How come non of the muppeteers did the voices for muppet cartoons?

[muppetfan89]

How come none of the muppeteers did the voices for muppet cartoons?

why is that the muppeteers didn't do the voices for cartoons like Muppet Babies or the Fraggle Rock cartoon, after all they are the ones who created the charcaters, and the voices. I think the muppeteers would've made great voice actors, especially Jerry Nelson. Can you image if he became a voice actor, he would've been as great as Mel Blanc, both guys have a huge range of voices.

 

[Muppet Newsgirl]

Well, they say that the animated Fraggle Rock had a limited budget, and I imagine that the Muppet performers would have been a bit too expensive for them. And I also wonder if actors' unions had something to do with it.

 

[MelissaY1]

Not only that but I think the timing of the animated shows had the Muppeteers too busy with other projects. The Muppets were booming in the mid 80s with the various T.V. specials, Sesame Street is always there, some people were overseas filming Labyrinth, etc.