Sesame Street/ Muppet Characters: Sesame Workshop aka Children's Television Workshop/ Walt Disney Company

Sesame Street and its characters are owned by the non-profit Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop), while The Walt Disney Company owns the rights to the Muppet franchise, excluding Sesame Street characters.

Sesame Street characters are Muppets because in 1969 all whimsical puppet characters created by Jim Henson and his collaborators were called Muppets. Today they're still called Muppets, but only because of a special arrangement with Disney, who owns the word “Muppet” now. Jun 21, 2017