Save the Muppets

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Sure we'll always have a few brainwashed Disney fanatics on the forum who have the mouse ears Kermit avatars and truly believe that if Disney's next move was "Kermit Meets Dumbo" it would be a classic in the making.

Thank ya mam!

 

[Was Once Ernie]

If good times are coming, bad times might not be far ahead.

Wow! There's the whole problem with this thread and this campaign. This totally pessimistic view of everything.

It's partly because they are a huge entertainment company that it's important we have campaign groups like this to represent our views.

Therein lies another myth... You don't represent MY views. Or, judging by this thread, the views of a lot of other people.

You have every right to have a petition and send it to whoever you want, but don't pretend to speak for the entire fan base. You don't.

 

[Luke]

Wow! There's the whole problem with this thread and this campaign. This totally pessimistic view of everything.

I was responding to the view that everyone should sit back and do nothing because everything will turn out fine. If the fans just sit back and do nothing then they won't have any comeback if any kind of alternate scenario did happen. That's just my view to one comment, nothing to do with any campaign. It may be pessimistic, it may be looking at both sides of things rather than having a blinkered view that just because it's someone like Disney it can only turn out great.

Therein lies another myth... You don't represent MY views. Or, judging by this thread, the views of a lot of other people.

From what i've seen nobody is claiming to represent your views, there is no myth. People will always have dissenting views. I was trying to say that if there is a strong feeling on something amongst the fans, grouping together will maybe help to get noticed. If something like Save The Muppets has over 600 signatures on a petition then i think it's safe to assume there is a strong feeling amongst a large group of fans about this and they have every right to express those views. It was being said they're making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

Thank you, Luke. That was the nicest and most well reasoned response I've read on this topic.

 

[GelflingWaldo]

True. I mean, the idea of Sam being handed off to some new guy didn't sit well, but the character seemed dead on to me. The idea of Steve and Dave not doing the movies.com thing is not good, but the characters seem to be beter because of it. It's odd.

I've seen all over the net that whenever people talk about SaveTheMuppets their is a group of people who toss arguments in the mix like "That new Statler was good. In fact I liked it more than Steve's", or "That Sam was closer to Frank's than Eric's Sam"... Alright, Disney might have gotten lucky and gotten someone you prefer (someone closer to the original performer). That still does not justify having two Statlers on the books, or having cast that person as Sam in the first place. I also wonder how people react with a secondary non-already-recast character (such Gonzo, Rizzo, Pepe, or Clifford) appear... because how can it be any closer to the original than the true original? Even Kermit, Piggy, and Fozzie (who have been recast) have been accepted by the viewers as the standard for the characters.


Now whether it is Steve and Dave playing Statler and Waldorf, or it is Victor and Drew, or it is two other guys – it doesn’t matter here. That's a different issue. Management of character casting and character recasts is a different issue – for anther discussion. SaveTheMuppets is about wanting to keep just one performer per character (like how currently Steve is Kermit, and Dave is Gonzo, and hopefully until they retire - or die - no one else will publicly try to pass off an impersonation of them). Debating over which Statler is better is one thing and fine to do (if you want), but it not relevant to this argument and the principle of this campaign. The campaign is about keeping one Statler. If that one Stater should be Steve or if it should someone else is a totally different issue for a totally different debate. The issue of SaveTheMuppets is to fight for one performer per character (something that current Disney does not agree with). That way the performer (whoever it is) and the character can grow, be consistent, have a real personality, and have a soul - not just be an approximation of a past performance. I want to see real good characters rather than just a good (or just adequate) character impersonator.


To debate the quality of the secondary performers is not important, because SaveTheMuppets is against having secondary performers (weather or not they are indistinguishable, or better, from the “real” performers or are just plain horrible). If someone is better for a character, than Disney should work to give them that character. Disney should not have a character spit between multiple performers (thus reducing it to a contemptible character impersonation).

SaveTheMuppets is not against new people performing classic characters – we are against multiple people performing classic characters. One Muppet; One Voice!

 

[LadyVader]

I got this off the Jim Henson Web site tis to the MHC The phone number for their corporate headquarters is 818.560-1000 just ask for Muppst holding Company.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Just out of curiosity: I don't see any arguments for the performers of Sesame Street at all. It's all about The Muppets, and keep in mind that Sesame Street was there looking, too. Does "Save the Muppets" only care about The Muppets, or is this the point where "Muppets" as a name segregates what we know as "Muppets" and now no longer constitutes the definition of the Sesame Street puppet characters for sure? Just wonderin'.

 

[Drtooth]

This is scarey, yet not totally clear. Do they intend to actually recast EVERYONE for EVERYTHING, or just for crappy little live events. Not saying it's great for either, but if it's the latter, I'd feel a little better.

 

[OverUnderAround]

Just out of curiosity: I don't see any arguments for the performers of Sesame Street at all. It's all about The Muppets, and keep in mind that Sesame Street was there looking, too.

Excellent point. While I am not totally against the save the puppeteer campaign, (which is what it really is) I do wish that those that support it would question why Sesame Workshop has been intentionally left off the contact list of people to complain to since Sesame was there also looking to hire Ocassional Muppeteers.

It seems more like a personal grudge only against MHC and no mention of Sesame Workshop. Something's not right there you supporters.

You can't have your save the puppeteer campaign and be excluding part of the problem... but you are.

 

[OverUnderAround]

This is scarey, yet not totally clear. Do they intend to actually recast EVERYONE for EVERYTHING, or just for crappy little live events. Not saying it's great for either, but if it's the latter, I'd feel a little better.

The truth is no one has been recast nor will they be from these current auditions. That's not what it's about.

Victor Yerrid and Drew Massey who are performing Statler and Waldorf on movies.com where hired for those roles prior to the recent auditions.

Steve Whitmire and Dave Goelz did not want to sign with movies.com, so Yerrid and Massey where hired for the time being.

In a nutshell, what the Muppet Holding Company and Sesame Street wants to do is find additional puppeteers to perform established Muppet characters in small public venues. Such as working on a cruise ship, performing on local TV and doing photo shoots.

National events belong to the established muppeteer.

However we have been told that if an Occasional Puppeteer shows the right stuff, he could someday be elevated to work with the prime-time Muppet puppeteers.

However... Sesame Street by them looking for Occasional Puppeteers will be more likely to have the Occasional Puppeteer fill in for the roles of Bert, Ernie and Grover and a few other puppets, when their original performer is contracted with another performance elsewhere which would be rare if ever.

The save the muppets campaign is not about saving the muppets. The Muppets are not going anywhere...they are fine.

The campaign's message as they put it is "One Muppet, One Voice". Meaning one puppeteer solely assigned to his character. I have no problem with that. I do object to anyone trying to dictate to the MHC and Sesame Workshop how their righful property should be managed without the fans first seeing the final results of what they planning.

I do believe in letting the MHC and Sesame Workshop do their best to expand the stalled Muppet empire and see what wonders can evolve over time.

Then once we have seen the actual results of MHC and Sesame Workshop from these auditions, we as a unified group can complain or praise the results.