Interview with Frank Oz.

[MJTaylor]

I came across what I thought was an interesting interview with Frank Oz. You can find it at http://au.movies.ign.com/articles/035/035842p1.html
But my gosh, the man sure swears a lot! At least they had the good sense to replace his curse words with stars.

 

[Dearth]

It's a bit dated now, seeing as it occurred between Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, but I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I thought the interviewer did a great job of researching Frank's career and asking the questions in the proper order. I especially loved his callback to the 'buy a can of beans' quote at the end, because I literally watched that old documentary for the first time last week. So I got two Oz perspectives on the 'anonymity vs. celebrity' issue in a very short time.

The most tantalizing part for me was when Oz talked about hoping to direct "the next Muppet movie"... until I realized the interview was a decade-old, and obviously no such Oz-helmed Muppet movie had come to pass.

As for swearing, I remember being a bit surprised by Oz's 'special guest' commentary track on a Robot Chicken DVD, because they were bleeping him fairly often.

But I've given that a lot of consideration since then, and paid attention to my own self, and I don't really have a problem with it. I was raised around male role models who swore for emphasis, and even though my wife hates it, in my private life I tend to do the same thing. It's just for punctuation, it's not a constant tapestry of profanity like I unfortunately hear in my workplace.

I'm on the public end at my job, so I don't curse in my professional life. But the 'backstage' folks at my job don't even seem to realize they're doing it. And hearing them say it so much, it makes them seem stupid and vulgar and it has zero impact as punctuation.

I also seldom swear artistically, because I am currently in an improv-comedy troupe that works for charity causes and normally strives to be family-friendly. On the rare occasion that we've done shows for 'mature' audiences, we might have said a grand total of three obscenities.

Yet, if we're all together rehearsing, we say much dirtier things just among ourselves. I suspect that it's very similar for Oz and others who have worked for so many years with kid-friendly characters... off-camera, in private, the forbidden words need an outlet.

If he was sitting there with a Grover puppet on his arm and letting it swear in character, sure, that would be inappropriate, but he talks in the interview about his deliberate choices with regards to the puppets, and I've also heard him talk about how he only does the Yoda voice professionally, he won't do it upon request because he doesn't want to cheapen it.

So he handles his icons very seriously, and maintains that separation with tact and responsbility, so whoever he is privately, that's cool by me.

Great find, thanks for sharing it.

Dearth

 

[antsamthompson9]

I was surprised at Frank swearing at first, but than I heard that Richard Hunt swore. And Jerry would sometimes swear. There's this hilarious part on the final season of Fraggle Rock DVD, where Gord Robinson talks about the first time he got a speaking part, and he ran to Jerry saying, "Hey, Jerry! I got a speaking part with a puppet! Got any good advice?" And Jerry says, "Yeah. Don't f*** up." And Gord says, "Thanks, Jerry! I feel so much better!"

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Yeah, let's face it. The Muppet performers may be in touch with their inner children, but that hasn't stopped them from using some very adult words from time to time.

But still, whenever I read a quote by Frank or Richard or Jerry or one of the others, and it contains some off-color language, I still ask, "Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

 

[MelissaY1]

Frank from every interview I've seen and/or read with him, if he's not cursing, he's speaking very honestly and candidly and that's one of the things I really, really enjoy about him. He doesn't hold back and I'm sure when he's directing on a film set he's the same way. I have heard in the past from folks who have worked closely with him that he's a great guy but VERY intense. So I personally don't mind his cursing at all if it's part of who he is. If he was just doing it to be "shocking" or to be a jerk then I think I'd feel differently.

By the way for those here who were at the Sesame Street anniversary panel in New Jersey at William Patterson college, does anyone remember if Frank cursed while he was talking? I can't recall and I was there too...

 

[scarylarrywolf]

I was taken aback by Frank's amount of cursing when I first read this interview years and years ago. But since then I've coming to understand how it kind of makes sense that he is a more aggressive, straightforward personality when you think about how well he worked together with the quieter, unassuming Jim. That contrast of personalities is what made magic happen on the screen. It makes sense to me now and it doesn't really bug me anymore.

 

[dwmckim]

Why does everyone think Henson Co. has had so much trouble with funds for the last decade plus? Back when Frank was heavily involved with them, the majority of their income came courtesy of the massive cashflow generated from Frank's contributions to the office Swear Jar.