Morning with the Muppets

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Thanks for this! I wanted some kind of evidence that Steve said hello to me in the middle of the panel LOL

Oh yeah, I noticed he said hello to someone named Melissa, but I didn't piece together that it was you. You lucky son of a gun.

 

[MelissaY1]

Oh yeah, I noticed he said hello to someone named Melissa, but I didn't piece together that it was you. You lucky son of a gun.

Yep, that's me! LOL Question, I went through I thought most of the audio but didn't hear that part. Do you know what point he says it?

 

[MelissaY1]

Never mind found it, 39 minutes and 29 seconds in LOL

 

[JimAndFrank]

Never mind found it, 39 minutes and 29 seconds in LOL

I just heard it!

I would have been grinning my face off if Steve were to point me out during a panel.

 

[antsamthompson9]

In case anyone's curious, the kid who asked the Ernie and Bert question is this guy: https://www.youtube.com/user/tjrsmc

 

[MuppetSpot]

In case anyone's curious, the kid who asked the Ernie and Bert question is this guy: https://www.youtube.com/user/tjrsmc

Ugh, the guy annoys when me, he spams on YouTube. Also it's kind of werid how he asked a SST question at a Muppet panel. No one asked a SST question at Muppetfest and Elmo was there. Just a pet peeve of mine.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I'd like to share my favorite section from this talk, because it's something that every Muppet fan should realize:
Interviewer: You clearly come close to the voice, but I'm wondering if you ever made any effort to differentiate yourself a little bit.
Steve: No, but I can't help it. I'm not a mimic, really.
Interviewer: I mean, it's pretty close.
Steve: It's in the same ballpark, and it's been 26 years, so I think people have grown accustomed to it. I had a lot of criticism in the beginning and I understand it. I'd walk into a room, and people would say "You sound exactly like Jim" and then people would say "You don't sound anything like Jim". One of the most embarrassing things I did, in the early days we did this phone-in radio thing, to these kinda shock-jocks. So they weren't very nice people to begin with. And they were talking to Kermit, and they spent the whole interview saying "You don't sound anything like Kermit" to Kermit. It was so hard. What could I do? I had to say it was Kermit. So I get it. But we don't have any choice. I hear a lot of people writing or talking online about Jim's Kermit, or Frank's Fozzie or Frank's Piggy vs. Eric's Piggy. And from our point of view, I understand that, but it's a non-existent difference. There's no Frank's Piggy, it's Piggy. And that's the way we have to approach it. Because it doesn't get shared. This is who she is now. They do have to evolve. That's really important.
Eric: Yeah, evolve is the right word. Obviously, these characters are gonna be different on our hands than our predecessors. But we're accepting of that. It was hard for me at first, because I wanted to able to fool people. And maybe you can do that for a little while, but eventually especially with the Internet these days, people are gonna know. And so I had to come to terms with that, and realize that I'm not Frank. And nobody can be somebody else. But perhaps Piggy can still be Piggy, and be a little bit different than she was before but totally in-character. Totally a character that you can believe in, and continue to believe in and be entertained by.

 

[JimAndFrank]

I'd like to share my favorite section from this talk, because it's something that every Muppet fan should realize:
Interviewer: You clearly come close to the voice, but I'm wondering if you ever made any effort to differentiate yourself a little bit.
Steve: No, but I can't help it. I'm not a mimic, really.
Interviewer: I mean, it's pretty close.
Steve: It's in the same ballpark, and it's been 26 years, so I think people have grown accustomed to it. I had a lot of criticism in the beginning and I understand it. I'd walk into a room, and people would say "You sound exactly like Jim" and then people would say "You don't sound anything like Jim". One of the most embarrassing things I did, in the early days we did this phone-in radio thing, to these kinda shock-jocks. So they weren't very nice people to begin with. And they were talking to Kermit, and they spent the whole interview saying "You don't sound anything like Kermit" to Kermit. It was so hard. What could I do? I had to say it was Kermit. So I get it. But we don't have any choice. I hear a lot of people writing or talking online about Jim's Kermit, or Frank's Fozzie or Frank's Piggy vs. Eric's Piggy. And from our point of view, I understand that, but it's a non-existent difference. There's no Frank's Piggy, it's Piggy. And that's the way we have to approach it. Because it doesn't get shared. This is who she is now. They do have to evolve. That's really important.
Eric: Yeah, evolve is the right word. Obviously, these characters are gonna be different on our hands than our predecessors. But we're accepting of that. It was hard for me at first, because I wanted to able to fool people. And maybe you can do that for a little while, but eventually especially with the Internet these days, people are gonna know. And so I had to come to terms with that, and realize that I'm not Frank. And nobody can be somebody else. But perhaps Piggy can still be Piggy, and be a little bit different than she was before but totally in-character. Totally a character that you can believe in, and continue to believe in and be entertained by.

