I miss Rizzo!

[zoebell]

i didn't know steve was having trouble with his voice, is that true?

 

[Drtooth]

Rizzo is quite present (not as present as Pepe or Kermit, but they're the hosts) in the Disney Cruise Line game. He's even one of the suspects.
Toughpigs has a link to it

Yeah, I don't worry about the future of Rizzo. Pepe was only in one scene in the movie, but same Cruise line game, he's all over it.

Also, I doubt Rizzo would have been one of the few Muppet characters they made into plush at Disney if they were trying to phase him out. After all, they didn't even make a Swedish Chef.

 

[muppetlover123]

i miss his and pepes funny jokes

 

[D'Snowth]

Maybe it's Steve's voice, I don't know... I mean, clearly, as you age, your voice changes as well, I think we can all agree Elmo isn't sounding quite as falscetto as he used to, and you can really tell a difference in Big Bird's voice in the last couple of years... but let us not forget this, and this was only within the last couple of years...

It doesn't sound like Steve is having too much trouble achieving his Rizzo/Bean voice for one of those bunnies, but then again, that doesn't mean he isn't... I can attest to not being able to achieve certain voices without trouble, particularly high, falscetto voices.

 

[CaseytheMuppet]

I actually do have some inside info as to why possibly there's been a lot less of Rizzo as of late, BUT, I'm sworn to secrecy, so I really can't tell.

But aside from that, yes, I too was just a little disappointed by the lack of both Rizzo and Pepe in the new movie (Pepe moreso because he was used rather heavily in the promos, so it seemed odd).

Well, when you tell me that I need to know! I miss Rizzo, too! Such a great rat! I wonder if that's a compliment...

 

[LamangoNumber2]

The fact that some of you are saying 'why are his characters in the same scenes together?" Well, it's a nice little audio trick called Looping. Gonzo and Beauregard can be in the same scene, and with just a quick recording and talking to ones self, you can have the two characters interact.

And the Rizzo thing? I think it's indeed because Steve has taken over alot of new characters. Rizzo, Lips and Fufu where his Muppet Show characters, and even then, Lips never spoke. Wembley, Rizzo, Bean and Mew almost had the exact same voice. Steve even said himself he barely any difference in his early voicing. Marlon, Jake, Poodlepants, and Andy where all new voices to him, and then he took over Beaker, Kermit, and then, later, Statler. Then, with the new movie, Link and Newsie joined the Whitmire ranks. So that's almost 20 characters. Rizzo's bound to slowly be phased back into the background.

Samething's happening to Pepe, I beleive. Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, and Bobo are all bigger than Pepe now.

 

[Borples]

Yeah, but Link and the Newsman are minor characters. Bean hasn't been seen since MFS or so. Statler is always around, but he and Waldorf are usually off on their own, doing their own scenes. Beaker, God love him, is a (brilliant) one-note joke character. He's never going to be a main movie character. So that really leaves Kermit and Rizzo as major characters for Steve. I do think that Rizzo's relative absence is mostly because of Kermit being THE main character again, now. But, if Piggy, Fozzie and Animal can all have major roles in the same movie, you'd think it wouldn't be too hard to work in both the frog and the rat. My guess/gut feeling is that Segel, Stoller and Bobin just didn't like the post-Henson Muppet era, and they (maybe subconciously) resented Gonzo, Rizzo and Pepe for taking over so much of the screen time, and therefore relegated them to small and/or nonexistent parts in their movie. And I hope they've got that out of their system now and are listening to all of the complaints about missing Rizzo, and will bring him back for the next one.

In his interview with Tough Pigs last year, which was done after the movie wrapped, Steve did mention that he hadn't had a chance to do Rizzo lately, and it sounded like he missed him. Even if there is a voice issue involved, he can obviously manage him in small doses. We saw him on that British morning show just recently, for instance.

 

[PuppetMaster]

Pepe should make jokes w/ Cookie Monster. I'd like to see how that would go down.

 

[DarthGonzo]

Samething's happening to Pepe, I beleive. Rowlf, Dr. Teeth, and Bobo are all bigger than Pepe now.

I'd have no problem seeing Rowlf and Dr. Teeth continue to get more dialogue and large roles even if it does mean seeing a lot less of Pepe. But that's just me. I don't hate Pepe, but for a long time he was ALL OVER THE PLACE. It didn't bother me at all that him and Rizzo didn't appear much in the movie, because it gave other, under-utilized characters a chance to shine.

 

[Borples]

I'd have no problem seeing Rowlf and Dr. Teeth continue to get more dialogue and large roles even if it does mean seeing a lot less of Pepe. But that's just me. I don't hate Pepe, but for a long time he was ALL OVER THE PLACE. It didn't bother me at all that him and Rizzo didn't appear much in the movie, because it gave other, under-utilized characters a chance to shine.

I'd like a happy medium. I remember being irked when Gonzo and Rizzo basically took over for the leads. But now I want them back. My problem is that I like everything. Anyway, I'm happy for Kermit and Piggy and Fozzie getting back to their rightful roles. I was okay with Pepe having only the one scene, okay. It was funny and appropriately Pepe-ish. But Rizzo got nothing, and I think he deserves better than that.