Frank Oz Interview with EW

[Borples]

I don't see this anywhere yet?

Frank Oz did an interview at EW.com. The first two pages are about Little Shop of Horrors. The third has some questions about the Muppets.

Image Credit: Everett Collection

You’ve spoken a bit about your concerns regarding the Muppet franchise, which has come back and had a resurgence in recent months. Were you pleased to see the property embraced again so passionately by audiences? The film did pretty well…
It did great, and I’m pleased the affection for the Muppets is still so incredibly strong. You know, I probably shouldn’t be talking about that film because I have my own feelings about it. I don’t want to hit it, but there’s things that people don’t know about the actual shooting of it, and I probably shouldn’t get into it. I do feel that everybody enjoyed it and that’s great. For me, it was a homogenized version, but you know, that’s the way they saw it. If it comes from me, it’s going to sound like sour grapes and I don’t want that. If people love the characters, they love the characters. They’re just a little bit different to me, that’s all.

When I stop and think back on all the characters that you’ve had a hand in creating, and how they’ve affected not just my generation but the generations before and likely the generations to come, I’m a little awed by it. Do you ever look at what you’ve accomplished and think, “Wow — these are things that stay with people their whole lives!” How does that make you feel?
For years, essentially I didn’t think about it because I just kept on working and enjoying work. Even when I kind of stopped performing — although I’ll do Sesame Street one day a year just for fun — even then didn’t think about it. I just spent my time being a director. But since I’ve been recently married this past year, my wife’s the one that’s really brought to my attention that what I did has more value than I think. So, the answer is, I’m slowly at this late date starting to understand that not only did I have an impact, but I had the impact because of Jim (Henson) and all the other guys too. I’m the last guy standing of the original four, so I know when people compliment me, I know that’s not just me. I know I represent Jim and all the other guys [writer Jerry Juhl and Muppet designer Don Sahlin].

Is there one character you particularly miss performing the most? I would think it would be Miss Piggy because you’ve had so much time with her, but you’ve performed as Bert, Cookie Monster… The list goes on.
I don’t know. I get asked that a lot. I love Piggy because of her layers of neurosis. She covers all the pain she’s in and that’s what makes her funny. I love all those neurotic layers of her and I love different parts of other characters: Fozzie’s insecurity and Cookie’s obsession. I love that stuff. I think Piggy’s harder because I’ve gotten older now and when you get older, your voice goes a little deeper and so it’s harder for me to get the highs I used to. But I guess the character that’s closest to me probably is Grover. If I had to give an answer I’d probably give that one. Other characters I worked on, but that one just organically came about.

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/05/15/frank-oz-little-shop-of-horrors/

He finally speaks a little bit about The Muppets in its final form, and I am...surprised, though I shouldn't be. He also says something that I wish he hadn't, because now I have to spend way too much time wondering what he was talking about.

 

[jvcarroll]

This is the friendliest Frank Oz interview I've ever read. Marriage must be agreeing with him.

He seemed more gracious about The Muppets movie this time and strangely okay with the remakes of his work. The mention of controversy on set sounds cryptic, but I have a feeling that a lot of the early script issues continued into the production and a lot of the controversy could have come from the "fart shoes" reference. It seems that the filmmakers liked that bit much more than any of the performers. Or at least that's what it appears to me from what I've gathered from bits and pieces of interviews.

It also struck me as odd that there was no Muppet collaboration in the film commentary. Also, the writers and director had no Muppet experience so that could have caused some tension like it reportedly did on the original Muppet Movie. They also had to go back and re-shoot the ending. It also makes Segel's lack of interest in a future cameo seem suspicious. Whatever the cast and crew did, it worked and the Muppets are back and Frank Oz seems pleased about it. A good analogy is that it's better to enjoy the meal rather than dive into to kitchen politics.

I'm thinking of what in the Muppets' personalities seemed different to Frank. Maybe Kermit was a little too gloomy and detached, Gonzo was more subdued and would not likely have kept himself repressed for so many years, Animal was a little more articulate than usual and Miss Piggy would have likely schemed to take over the show rather than agree to be a small part of it after some haggling. Of course this is all nit-picky, but all of this would likely be different under Frank's direction. I think that's what he's talking about. Still, I think it worked in the story of the film.

 

[D'Snowth]

I think Jamie basically summed up what I would have said about the interview, heh.

It's interesting that he still does SST "just for fun", that I wasn't fully aware of, but I had always wondered what exactly was it about SST that he still devoted a small fraction of his time with as opposed to the Classic Muppets (though I also wasn't aware he decreased his fraction of time from about four or five days to just one day).

