Angeles Times called Disney's recovery "a real rarity in the corporate world". On May 1, 1989, Disney opened Disney-MGM Studios, its third amusement park at Walt Disney World, and later became Hollywood Studios. The new park demonstrated to visitors the movie-making process, until 2008, when it was changed to make guests feel as though they are in movies. Following the opening of Disney-MGM Studios, Disney opened the water park Typhoon Lagoon on June 1, 1989; in 2008, it had 2.8 million visitors. Also in 1989, Disney signed an agreement-in-principle to acquire The Jim Henson Company from its founder Jim Henson. The deal included Henson's programming library and Muppet characters—excluding the Muppets created for Sesame Street—as well as Henson's personal creative services. Henson, however, died in May 1990 before the deal was completed, resulting in the two companies terminating merger negotiations the following December. On November 17, 1989, Disney released The Little Mermaid, which is considered to be the start of the Disney Renaissance, a period in which the company released hugely successful and critically acclaimed animated films. During its release, it became the animated film with the highest gross from its initial run and garnered $233 million at the box office; it also won two Academy Awards; Best Original Score and Best Original Song for "Under the Sea". During the Disney Renaissance, composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman wrote several Disney songs until Howard died in 1991. Together they wrote six songs that were nominated for Academy Awards; with two winning songs—"Under the Sea" and "Beauty and the Beast". To produce music geared for the mainstream, including music for movie soundtracks, Disney founded the recording label Hollywood Records on January 1, 1990. In September 1990, Disney arranged for financing of up to $200 million by a unit of Nomura Securities for Interscope films made for Disney. On October 23, Disney formed Touchwood Pacific Partners, which replaced the Silver Screen Partnership series as the company's movie studios' primary source of funding. Disney's first animated sequel The Rescuers Down Under was released on November 16, 1990, and was created using Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), a digital software that was developed by Disney and Pixar—the computer division of Lucasfilm—becoming the first feature film to be entirely created digitally. Although the film struggled in the box office, grossing $47.4 million, it received positive reviews from critics. In 1991, Disney and Pixar agreed