Meet The Hoobs

The Hoobs is a BAFTA-winninghttp://www.bafta.org/awards/childrens/nominations/?year=2001children's television programme created and produced by The Jim Henson Company. It stars five creatures called Hoobs (Iver, Groove, Tula, Hubba Hubba and Roma) from the fictional Hoobland, and their interactions with Earth and the human race. In each episode they try to find the answer to a question to be put in the great Hoobopaedia created by Hubba Hubba, back in Hoobland, in hopes of learning all there is to know. They live in the Hoobmobile and travel to all parts of the world. The five creatures are puppets, but the show also includes some animated sequences as well as live motion of human children who explain concepts to the Hoobs.

In the United Kingdom, it is a regular feature in early morning schedules, regarded by some as a cult favourite with students and those adults with a nostalgic fondness for the Muppets. The show is made in the UK, as are many other Jim Henson Company productions. It was commissioned for Channel 4, and has been shown at around the times of 6:00am to 7:00am regularly since 1 January 2001. It has also been regionalised for other countries, including North America.Muppet Central News - Production begins on The Hoobs

The Hoobs replaced the popular puppet based children's show Sesame Street, which was an initially controversial move due to the popularity of Sesame Street, with its iconic Muppet Show characters.

The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades. The company's units include Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a renowned animatronics and visual-effects workshop.

Jim Henson's children Brian, Lisa, Cheryl, John and Heather run the company: Brian and Lisa serve as co-chairs and co-CEOs.

The Jim Henson Company used to include a short-lived international television distribution arm, Henson International Television (founded in 1989); it became HiT Entertainment in 1990.

Henson originally founded his company as Muppets, Inc. The name later became Henson Associates (commonly abbreviated as ha!), then Jim Henson Productions in 1988, and finally "The Jim Henson Company" in the late 1990s. In 1999, the company, along with Hallmark Entertainment, launched Odyssey Network (a cable-television channel). In 2000, the Jim Henson Company sold its interest in the channel to Crown Media.

Nine months before Jim Henson's death on May 16, 1990, he had started negotiating the sale of his company to The Walt Disney Company for a reported $150 million. However, the deal fell through after his passing and the company remained independent.

The purchase of The Jim Henson Company by the German media company EM.TV & Merchandising AG for $680 million was announced on February 21, 2000. Soon after, EM.TV's stock began to plummet ? it put the Henson Company up for sale a year later.

On May 7, 2003, the Henson family repurchased the Henson Company for $78 million. Nine months later they sold the rights to the classic Muppets and to Bear in the Big Blue House to The Walt Disney Company (15 years after the announcement of the first Disney-Muppet deal).

Kermit the Frog served as the mascot for The Jim Henson Company until the sale of the Muppet characters to Disney.

Charles Chaplin built the Jim Henson Company Studios at La Brea Avenue in Hollywood (formerly the Chaplin Studios) in late 1917 and sold them in 1953. The site once housed A&M Records. In 1983 it got together with Columbia Pictures to form Jim Henson Pictures.

The Walt Disney Company is looking to buy the company.