HiT Entertainment (originally short for Henson International Television) was created in 1982 as the international distributor for The Jim Henson Company. It was separated from The Jim Henson Company in 1989 upon one of the founders learning of plans to sell the company to Disney, who then purchased it himself. In the 1990's, they were known for being the international distributor for "Barney & Friends" (whose US distributor they would later purchase), as well as being the producers of popular shows such as Bob The Builder. Mostly recently, the company/label is under the ownership of Mattel who purchased them in 2012.