Does anyone know how to get work solicited?

[Reevz1977]

Will we get to see the complete work now?

I started this project for fellow fans, the Disney thing came second - of course you will get to see the complete work

 

[dwmckim]

That day is never going to come I've just received a call from Disney, unfortunately it was to tell me to drop it, leave it alone, they will never look at it, enough's enough (they said it all in the nicest possible way...kind of) So there you go folks, I kinda feel deflated but still If anyone out there has any need for an illustrator (I can draw more than Muppets)...

Dang - that just all seems way too wrong.

When you have time, could you please post a specific detailing of the various approaches you took - if you took advantage of any of the suggestions offered on this thread or any other ways to bring in to their attention that hadn't been brought up here.

This really highlights the difference between Henson and Disney management style. I'm sure if the Muppets were still owned by Henson, you wouldn't be getting this severe a response.

Which brings me to my next suggestions. Maybe the door may be closed to Disney itself but you may still want to donate this as a gift to individual Muppeteers, perhaps also send it to either Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson Legacy, or the Henson family. Even though Henson no longer owns the Muppets, that still doesn't mean they can't accept gifts that feature the Muppets as personal gifts. Maybe you could also do another piece based on Fraggle Rock and attempt to get it to Henson or a Sesame themed piece and send it to Sesame Workshop.

I also think a follow up article with the Muppet Mindset may be in order. This would be very bad p.r. for Disney. We know that people at Henson are paying attention to the Mindset so that would be a way to show the completed piece to the fans and allow certain people within the Muppets team to see it online even if the studio heads refuse to look at it or have copies sent to them. By doing a follow up interview or having the completed work shown on the site you're not disobeying Disney as you're not "trying to still get it to them" per se but you're merely talking about your work on an unofficial fan site which has already featured you.

This is kind of a dual note to yourself and Ryan (Mindset owner). I think it the best way to go about it would be a follow up interview - saying that the piece is done and now can be viewed by Muppet fans in its entirety...with the Mindset either posting the complete work on the site or a link to it. This would be accompanied by an interview basically being an "interview part 2" picking up where the last one left off - asking questions about characters previously that weren't previewed, general questions about the creative process, stuff like that. The focus of the interview shouldn't be _about_ how Disney's refused to accept it, but it should be mentioned. Basically after a number of technical questions about the work, the question should be posed towards the end about "So have you been able to get your work seen by anyone at Muppet Studios" to which you would describe what your experience has been. Be specific in your response but try not to come across too negative or "Eevil Disney" - give a factual account of what you tried to do and how they responded; close by saying how this was a very disappointing experience but you're still happy to share it with the fans - you get the gist.

Perhaps this could be a double follow-up interview, one with you and another simultaneous part two interview with the SW artist whose story was more positive (ended up getting a job with SW thanks to his support from Kevin Clash) Maybe he could even comment on your situation saying how disappointed he is to hear about it. This way by rolling out both these follow-up interviews at the same time (either on the same day or two consecutive days), they (a) highlight the difference in responses by the various companies, (b) balances a negative experience with a positive one and (c) makes it seem less like another way you're trying to get your foot in the door and more like a simple follow up by a third party to catch up with a couple of interview subjects previously highlighed. Both you and Ryan should factually discuss what ultimately happened without making it a focus on the entire interview or overtly dwelling on it - basically making it a "part of the story" and not "The Story" if you get what i mean.

 

[MrsPepper]

Aw, that's upsetting! Your work is gorgeous and they should hire you; then we'd NEVER have to look at a misshapen muppet poseur doll or a weird collage of rejected photo shoot images from 15 years ago on the back of any box sets or on ads or merchandise EVER AGAIN.

 

[frogboy4]

While I can understand the legal reasoning, this decision is just plain stupid. Sure, Disney has improved much of the cartoon-style Muppet licensing art, but they're in dire need for new photography of the puppets and the majority of their graphic design has the skill level of a teenager's magazine clipped wall collage. I mean that exactly as stated.

 

[dwmckim]

Aw, that's upsetting! Your work is gorgeous and they should hire you; then we'd NEVER have to look at a misshapen muppet poseur doll or a weird collage of rejected photo shoot images from 15 years ago on the back of any box sets or on ads or merchandise EVER AGAIN.

Total cosign. I wanted to say that in my last post but forgot to get that in before sending. It astounds me that they would pass up something like your incredible portrait yet have no problem churning out product after product of not only the same photos OVER AND OVER but very HIDEOUS photos done with those bloody ugly dreadful LIFELESS poser Muppets!

Exhibit A: The inside of TMS season 3 boxset - a photoshop nightmare of a "group" scene in the Muppet Theater audience chairs made up of all those horrible photos we're all sick and tired of slopped together which would have looked so much better with your portrait (which uses a lot of the same concept) in its place. As Pepe would say "unbelievable, hokay?"

I swear if i see ONE more product with that dreadful Swedish Chef smoking...uh i mean...kissing his fingers photo i'm going to be even more furious than normal knowing that Disney has no qualms about using stuff like that catastrophe over your beautiful lovingly rendered tribute.

 

[dwmckim]

While I can understand the legal reasoning, this decision is just plain stupid. Sure, Disney has improved much of the cartoon-style Muppet licensing art, but they're in dire need for new photography of the puppets and the majority of their graphic design has the skill level of a teenager's magazine clipped wall collage. I mean that exactly as stated.

LOL! I started typing my last post before your last post went up and i see you linked to that exact nightmare i referenced!

 

[MUPPETMONKEY]

Who? Me?

 

[Drtooth]

While I can understand the legal reasoning, this decision is just plain stupid. Sure, Disney has improved much of the cartoon-style Muppet licensing art, but they're in dire need for new photography of the puppets and the majority of their graphic design has the skill level of a teenager's magazine clipped wall collage. I mean that exactly as stated.

Yeah... this is terrible and soul crushing no doubt, but it really is something that's expected in this industry. This sort of thing goes to show you what kind of blind sighted idiots run these things, and that it's all favoritism, nepotism and all that other good stuff. The fact the prefer those insanely overused clip arts of poser puppets taken when Clinton was still in office should be enough to say that they're not good enough to work for period. Hiring a bunch of talentless Graphic Designers that clearly flunked out of school to put the same old crap on products that just sit their, looking crowded, and with those great incorrect, contradictory light sources instead of someone who can give us a poster we'd be proud to all buy shows their business model.

The fact they're not even looking at it is both horrifying and no great shock. After all, execs have a busy day of sleeping through meetings, taking long lunches, going home early, and then fussing over their stocks for the rest of the night. What part off the day do you think they'd bother opening up an envelope or paying someone else to do so?

I'd love to agree to everyone and say it's their loss, but I'm probably not alone in saying it's ALL of our collective losses as a fanbase. While Disney's handling of the Muppets has vastly improved over the years, they're still the big fat juggernaut company they always were, and this Executive foolishness is a sign of that. I really hope that Henson and/or SW isn't as obtuse and enjoys your work as much as we do.