I LOVED this bit as well, but for slightly different reasons than I think you do.

With the whole 'Steve's voice for Kermit' thing, I really, REALLY wish that the wider Muppet audience would realise that Steve knows perfectly well that he is not Jim.

I constantly read, "Whitmire is nowhere as good as Henson" or "I hate the new Kermit, sounds nothing like when Hanson did him" or even "Henson is rolling in his grave" it makes me cringe. How on earth do people expect someone to be able to match up to someone like Jim? Even if you can get the voice down, doesn't mean you could get the personality perfect as well.

I bet you any money that when Kermit is passed to a new performer, the same people who complained about Steve will complain about the new performer because "He sounds nothing like Whitmire or Henson."

It really doesn't need to be said again, but Steve has done an awesome job with making Kermit his own. The voice being perfectly accurate is far less significant than Kermit having an enjoyable, hilarious and endearing personality, which Steve has supplied in spades. The same goes for Eric and all the other performers who have picked up characters in the past.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I LOVED this bit as well, but for slightly different reasons than I think you do.

With the whole 'Steve's voice for Kermit' thing, I really, REALLY wish that the wider Muppet audience would realise that Steve knows perfectly well that he is not Jim.

I constantly read, "Whitmire is nowhere as good as Henson" or "I hate the new Kermit, sounds nothing like when Hanson did him" or even "Henson is rolling in his grave" it makes me cringe. How on earth do people expect someone to be able to match up to someone like Jim? Even if you can get the voice down, doesn't mean you could get the personality perfect as well.

I bet you any money that when Kermit is passed to a new performer, the same people who complained about Steve will complain about the new performer because "He sounds nothing like Whitmire or Henson."

It really doesn't need to be said again, but Steve has done an awesome job with making Kermit his own. The voice being perfectly accurate is far less significant than Kermit having an enjoyable, hilarious and endearing personality, which Steve has supplied in spades. The same goes for Eric and all the other performers who have picked up characters in the past.

Very nicely put.

 

[Mo Frackle]

I LOVED this bit as well, but for slightly different reasons than I think you do.

With the whole 'Steve's voice for Kermit' thing, I really, REALLY wish that the wider Muppet audience would realise that Steve knows perfectly well that he is not Jim.

I constantly read, "Whitmire is nowhere as good as Henson" or "I hate the new Kermit, sounds nothing like when Hanson did him" or even "Henson is rolling in his grave" it makes me cringe. How on earth do people expect someone to be able to match up to someone like Jim? Even if you can get the voice down, doesn't mean you could get the personality perfect as well.

I bet you any money that when Kermit is passed to a new performer, the same people who complained about Steve will complain about the new performer because "He sounds nothing like Whitmire or Henson."

It really doesn't need to be said again, but Steve has done an awesome job with making Kermit his own. The voice being perfectly accurate is far less significant than Kermit having an enjoyable, hilarious and endearing personality, which Steve has supplied in spades. The same goes for Eric and all the other performers who have picked up characters in the past.

You mean, those people actually know who Steve Whitmire is? Those similar comments I generally come across are from people who assume all of the Muppets were just recently recast.