It looks like the company behind Sesame Street has officially lost its lawsuit against The Happytime Murders, the R-rated puppet flick starring Melissa McCarthy which uses the tagline "No sesame. All street."
U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick ruled that STX Productions, which is distributing the film, can keep using the tagline, which he actually saw as a "humorous, pithy way" of distinguishing the film from the children's show, New York Daily News reports. Broderick would go on to add that the film's R rating automatically creates a distinction between the two.
Sesame Street's parent company, Sesame Workshop, previously claimed that its use would lead to confusion between the entities, saying the film's producers chose the tagline to "commercially [appropriate] mark and associated goodwill and implying an association that does not exist to promote the release of their movie."
Their attorney, Mary Mulligan, even offered up some alternative suggestions for the film to use instead, including "Naughty Puppets," "Bad Puppets," "Puppets After Dark," and "Puppets Get Freaky." The lawsuit was filed shortly after the trailer was released, seeking unspecified damages along with an injunction to block the film from continued use of the tagline.
The team behind the flick, which includes director Brian Henson who is the son of Muppets creator Jim Henson, released a statement to express their admiration for the Sesame Street franchise, appropriately sent via a "puppet lawyer" named Fred, Esq.
"We fluffing love Sesame Street and we’re obviously very pleased that the ruling reinforced what STX’s intention was from the very beginning—to honor the heritage of The Jim Henson Company’s previous award-winning creations while drawing a clear distinction between any Muppets or Sesame Street characters and the new world Brian Henson and team created," it said.
The Happytime Murders lands in theaters on August 17.
