By A lawsuit filed by Sesame Workshop, the company behind Sesame Street, cites "ejaculating puppets," among other offences, in its lawsuit against Melissa McCarthy's latest buddy cop movie, The Happytime Murders, marking perhaps the first time the phrase "ejaculating puppets" has been cited in a federal suit.
The buddy cop film, directed by Jim Henson's son, Brian Henson, features Muppet-like puppets using guns and committing crimes and other lewd acts, which is why Sesame Street is suing the production company and demanding the film be pulled. They especially take issue with the film's tagline: “No Sesame, All Street."
In the trailer, the puppets engage in very un-Muppet-like behaviour such as prostitution (a Fozzie Bear lookalike offers McCarthy a blow job for 50 cents), drugs (McCarthy snorts drugs offered by a puppet), and murder.
According to the suit, the trailer "deliberately confuses consumers into mistakenly believing that Sesame is associated with, has allowed, or has even endorsed or produced the movie and tarnishes Sesame’s brand.” The film contains “explicit, profane, drug-using, misogynistic, violent, copulating, and even ejaculating puppets," the company added.
The Jim Henson Company and Brian Henson also issued a statement saying they disagreed with the marketing for the movie: "We wholeheartedly disagree with their direction of referencing Muppets and Sesame, and Brian has taken as hard a position as he could, but contractually we don’t have the right to change it,"
The Happytime Murders' production company, STX Productions, doesn't seem to be concerned. It issued a statement in response, irreverently attributing it to a puppet lawyer from the film, Fred Esq.:
"STX loved the idea of working closely with Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company to tell the untold story of the active lives of Henson puppets when they’re not performing in front of children. While we’re disappointed that ‘Sesame Street’ does not share in the fun, we are confident in our legal position. We look forward to introducing adult moviegoers to our adorably unapologetic characters this summer."
