Are the Muppeteers on salary or paid by appearance?

[Avilos]

Does anyone know? I don't need to know actual wages. I am just been curious.

Given the huge amount of appearances the Muppets make. From actual feature films and television movies or specials. Guests on talk shows. Commercials. Promotions for all these projects. Plus other things I am not thinking off.

That is a huge commitment of time.

 

[zoebell]

i kinda wondered that too. i assumed it was for appearances

 

[dwmckim]

Whenever they puppeteer the singing food, they get a celery.

...and Muppet Fish performers work for scale.

 

[Beauregard]

...and Muppet Fish performers work for scale.

Haha! I know when Jim was performing Ploobis he worked to rule.

 

[Avilos]

LOL!

 

[jvcarroll]

The Muppet performers have been considered freelancers since the days of Jim Henson. This means they are given short-term contracts to cover a certain amount of work for a specific amount of time. The Muppets are in greater demand right now so I suspect that Disney has probably configured some sort of pay-or-play contract with key performers in order to make sure they're available for appearances that might pop up. However, someone like Kevin Clash has other executive duties with Sesame Workshop so his contract is probably different. In fact, each individual performer's contract is likely negotiated through a different agent so there's no way of knowing how each one varies. The life of an artist is not usually one of guaranteed work or a continuous salary. That can present many challenges. I hope this answered your question.