Still would be nice to know what he actual thoughts are on the new movie, he clearly is holding back a little, since he doesn't want to knock it.

 

[Borples]

It was a good interview. He must be getting mellow in his advancing years. ;-) As far as the Muppets go, think how invested and nitpicky we, the fans, are. Now think how much MORE invested someone like Frank Oz, who helped create the Muppets and originated half of the main characters, must be. Even though he left voluntarily, of course he's going to be more critical than...well, than basically anyone else. Still, I'd love to know what his thoughts were, exactly.

I've been dying to know how it was on the set. And just when I had myself convinced that it was all more or less amicable, Mr. Vague has to go and get me wondering again. I wish we could get an interview with Steve or Dave. But the Muppeteers seemed to be under a gag order before the movie came out. I wondered how long it would be until they were allowed to talk about it, but now with a sequel in the works...we may never hear from them ever again. Hmph.

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well he is right, The Muppets (2011) is a bit homogenized. The thing is the previous projects were a bit too far in the other direction. Perhaps we will eventually see balance.

 

[jvcarroll]

The recent film kind of needed to be homogenized in order to distill and market the essence of the Muppets to the current marketplace. Previous projects held this presumption that the non-fan audience was already along for the ride. I hope the next film gets back to the much wilder aspects of the characters like the online short subjects did.

 

[minor muppetz]

I've been dying to know how it was on the set. And just when I had myself convinced that it was all more or less amicable, Mr. Vague has to go and get me wondering again. I wish we could get an interview with Steve or Dave. But the Muppeteers seemed to be under a gag order before the movie came out. I wondered how long it would be until they were allowed to talk about it, but now with a sequel in the works...we may never hear from them ever again. Hmph.

I saw an interview with Matt Vogel yesterday. So I guess they're not restricted from interviews. Here's the Vogel interview: http://schooltheatre.org/publications/dramatics/2012/05/man-and-muppet

But it is weird that the majority of post-movie interviews from Tough Pigs and The Muppet Mindset are with those who didn't work on the film.

 

[Borples]

I saw an interview with Matt Vogel yesterday. So I guess they're not restricted from interviews. Here's the Vogel interview: http://schooltheatre.org/publications/dramatics/2012/05/man-and-muppet

But it is weird that the majority of post-movie interviews from Tough Pigs and The Muppet Mindset are with those who didn't work on the film.

Oh, yes, you're right. I read that interview; it's marvelous. I DID notice that he didn't talk much specifically about the movie. Vague positives instead of vague negatives. Probably I'm just being paranoid. But I did read a magazine article when the movie was coming out. The guy who wrote it had the idea to interview the characters, and then to interview the performers about some of the transitions the Muppets have gone through. He contacted Disney who said yes to interviewing the characters and NO to the performers. I just found that sort of telling. (the guy wrote about his whole interview experience. When he got to the one-on-one interview w/ Kermit, Steve (who he said looked like a shop teacher) made eye contact and said, "Hi," and then Kermit launched into, "I don't know who this guy is, but he's been following me around all day." Made me laugh. Poor Steve. )

 

[minor muppetz]

It's interesting that he still does SST "just for fun", that I wasn't fully aware of, but I had always wondered what exactly was it about SST that he still devoted a small fraction of his time with as opposed to the Classic Muppets (though I also wasn't aware he decreased his fraction of time from about four or five days to just one day).

I think it should have been obvious he's just been on the set one day a season. I think I read that fact somewhere before, but even if I didn't, he only did two segments for season 40 (Mad Men and a Marshall Grover segment), I don't think he did anything for the show in season 41, and for seasons 42 and 43 he reportedly did four segments, at least two of which (Spider-Monster and The Heaviest Catch) have aired by now. I also recall reading somewhere that Sesame Workshop doesn't have him come in as much because he's too expensive (can't remember where I'd read it, but it was something that had to do with the show, not Frank Oz).

Also, maybe it's easier for Sesame Workshop to schedule him in than it is Disney. Sesame Street has a steady schedule, while the Muppets really don't. They did want him to be in The Muppets and he turned it down, but still. Though with him saying it's now harder to do Miss Piggy's voice, maybe he's wanting to avoid any potential trouble.

 

[cahuenga]

He taped 4 segmentes in 2011 and 3 weeks ago it was said in Tyler bunch Twitter that he assisted Frank the day before for a Sesame segment, so maybe Frank is doing his sesame muppets more often now and not only every two years like the past seasons...