My Take on Artie Esposito

[minor muppetz]

I remember when I saw this... It's not often I make the effort to watch a Muppet guest appearance on a TV show I don't watch, at least not when broadcast, but I did choose to watch this. And I thought Artie's Kermit sounded more like Jim's, with a hint of Johnny Fiamma in the voice. But until I got online afterwards I just figured Steve had gotten closer to Jim's voice.

After all the big online fuss I wouldn't have been surprised if we'd never learned who performed Kermit there. I think somebody at the Tough pigs forum confirmed that, not sure if it was insider information or if Artie confirmed it somewhere (though I haven't seen any posts from the performer talking about the subject). Sometime earlier I had read that Disney wanted to keep it a secret as to who performed/voiced Robin in Letters to Santa (though an image of Bill Barretta performing him was shown online). I thought if Disney didn't want to announce right away who performed somebody as minor as Robin they'd hesitate to reveal who performed Kermit on America's Got Talent (and I've seen a quote from Jane Henson from 1990 where she said they didn't want to reveal who would take over as Kermit until after The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson aired... And considering the credits didn't list who performed who, I wonder what the first public thing is that revealed Steve Whitmire took over... Was it an interview or the credits to The Muppet Christmas Carol or something else?).

 

[MrTheFrog]

Actually the very talented Sean Johnson (also a member here) performed Mr. Burns. I performed Homer Simpson

We were very mean to him, let's leave it at that. The problem wasn't so much Artie performing him so much as fear that something happened to Steve, without any prior announcement, and the long waiting period to see if he was okay or if this was a stunt by Disney to scare wage freezes into them or something.

He did a great job, it was a dream for him, he's been a member of this board, and then we complained about it. I thought he did a very good job and all, and if something happens to Steve, they should definitely give him a call.

That said, if anyone watched that Simpsons Christmas episode from 2 years ago, he played Mr. Burns. Dubbed over with Harry's usual Mr. Burn's voice, so you couldn't hear him... but he did a great puppeteering job there, and I hope to see more of his stuff in the future.

 

[Drtooth]

Actually the very talented Sean Johnson (also a member here) performed Mr. Burns. I performed Homer Simpson

I respond with an oh so appropriate
"D'OH!!!"

Good job, though. Love that episode.

 

[frogboy4]

The torch will be passed one day, but I hope it's not for a while. I don't think people were piling on Artie as much as they felt betrayed by what they felt was a Stepford Kermit. The Muppets' relationship to their audience is a delicate thing. Artie's Kermit was a pretty good mixture of old and new, but fans will always notice such changes.

That particular performance was a trial by fire. They offered a puppeteer a dream job and threw him in the pit without much warning. This was a trial by fire and I don't know many performers who would have performed very well under that kind of pressure. It was a solid effort in retrospect.

I agree with Reevz. We shouldn't stir-up old wounds. Kermit's in good hands now and Disney certainly understands the strength of the Muppets brand. I have no doubt that they're training understudies for each cast member of the Muppets, but they probably won't dilute the brand again by interchanging performers until the current one retires.