I think it's complicated. I think the stress of dealing with Disney lawyers (more so than Eisner, although he definitely played his part, and he has to live with that) broke down an already weak immune system, but Jim also pushed himself so hard, every day of his life. Looking through pictures, you can see he aged rapidly during the 80s, and I think even if the Disney negotiations had been smooth sailing, he still could have gotten sick. It's kind of ironic too, that prior to Eisner saving Disney, Jim joked about buying

I wouldn't argue with Frank Oz but Disney did play a significant role in Jim's death.

Disney: just look at the flowers, Jim. Everything's going to be ok

It's the Lawyers and Disney Company's fault for causing Jim Henson to get Sick Ill and pass away because the Disney Company and Lawers were stressing him out so much

The more I look into this, the more I feel bad for everyone involved and/or was a part of the Muppets such as Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Steve Whitmire, the Henson family, almost everything related to the Muppets in past, present, and potentially future

Frank's gonna have to lawyer up real fast I bet...

I think that he was lead to immense amounts of stress and unfortunately fell ill.

IVE KNOWN THIS FOR DECADES AND HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR PEOPLE TO FINALLY DISCUSS THIS! Disney killed Henson. He was a good man and never said a swear word- not until Disney was squeezing the life out of him. Claimed he died of a rare mysterious illness…hmm…really?

To make it more simple…yes…yes they did

It was biggest mistake to deal with Disney the reason they brought the muppets is because they don't want compition. Henson could've accomplished so much the muppets could've had a bigger company, own franchise, a theme park and even a tv channel. The Henson channel.

This was also discussed in Street Gang, the book about Sesame Street.

I remember from the DefunctlandTV Documentary and several Jim Henson Biography books that Henson wanted to sell his company (Jim Henson Productions) to The Walt Disney Company with the deal including the Rights to The Muppets, his company and his other IP (e.g. Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Fraggle Rock, etc..) except Sesame Street, so that Jim would focus on the creating new content so he wouldn't have to worry about the business management side when running his company as he's not a business man.

Dropping their theatrical deal with Sony was a massive mistake. If Henson was still alive and had more of a say on the matter, I think he would probably reject the Disney deal altogether. Sony Pictures had worked with Jim and his team for a long time, distributing many of their films without posing nearly as much creative stress on the team unlike Disney. During this stretch of time, The Muppets had a wide appeal and never felt dumbed down in their movies. But when Disney bought them out in 2004, everything changed for the worse. 18 years into the acquisition, Disney has marketed The Muppets as nothing more than a cash cow for toddlers.

How Jim died I think that had to do with the stress too. I never see many people talk about it but at the end of it Jim wasn’t going to the hospital it took coughing up blood for him to finally say I’ll go. And honestly I’m like you I didn’t know Jim I wasn’t even born yet when he died but no matter who are you you can tell Jim was always for the fans and for his art so I think at the end of it he probably put his health aside for the Disney deal and again idk But whatever happened it is so sad. Jim Henson no matter what was an amazing person. I didn’t know him but I have no doubt in my heart he was. I mean the fact that he not only helped jerry Nelson’s daughter, Christine achieve her dream cause she was gonna die but also changed the whole insurance plan when it ran out for Christine is just a little bit of proof of how good he was, how kind. And so no matter what happened it was and always will be a horrible loss and tbh in these dark days of corona I can’t help but wish jim was here to help us smile.

When I first saw the title and thumbnail I thought you meant that Disney sent an assassin or something.

The Disney deal could have been a contributing factor to Jim's passing, but I don't think it was the primary factor.

This makes me furious how DARE they I feel like the muppets would have been even better now if … he was still alive.

Autopsy on Reelz needs to do an episode on Henson!

I think it's more the case of working out deal with Disney killed Jim. Trying to work out a deal to ensure the continuation of the Muppets stressed out Jim. Certainly didn't help with Eisner trying to weasel his grubby hands around Sesame Street too - which wasn't up sale, not even sure Jim owned the damn rights to it in the first place.

Disney was clearly obsessed with wanting the Muppets, after Henson's death.