Disney's Muppets Problem: Can the Franchise Reckon With Its Boys' Club Culture?

[Oscarfan]

I think the pay is also so low because Muppets Now was a non-union shoot.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I think that Brian Henson could have been joking about hating Rainbow Connection. If he disliked it so much, he would have prevented it from being in the Muppet Show Live in 2001.

 

[cahuenga]

I would love to see Brian return as Sal.. and it would not surprise me as Bill hinted something on his Youtube channel,,, he hinted a Clifford return as well!!! I think Brian had some kind of rupture with Frank oz too.... because I´ve not seen them together in years..

 

[D'Snowth]

Nobody is reaching out to Frank, and even so, he's far too expensive for them to afford anyway.

 

[MuppetSpot]

I find it interesting how Brian was one of the people who was deciding to who was going to be Kermit after Steve’s departure from the role. If this article is to be believed, I think Brian is just annoyed how he’s forced to deal with these Muppet things and kind of wants to move away from it

 

[Muppet Master]

Most people are discussing the alleged sexism that comes with this article but I found this part a lot more jarring

"What quickly became apparent to those who worked with him was that Brian was not his legendary father — nor did he want to be. "He has hated puppeteers for his entire life," says one longtime collaborator. "He had this thing that these people were siphoning from his father like vampires — Jerry Nelson, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz," the source continues, citing Henson's original core team...According to sources, Brian Henson's aversion to the Muppets persists. At a 2017 live performance at the Hollywood Bowl, after the Muppets led a 17,000-person crowd in an emotional rendition of the Oscar-nominated Muppet Movie ballad "The Rainbow Connection," Henson was overheard backstage, according to witnesses, saying, "I hate that ******* song!"

Just no words, who would have thought Brian Henson would be so bitter and have such disdain for the muppets and Jim's friends/coworkers. Very shocking stuff and it's disappointing to hear how much animosity he has for his father's work.

 

[D'Snowth]

To be fair, Greg Jarnigan (a.k.a. Space Muppet) has said that he didn't have a very pleasant experience working for Brian on MFS, and that Brian kind of looked down on his underlings, especially those additional Muppet Performers further down on the totem pole as Greg was.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I mean, this is the same guy who went out of his way to trash on Steve, so

 

[D'Snowth]

The whole Henson family trashed Steve, especially Cheryl.

 

[antsamthompson9]

A year after the kerfuffle, Brian praised Steve's performance as Kermit in Muppet Treasure Island. And last month, he said Steve was a logical choice to take over Kermit because he liked to imitate voices. I think Brian likes Steve as a person, but he didn't like how he gave feedback on projects.