Kermit and Steve Whitmire in London

BlueFrackle

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2002
Messages
2,932
Reaction score
47
Yes its true!

So, Chris, James (Kermituk and Punch'N'Judy) and I went down to Londons Embankment today. Kermit was supposed to be commentating for the London Marathon. Its 26 Miles long all the way through London. Kermit would be at the last 2 mile mark!

Let me set the scene...

The Embankment runs alongside the River Thames, It goes all the way through London. There are big boats moared to the sides with Clubs, Restaurants, and other venues inside the boats. HMS President has meeting rooms, Dinning rooms and stuff liike that. Kermit was going to be in there giving a talk about ChildLine, which is the cause that Disney and Kermit are supporting.

So we were walking along the wide pavement with the river on one side and a road on the other side. We came up to the boat, now all along the pavement are trees with rope tied from one to another. So that spectators didnt spill into the road, That is where the runners for the Marathon need to be.

We see a man with black trousers and shoes and a dark green barber wax coat (kind of like a rain coat), He is looking at this plastic sheet sign hanging from the ropes. James points to him, So I tap him on his shoulder and say "We're your fanclub!". He looked puzzled. "We are Muppet fans, We've come to see YOU!" The place was empty at this time so Steve spoke to us for about Twenty Five minutes!

I asked some questions about him not getting recognised and he said that he likes it that way, And told us a Story about Jerry Nelson and Al Pacino coming out of an Airport back in the 70's and no one noticing Jerry and everyone noticing Al.

Some other people and Janet (I forget her second name, Lekner maybe?) who was the Puppet Wrangler, came out (probably to find out where Steve was!) and they starting taking Press Photos with Kermit (in his trench coat, hat and with his microphone!) against the banner.

Kermit and Steve spoke to us and posed for photographs, at this time there was still no one around!

I asked about the Second Season of Fraggle Rock and he said that one day he had brought a home video camera onto the set. He made videos all day long of recoring music and performing and that they have never been seen before. He has passed them onto the producer of the Fraggle Rock DVD and they hope to use them on the Season DVD sets! He has also done interviews for the Second Season set!

We went for drinks and came back a while later, as we walked pass the boat we saw a hand waving to us through the window. It was Steve, he had recognizes us!

Steve came off of the boat a while later and did some taping for UK show Blue Peter (which will air Monday!) Kermit was reporting alongside the runners as the Marathon was going on.

I asked Steve about writing a book like Caroll's. He said he would like to, but no one has asked him. I said that I just did, And he said "Yeah, but we need someone to pay for it!" Ha!

He said that he had visited Louise Gold the previous evening for a short while, Louise is doing Mary Poppins on stage in London at the moment. He also said that he was filming on Monday morning. But he didnt know where or what it was! Ha!

I also asked him where the naked Kermit was, because he had used it the day before on TV. And he laughed and told us that it was inside the boat. He would probably use that one for the speach that evening at the event on the boat.

I also asked him if he had been to Don Sahlin's bench. He said he hadn't this time. But he had seen it before.

We spoke for about Thirty to Forty minutes all in all!

And as we shook hands at the end, I thanked him for his time and said that he should let us know the next time that he is coming back. He said he'd make sure that it went on Muppet Central.

Then just as he was walking away he turned and said "Oh, and we totally agree with that Kynan thing!" I smiled amd he said "We agree with 'One Muppet One Performer'!"

All those things people say about how nice the Performers are is right. Steve was so nice, he made us feel like we were old friends and we just chatted and had a nice time!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/Warrick/DSC00240.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/Warrick/100_2682.jpg

All in all, It was one of the best days of my life!
 

pepestarr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
151
Reaction score
0
Warrick great story I wish I could had been there! Will tune in on Monday to see more of Kermit and Steve!
 

MeepBorkMeep

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2006
Messages
1,318
Reaction score
4
Maaaan. You have no idea how much I hate you right now. You're so lucky. Thanks for the story, though. :wink: Steve sure seems nice.
 

a_Mickey_Muppet

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2004
Messages
2,151
Reaction score
118
wow great stuff Warrick! thanks for postin thos pics! i enjoyed em :smile:
 

froggiegirl18

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2003
Messages
315
Reaction score
2
seriously thanks for posting about this. Wow forty min. That was super nice. They really are just regular people who love what they do. At least that is what I have read, because I have yet to meet a muppeteer myself. Aggg so you finally meet Steve and I have been wanting to meet him for nearly ten years! I have connections how is this not possible for me. Aw well I am super happy that you got to meet him and that the entire event impacted your life. Thanks for describing and posting pictures. I am super excited now about FR 2!! It will be amazing if they use some of Steve's stuff! Okay so Steve just got ten more cool points for that! :smile:
 

Punch'n'Judy

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 17, 2005
Messages
408
Reaction score
1
It really was an amazing day, and Steve was so kind to us. I couldn't quite believe what I was seeing at times. One of the more amusing moments was watching Steve do an interview for Capital radio on a mobile phone as Kermit but without the puppet.

And for reference the puppet wrangler/rigger (Hensons have used both terms to describe the same job) was Janet Knechtel.

Will try and post a few more photos soon.

James
 

MuppetDanny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2002
Messages
1,690
Reaction score
252
Great stuff Warrick :smile:

Shame I wasn't able to come along :grouchy: :frown:
 

Kermieuk

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
Messages
1,459
Reaction score
251
Hi Guys, Hi Warrick and James.

Well, here is my description of the events on Sunday meeting Kermit and Steve in London. Firstly, I live 160 miles from London, so was up at 6am, on the road at 7am and got to London at 9.15. Made my way to meet Warrick and James at Embankment at 10.30. Seeing Steve outside when we arrived at HMS President, was a great surprise, it was great to see him and he was equally pleased that Muppet fans had gone to see him and that we spoke. He was very easy to talk to and always tried to answer questions. I asked him his thoughts on the new Kermit Replica, he said he was surprised it was being made but so far hadnt seen any pics, but had heard it looked good. He was surprised at the retail price, especially knowing what the 'real' Kermit costs.
After a short while he had to go back on the boat but assured us he would be back and he would have Kermit with him.

A short while later they returned, Kermit was being carried in a clear plastic bag, no expensive carry case, just a plastic bag. It was overwhelming when Kermit was first took out and I seen him for the first time. A photographer took pics for the Childline Disney promo, then we were able to get pics taken with Kermit and Steve,

Me with Kermit............
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/KERMIE1/KermitMeEdit1.jpg

Steve and Kermit between pics........
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/KERMIE1/MeetingKermit007.jpg

Kermit and Steve posing for the camera.....
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f112/KERMIE1/MeetingKermit026.jpg

I also got Steve and Kermit to autograph some Kermit photos and I got 'Kermit The Frog' autograhed on my Messenger bag from Disneystore.
I also asked what was happening with Kermits 50th Tour?? Basically fingers crossed it may continue!!
And as Warrick said above Steve agreed with The One Muppet One Voice campaign.

For me this was something I wanted to do for many years. It really was a dream come true.
It was a great to meet with Warrick again..................its been about 10 years and to meet James.
Of course many many thanks to Steve Whitmire and the crew for allowing us to chat and take pics and of course to Kermit!!

Chris
 
Top