When Walt was first involved with television, the network owners were always after him to create a western, because westerns were popular. Walt resisted. He had no interest in doing what others were doing. He liked to set trends, not follow them. Given that, I find it very hard to believe that he'd be interested in using, much less buying, characters that someone else had already fully developed. He was the polar opposite of CEOs like Iger, who find fully-developed, universally recognized characters attractive; all the creative and financial risks of development have been taken - by someone else. Creativity and the risks that go with it are things to be avoided as far as he's concerned. He's as unlike Walt as you can get. Worse than Eisner, even. Which is why I kinda despise the guy.
As for that Muppet movie, I tried to watch it On Demand, and couldn't get through it. It was PATHETIC. The puppets were going around saying "Nobody likes us anymore! Poor poor us!" and begging for the audience's sympathy. When that poor actor did that rap song, that was enough for me. Jeez. No wonder the thing underperformed financially. Big surprise!
Pixar is the one arm of Disney that still has a measure of Walt's creative spirit. It takes risks. I had high hopes when Lasseter was given such a high position in the company. I don't know why he hasn't made more of a difference. Maybe Pixar is more than enough for him to handle. Bummer...
