By BROOKS BARNES

BURBANK, California - Poor Miss Piggy. Like most aging stars in Hollywood, that prima donna pig, along with most of her Muppet friends, has struggled to find substantial roles.
The Walt Disney Company feels her pain. Since it bought Miss Piggy, Kermit and crew in 2004, executives have struggled to figure out how to put them to work. Efforts in 2005 to rejuvenate the furry creatures created by Jim Henson sputtered as the Muppets got shifted between corporate divisions .
Now Disney is putting its full power into reviving the characters. The Muppets are being thrust into every pop-culture outlet that the company owns or can dream up. “We think there is a Muppet gene in everybody,” said Lylle Breier, a Disney executive who is the new general manager of Muppets Studio.
Disney Channel is presenting new television specials in which Muppets interact with actors from “High School Musical” and the Jonas Brothers, among other teenage stars. A stream of comic videos is in production for Disney.com, where a new Muppet channel recently made its debut, and viral videos have been released on YouTube.
And then there is the merchandise : Muppet clothing; Muppet-theme items like stuffed animals and tote bags; and a Muppet boutique at the New York flagship of F.A.O. Schwarz, the famous toy store.
Disney sees the Muppets as a franchise that can sit side by side with classics like Winnie the Pooh. But the characters have largely been in storage for the last three years.
The wisecracking, irreverent Muppets (a combination of puppets and marionettes) don’t fit that neatly in the Disney culture, as they differ from most of the company’s bedrock characters in two big ways: Kermit and friends were primarily created to entertain adults, and they live in the real world.
Undeterred, Disney expects the Muppets to expand their fan base beyond nostalgic older generations to the age group between 6 and 12 that has powered “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical” into international blockbusters.
“The Muppet Show” made its debut on television in 1976, introducing the classic characters Disney owns today. “The Muppet Show” was full of song-anddance numbers and skits, often featuring absurdist humor, along with backstage antics.
Some of the biggest names in entertainment at the time populated each episode. Rudolf Nureyev and Miss Piggy, clad in towels, sat in a sauna and sang “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”; a bejeweled Elton John performed “Crocodile Rock” with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the show’s house band.
Witty dialogue and the hilarious-looking Muppets themselves quickly won fans. The show, which ran for five seasons, was syndicated in 100 countries. The franchise spawned hit movies (“The Muppet Movie”), hit songs (“The Rainbow Connection”), merchandise and an animated series called “Muppet Babies.”
But those glory days are gone. After Henson’s death from a bacterial infection, at 53, in 1990 his five children took control of the company.
Henson’s heirs sold the family business to the German media company EM.TV and Merchandising for about $680 million. But as the German conglomerate slumped under crushing debt and an insider- trading and fraud investigation, the Muppets stagnated .
The Henson children later bought back the classic Muppets and the characters from the HBO series “Fraggle Rock” for $78 million (before selling the classic characters to Disney in 2004 for $75 million) . The family continues to operate the Jim Henson Company, which retains ownership of the Fraggles.
But even Disney has struggled to resurrect the Muppet franchise. Family members have at times been frustrated at what they saw as Disney’s lack of focus.
“Have they been a little slow- Perhaps,” said Brian Henson, the cochief executive officer of the Jim Henson Company. “But the most important thing to us is that they are careful. Now, more than ever, we believe they are doing just that.”
Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios , attributed the pace to the scale of Disney’s plans. “Developing the kind of high-quality entertainment we have planned for the global relaunch of the Muppets takes time,” he said.
Some parents, though, are starting to notice that the Muppets are suddenly on the minds of their young children.
“I tried getting them to watch DVDs of ‘The Muppet Show’ probably a year or two ago, and they weren’t that interested, said Tom Weber, a New York father of two girls, ages 5 and 9. “But now that Disney is making its marketing push, they seem more aware and into it.”
Ellie Weber, the 5-year-old, confirmed it. “Miss Piggy is really funny,” she said. “I like it when she plays with the froggy.”