Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog vs. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse

[MrsPepper]

Disney and Mickey, to me, is like this untouchable fortress of business... it's impersonal. And Mickey has essentially been eradicated as a character and shifted to icon status. I love the DIsney movies from the 80's and 90's quite alot, but since we're talking characters here, what does Mickey respresent to me? Nothing, really.

Kermit however... Kermit is accesible. He's physically tangible, also, so seeing him you feel like you could touch him and shake his hand. Plus the personality of the character invites everyone to relate to him.

But also, this is a muppet forum, and you don't see me on any DIsney ones. So of course, this is a biased answer.

 

[Drtooth]

from the mid 90's on, especially today, everything Disney sucks. I mean who really cares about Hanna Montana?

Who cares about Hanna Banana? Soccer moms and their tweenage girls. that's about it (I'm not making the joke about dirty old men. I will not. I promised). But guess what? it's making them millions upon millions. Sure, it sucks, the music and show are nothing the Monkees couldn't have done better (you know, like HM, they didn't write their own songs, didn't play their own instruments, and had a corny TV show... but people are still listening to their Music and watching their TV show today. HM is gonna lose all her fame once she reaches adult hood). But it's making money for Lord knows what reason.

I'd hate to say everything 90's Disney sucked. Far from. I think they really found their groove after the little Mermaid. Sure, they lost it on Pochahantus and so forth, but they've never been more together since Walt Died. That's all i have to say about that.

But, for me, I'm a Kermit, Jim Henson man. not so much that us animators are pretty much trained to say nasty stuff about the guy (and I could talk your ear off about his negative attributes- or better yet, check out the Saturday TV Funhouse cartoon about wehat's really in the Disney Vault), but because there's something about Jim's philosophy. Making millions of people happy, all while being happy doing it. Something that's sadly missing from our culture. Snuff films posing as horror films, teenage girls beating each other up on Youtube... even our commercials promote greed, arogance and violence (and I can state a hundred examples). What happened to love? What happened to dropping anvils and stuff on cartoon characters? That wasn't malicious, since no one got hurt at all. If everyone's in on the joke, there's no malicious thought, and it's just feels better to watch than people who constantly hate each other doing nasty things in real life.

Plus, well, Mickey is pretty bland a character. He doesn't quite have the personality or laughs of everyone he hung around. Why, even in the 50's or so, his popularity was eclipsed by Goofy and Donald (both of whom I just love). Kermit may not be quite as interresting as some of the people he hangs out with (come on, it's pretty hard when you got people like the Swedish Chef and Cookie Monster around you). But he still is able to capture your interrest, and become something more than himself.

 

[muppetmonster]

It is kind of hard to say, I really love Mickey and Kermit, as they are both great icons, and were created by legendary people: Mickey (Walt Disney) and Kermit (Jim Henson), but I need to be honest about something. Even though, Mickey is a cool character, his old personality was much better, it made him much more realistic than his new counterpart. Whereas, Kermit has always been awesome, either on "Sesame Street", "the Muppet Show", wherever. For goodness sake, he is a frequent muppet crossover character appearing on two of the most popular television show series of all the time! If that is not cool, I do not know what is. Whereas, for Mickey, he just has stays in his own area, he did appear in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", but that was something else. In addition, Kermit has a much more realistic character than Mickey does; Mickey's old personality was much more realistic than the new Mickey's, but that unfortunately will always be a hopeless case.

I guess, it really comes down to this, I really admire both of them, but I love Kermit more, because Kermit is strong, and has dealt with a lot, whereas Mickey seems kind of wimpy, in his new character, that is, and is kind of weak when bad things happens to him. However, as I previously said, it is a hard question, so I tried to answer it as best as I could.

 

[Count von Count]

Kermit is funney in what he says and actions. Mickey is funney in his action. In a way they are there to balence what is going on. kermit-Show Mickey-life. If I had to pick, Kermit is the best the way I see it.

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

I've never found Mickey to be funny, infact I find hardly anything Disney to be funny at all. I'm more of a warner looney tunes fan.
But I'll go with Henson since he and the Muppets are the ones that keep inspiring me to follow my dreams no matter what.

 

[frogboy4]

I've never found Mickey to be funny, infact I find hardly anything Disney to be funny at all. I'm more of a warner looney tunes fan.
But I'll go with Henson since he and the Muppets are the ones that keep inspiring me to follow my dreams no matter what.

Mickey used to be funny, but that is before any of our time. In his first short subjects he was a sly mischievous little mouse who seemed to relish getting in and out of trouble. These personality traits were assigned to Donald Duck later on - with the twist that the harder he tried to get out of a jam, the bigger his problems became. Donald is the relatable Disney character. Mickey is merely a corporate icon these days. Donald is an honorary Muppet in my eyes.

Donald is able to be angst-riddled without catching any flack as the head of Disney Co.

 

[Drtooth]

Donald is able to be angst-riddled without catching any flack as the head of Disney Co.

Cartoon ducks in general are always the best. I don't know why... I just don't know why cartoon ducks make the funniest of all cartoon animals, but they always are. Donald? Daffy? Darkwing? Even Scrooge McDuck, who's more of a serious character most of the time... There's just something about ducks.

 

[Super Scooter]

I'm a fan of old Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoons, especially when the three of them are together (a team almost as good as Kermit, Gonzo, and Fozzie). However, it will always be Jim and Kermit for me. I grew up watching Kermit all the time, and at times felt as if the Muppets were my only friends.

On the technical side of things, I almost think Kermit has had more screen time than Mickey. After all, Kermit has been the star of six theatrical films, two T.V. movies, five television series, and several specials and pilots (among many other things). There hasn't really been a Mickey Mouse movie, has there? I'd love to see a traditionally animated Mickey movie, though.

Anyway, Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog.

 

[Vic Romano]

I agree with a lot of people that Kermit has more depth. Mickey is awesome and I love him, but Kermit is more... real. Mickey makes dreams come true while Kermit follows them, so I can relate more to the frog.

I guess it's like comparing Elvis to the Beatles. You've got two amazing icons that paved the way for new and creative music, but John Lennon always said: "If there were no Elvis, there'd be no Beatles."

Maybe Walt didn't directly inspire Jim, but I can';t help think that if Walt didn't do what he did, Jim wouldn't have had the same opportunity to give us the Muppets.

As for Hannah Montanna... she's pretty hot.

 

[MrsPepper]

As for Hannah Montanna... she's pretty hot.

Hahahaa! Awesome. Everyone here hates on her but I'm glad you can look beyond and see her good qualities.

But yeah, I loved that quote about Elvis and the Beatles; it's something to think about, most definitely.