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The Jim Henson Company plans sale of historic Chaplin Studios Lot in Hollywood

The Jim Henson Company is selling the historic Hollywood lot it has called home since 2000, originally built by Charlie Chaplin.

By 1952, he had sold the lot to Webb and Knapp, a real estate development firm, who initially intended to tear down the lot but subsequently rented it out to film productions, including George Reeves’ “Adventures of Superman.” Red Skelton bought the studio in 1960 and dubbed it Skelton Studios. A popular anecdote on the Henson Company Lot tour involves Skelton taking a block of sidewalk where Chaplin had put his footprints to his Palm Springs home (this is apparently true.) In the years since the family sold the Muppet characters to Disney, they have continued to maintain the company and develop new projects out of the lot, including projects like “Earth to Ned,” “The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” and “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.” The lot has also become a key part of the company’s celebrated Puppet Up!

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