Lawyers Block Elmo from 'The Muppets' Appearance

Apparently one of the furry, cuddly residents of Sesame Street has a tough team of lawyers.

Jason Segel, who wrote and stars in "The Muppets," due out next weekend, related an ironic anecdote to Ryan Seacrest last week.

"I wrote a scene where we were trying to get Elmo to be the celebrity host of 'The Muppet Show,' and a team of lawyers tells us no," Segel said. Then, life imitated art: "That's what actually happened," he continued, "a team of lawyers told us Elmo wasn't available."

While Elmo is a Muppet creation and characters from "The Muppets" often appear on "Sesame Street," the character of Elmo was not a part of the buyout that Disney got from the Jim Henson estate.

That means that Elmo is still affiliated with the Children's Television Workshop, and isn't a Disney property.

It also means that he's simply not available for a Disney feature. I guess when your stardom is a big as Elmo's, you have to have a good legal team. Maybe Disney didn't give him a good enough offer?