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HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.
HIT Entertainment was one of several partner companies alongside Comcast, PBS, and Sesame Workshop that founded PBS Kids Sprout; many of HIT's shows aired on the channel as a result.
On 1 February 2012, HIT Entertainment was acquired by Mattel, as Mattel was initially only interested in the Thomas & Friends brand in its acquisition, according to Deadline Hollywood. Mattel absorbed the company on 31 March 2016 into its then newly created division, Mattel Creations.
HIT had a brand initiative called The Little Big Club, to feature some of the company's characters in live events held at shopping malls.
Peter Orton had met Jim Henson when he was at the Children's Television Workshop handling distribution of Sesame Street. As a result, he became close friends with Henson and went to work with him in 1981. Together they set up Henson International Television, which was the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions the following year, with Orton becoming the company's CEO.
Beginning in the late-1980s, Jim Henson Productions began negotiations with The Walt Disney Company regarding a possible purchase of a merger. Upon hearing these talks, Orton and other employees at HIT! convinced Henson to allow them to spin off the distribution arm as an independent distribution company. Following Henson's approval, in October 1989, Orton led management buyout of Henson International Television and re-incorporated the subsidiary as a standalone company named HIT Communications PLC.
Under its new name, HIT no longer held distribution rights to Henson's catalogue, and instead began acquiring other programs for international distribution, including Woodland Animations' Postman Pat and Bagdasarian Productions' Alvin and the Chipmunks, and later international acquisitions like Lyrick Studios' Barney & Friends.
Beginning in 1991, HIT would begin to engage in co-producing shows which they would distribute internationally, with the first two as part of this new strategy being Where's Wally? and Captain Zed and the Zee Zone. The company then began to finance and distribute animated feature films based on The Wind in the Willows and Peter Rabbit books. Helping to fund the company was an investment by British satellite and cable television operator Flextech took a 23% share in HIT for about £600,000.
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HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment Limited (stylised as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sophie Turner Laing. Orton alone took over the company in 1989 after learning Henson intended to sell the company to The Walt Disney Company. HIT owned and distributed children's television series such as Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Bob the Builder, Pingu, Barney & Friends, and Angelina Ballerina.
HIT Entertainment was one of several partner companies alongside Comcast, PBS, and Sesame Workshop that founded PBS Kids Sprout; many of HIT's shows aired on the channel as a result.
On 1 February 2012, HIT Entertainment was acquired by Mattel, as Mattel was initially only interested in the Thomas & Friends brand in its acquisition, according to Deadline Hollywood. Mattel absorbed the company on 31 March 2016 into its then newly created division, Mattel Creations.
HIT had a brand initiative called The Little Big Club, to feature some of the company's characters in live events held at shopping malls.
Peter Orton had met Jim Henson when he was at the Children's Television Workshop handling distribution of Sesame Street. As a result, he became close friends with Henson and went to work with him in 1981. Together they set up Henson International Television, which was the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions the following year, with Orton becoming the company's CEO.
Beginning in the late-1980s, Jim Henson Productions began negotiations with The Walt Disney Company regarding a possible purchase of a merger. Upon hearing these talks, Orton and other employees at HIT! convinced Henson to allow them to spin off the distribution arm as an independent distribution company. Following Henson's approval, in October 1989, Orton led management buyout of Henson International Television and re-incorporated the subsidiary as a standalone company named HIT Communications PLC.
Under its new name, HIT no longer held distribution rights to Henson's catalogue, and instead began acquiring other programs for international distribution, including Woodland Animations' Postman Pat and Bagdasarian Productions' Alvin and the Chipmunks, and later international acquisitions like Lyrick Studios' Barney & Friends.
Beginning in 1991, HIT would begin to engage in co-producing shows which they would distribute internationally, with the first two as part of this new strategy being Where's Wally? and Captain Zed and the Zee Zone. The company then began to finance and distribute animated feature films based on The Wind in the Willows and Peter Rabbit books. Helping to fund the company was an investment by British satellite and cable television operator Flextech took a 23% share in HIT for about £600,000.