MISS PIGGY and Kermit are staging a worldwide comeback in almost every area of entertainment from big screen to mobile-phone screen as Disney relaunches the Muppets.

Their outings have been restricted to occasional forays into the cinema since the Eighties, when The Muppet Show was the world’s most successful comedy. But Disney has declared the furry favourites a “world-class brand franchise” and drawn up a masterplan to dominate global media after paying £30 million for Jim Henson’s characters.

A new television series, destined for a prime-time slot, is in the early production stages. Celebrity guests will again feature, with stars from Jennifer Lopez to Ricky Gervais invited to follow in the footsteps of Liza Minnelli and John Cleese.

First, though, comes the global release of The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, a feature film with Quentin Tarantino as himself and the R&B singer Ashanti as Dorothy. The Miss Piggy puppet is used for all four witches and the Kermit puppet, which was accompanied to the New York premiere on Wednesday by Robert De Niro, is the Scarecrow.

The Muppets Holding Company, a subsidiary of Disney, said that it planned to “develop new content in all arenas, including television, feature films, music, stage plays and theme parks, and to enhance the Muppets’ global licensing and distribution presence”.

A stage musical will follow the British No 1 album and expansion at Disney World will be based on Jim Henson’s Muppet Vision 3D. Multimedia is a vital part of the Muppet strategy. Mobile phone wallpaper and ringtones will be launched in Britain next month. The Muppets’ website will be relaunched and “Miss Piggy” will write a Sow in the City weblog.

The self-proclaimed star of the series models Prada for a photo spread in Pop, the überfashion bible. Mobile video clips will follow this year when the first series of The Muppets Show is released on DVD. The Disney Store is stocking up with Christmas spin-off products.

Walt Disney bought the Muppets while resisting a £35 billion takeover from the cable giant Comcast. The purchase was designed to show shareholders that the Disney management could identify new opportunities for growth.

Jim Henson died in 1990 and EM.TV, a European children’s television company purchased the company from the Henson family for £440 million in 2000. Three years later the five children of the Muppet inventor bought back the rights for £47 million. Disney offered £30 million plus a share of profits.

Facing the music

Wizard of Oz is the ninth Muppets feature film

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