sesame has demanded that Defendants simply drop the references to Sesame Street from The Happytime Murders marketing materials — a relatively small burden compared to the devastating and irreparable injury Defendants are causing,” the complaint says, which you can read here. “But Defendants have refused, and the confusing and garnishment are building, as evidenced in numerous social media postings.”
Seems fitting, considering that the tagline for The Happytime Murders reads “No Sesame. All Street.”
The Happytime Murders fired back.
Via the Huffington Post, their puppet lawyer Fred, Esq. (yes, this is a real thing) issued a statement that reads as follows:
“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. Happytime Murders is the happy result of that collaboration and we’re incredibly pleased with the early reaction to the film and how well the trailer has been received by its intended audience.
While we’re disappointed that Sesame Street does not hare in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer.”
You can’t make this kind of stuff up.
The Happytime Murders has to be loving this kind of free publicity, though. Even if the lawsuit is a real one, it’s only going to make people more aware of the movie — which they’re clearly enjoying, as they had a MUPPET respond to the complaint. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get past that.
The Happytime Murders hits theaters August 17. Watch the red band trailer here: