Frank Oz interview on Tavis Smiley

[Jonathan]

Gawd... He Was a Cranky Little Man Wasent He!

 

[mikebennidict]

true agian but i still think he should not have just abondend the muppets like he has.

Let's not get so dramatic about this.

The mupeets are probably a past part of his life and now wishes to just focus on movie making so let's not keep making such an issue of it.

 

[dwayne1115]

wow im not being dramaic im just saying he should at least show a little respect to the muppets who helped him get where he is.

 

[JoeyMuppet]

I listened to most of that interview this afternoon, and yeah Frank may have been kinda up-tight... but I'm sure he still likes performing the Muppets. He said a lot of nice things at Jim's funeral, Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, and The World of Jim Henson,etc. And hey, during his free time he still performs Bert, Grover, and or Cookie Monster whenever he's on the Sesame Street set. I like talking to you guys, but just lighten up on him. He's getting older like all of us, and he's moved up in life to tons of better things. Even I( personally ) want to be more than just a puppeteer.

 

[mikebennidict]

Well if he came across uptight then I can see where 1 might of thought he was loking negativly on his past.

Of course he should do what he wants and it's not our bussiness to say what we want him to be?

What;s the point of that?

 

[SarahOnBway]

You know, I used to feel that way about Frank Oz too--that he left the Muppets to direct and just forgot about/stopped caring about them. But over time I've thought more about it and... I changed my mind, and I regret my former thoughts.

I mean, it seems to me that Jim Henson was obviously Frank Oz's best friend. They built up the Muppets together, and even though they were Jim's creation and he was the guy in charge, Frank worked beside him with everything. Have you read Of Muppets and Men? They had a partnership. It seemed like they were actually Bert and Ernie. And have you heard the song "When Bert's Not Here"? That's got to be how Frank felt after Jim Henson died. All these things he used to experience with Jim he was now experiencing without him. That alone had to be hard. Plus the management of The Muppets changed completely and everything... Before Jim died I believe he said he didn't want to do the Muppets without him, and I can understand why.

I don't blame him for wanting to leave, and I thank him for staying with the Muppets for as long as he did.

 

[Kevin the Frog]

The audio didn't work for me, but I read the trascript. I thought he was pretty funny really. I'll have to watch tonight to see if it came off as sarcasm / humor.

 

[Speed Tracer]

I loved this interview. I know we all miss Frank Oz, but it's understandable, ya know? Like Sarah said...

I don't blame him for wanting to leave, and I thank him for staying with the Muppets for as long as he did.

Amen.

 

[Mistersuperstar]

To be honest, he could have stuck with performing Fozzie and Piggy for the rest of his left if he'd have wanted. The fact that he is still trying to push himself to achieve greater things shows him in a very favourable light. I have always felt a little betrayed, from a Muppets point-of-view, that he has distanced himself so much from everything that has made him what he is today but you can't blame him for wanting more from life.

 

[Mistersuperstar]

Did you hear the slight slip-up? Talking about the Muppets, he talked about "...the characters that I perform and Jim performed, and the other guys still perform..." Should he have said "the characters I performed"? Maybe he hasn't completely left the Muppets behind just yet. He might just be waiting, like many of us, for Disney to create something that does the Muppets justice again.