I don't hate Matt Vogel, his Kermit sounds good, but I still hate how Disney fired Steve because he despises how Kermit was written. I suggest Steve should still be the puppet for Kermit.
Again, Matt's Kermit is good, but he just doesn't feel that much like Kermit to me. Also, I believe Jim Henson's kids, Lisa and Brian, are tools and don't know how to lead their father's company.
If you're ready this, Bob Chapek, please bring back Steve as Kermit.
I just watched S02E08 of LEGO Masters US, “Puppet Masters”, which was broadcast on 8/17. It included a puppet version of the host, Will Arnett. The puppeteering looked to be of Henson Studios quality, so I looked around online and found that Steve Whitmire was credited with the role. And, according to his Wikipedia entry, this is his first performance since 2016. Anyone have additional information on how this came together?
tl;dr at the end of the post. trust me, this is a doozy, although that mainly is because i overexplain everything too much.
let me tell you of what is probably the biggest shake-up in the Muppet fandom in recent years, a story that is, in every sense of the word, a mess. even now, people are split on who was in the right or in the wrong.
i'm of course, talking about the fiasco of the firing of Steve Whitmire.
It's Time to Meet the Muppets! (Context)
(note: links in this section are Muppet Wiki articles mainly for things that don't have a large impact on the story, they're just there for context and so I don't ramble.)
In 1955, Jim Henson created his first TV show: Sam and Friends. One of the main characters of this bizarre 5-minute local puppet show was Kermit, whom Henson would continue to use over the course of his entire career. Over the years, Kermit evolved from a weird, abstract lizard-like creature to a frog who made a name for himself on both the big and small screens; when he wasn't doing an interview with a big-name late night host or teaching kids on Sesame Street, he was the lovable host of the Muppet Show and a staple in all Muppet movies and shows afterward (that involved the Muppet Show crew.) Even today, Kermit the Frog is seen as a big celebrity, quite a feat for someone who was born from an old coat and ping pong balls.
On May 16th, 1990, Jim Henson passed away. It shocked everyone, and after taking the time to look back at his life and mourn his loss, there was a bit of a dilemma: there's no longer a performer for several characters, including Kermit. You see, with the Muppets, it's not just a character you "voice." Every Muppet is brought to life by their puppeteer; these puppeteers have years of experience performing their characters, and they know everything about them inside and out, you can't just get some random guy who can do a pretty good Kermit impression and say, "Hey, you're Kermit now!" That's not how it works. These are beloved characters to many people, and in the hands of the wrong person, they would just feel wrong. Trust me, fans will go crazy over this.
Enter Steve Whitmire. He had been working with the Muppets since the late 70s, performing characters such as Rizzo the Rat on the Muppet Show, and Wembley Fraggle on Fraggle Rock. He had known and worked with Jim personally, so he had kn
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Here's something that I've been wondering about for a while... does anybody know what on earth happened between Steve Whitmire and Rick Lyon? Did they have some sort of falling-out before Rick posted that nasty comment about Steve on Facebook? And is it true that Rick was kicked off of Sesame Street because he stole David Rudman's personal notes?
I was very lucky to get the chance to interview Steve Whitmire this week. We talked all about The Muppets, Fraggle Rock and what it was like being the most famous frog in the world.
Very weird hearing Kermit not sound like Kermit a few seconds into the opener, was there a reason he's not doing Kermit for this series?
Now that Apple Tv is rebooting Fraggle rock is there any chance that Steve Whitmire will come back to play Wembley? Things just wouldn't be the same without him!
Steve Whitmire, one of the original dark crystal puppeteers show this video during his new live stream and I can't stop cracking up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7uEntGBubw&feature=youtu.be
