The Lords of Entertainment: Conquest of Disney and Henson

Two things: The Muppets are still hilarious, and Jim Henson seems to have quite a lot more to do with Walt Disney than I thought prior to reading this article. http://blogs.indiewire.com/animationscoop/walt-disney-and-jim-henson-so-similar-so-different

They are most certainly comparable guys considering the scope of what they did and their success, but it turns out they had a comparable share of differences.

-Origins. Or more specifically, they both started their lives in comparable small towns. They didn't have a luxurious, though nor poverty stricken life, but were in such a state where they could be appreciative of simple pleasures. On top of this, both had some considerable fantasy influence. Snow White did it for Walt, and The Wizard of Oz did it for Jim.

-Character was highly present in both their works and their lives. But it did work at an inverse. Walt was more of a socially conservative guy who didn't get very wild in his daily life, however Jim always tried to reach for high class. Fine dining and other luxurious elements were favored by him. Of course you have their lead characters Kermit and Mickey who both share quite a similar disposition and attitude.

-Progressive work and ideas. Both Disney and Henson ignited a revolution in entertainment, but impressively they did so with using much of the same technology. Both were fully engaged in employing animatronics, special effects, and whatever future technology appeared to soon become a massive thing.

What I think about these two is that they really secured bigger domains in their time than they may have realized. Their companies are the biggest names in what they do after all!
On top of this, they accomplished more in their lives than most companies can in a few generations, and even more after their own lives. To say in the least, they did a good job leaving their respective legacies.

While Jim Henson isn't a name associated with animation, could there still be something to lean from him that would apply to the medium? My guess would be yes, but that'll be some more studying to do.