Sesame Street has brought joy to young children for decades, and can teach them all kinds of valuable lessons, from letters and numbers to how to be nice to others. While the citizens of Sesame Street are typically big fans of sharing, they're not really down to share an association with Melissa McCarthy's new film, The Happy Time Murders.
The film takes place in a world where humans and puppets co-exist, with McCarthy and a puppet acting as two cops in what could be described as a spiritual successor to Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film promises loads of violence, drug use, and felt-on-felt sex, and is definitely not a movie you'd want to take your kids to.
According to the BBC, the Sesame Workshop, the company that owns the rights to the show, is suing the film. Surprisingly, it's not because they're against the idea of puppets doing violent and raunchy things, but rather, a tag line that was used on one of the posters for the film: "No Sesame. All Street."
While the lawsuit against the film refers to it as "incredibly crude," Sesame Workshop isn't seeking to stop promotion of the film, just the removal of the tag line, adding that the association between the two has "confused and appalled viewers."
The film, which is set to release is August, is actually directed by Brian Henson, the son of the late Jim Henson, who invented the Muppets and Sesame Street. The representatives for the film, unwilling to give up that angle, stated that the film portrays, "the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they're not performing in front of children."
They should be careful with who they're messing with. You know Oscar the Grouch keeps a semi hidden in that trash can.
