Petition for Skeeter in The Muppets... Again!

[jvcarroll]

Kudos to the comic book illustrator who attempted to re-imagine Skeeter, but I just don't see her in hot pink Hot Topic gear, Nanny's old stockings and purple sneakers. It was a clever concept. I just saw Skeeter as more of a proactive earthier type instead of a faux-goth-acrobat. I see her as more of a teenage Laura Croft than just another antisocial mall rat.

I wouldn't mind it they created an actual puppet Skeeter. It's just that she's so unnecessary. Outside of cartoon nostalgia and political correctness, what exactly is her purpose? They'd have to re-invent her, so why not just create a whole new character? The Muppets' personalities balance each other out in other ways beyond gender.

Even though it's not an either/or proposition, there are many Muppets I would like to see reappear before they'd consider tackling Skeeter:

• Nigel (classic)
• Mildred
• Hilda
• George the Janitor
• Doglion
• Luncheon Counter Monster
• Fletcher Bird
• Zelda Rose
• Clifford
• Leon
• Digit
• Clueless Morgan
• Polly Lobster
• Louis Kazagger
• Mean Mama
• Koozebanians
• Zippity Zap
• Seymour
• Sal Minella
• Johnny Fiama
• Java Muppets
• Nigel (MT)
• Mulch
• Van Neuter
• and maybe even find a way to tastefully incorporate the Country Trio

 

[muppetperson]

I haven't seen TMTM for a long time but I do remember from the comic book adaptation Piggy saying to Kermit that she wishes that they could have met much sooner. And Kermit replies like when they were little kids.

This then leads into the Muppet Babies sequence and in its context does imply that it is just a fantasy in Piggy's imagination. However the Muppets have never been sticklers for strict continuity. At least the possibility is there to just introduce an adult Skeeter Muppet to a new movie or television series as Scooter's twin sister and they don't even need to make reference to Muppet Babies or any other origin. Just like many characters throughout The Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight usually just made appearances often with little or no background explanations and some also disappeared with no explanation.

True!

 

[muppetperson]

That is not what I am saying. What I mean is that Piggy needs another female who is here equal, strong willed, stubborn, determined, and I see all of that in Skeeter.

Don't forget Annie Sue!

 

[PanthraDion]

Don't forget Annie Sue!

Ah yes, and Annie Sue.

 

[Drtooth]

I've always disliked the moniker of "Strong female character." What does that imply about the rest of the female population? Are they all weak, meek, and needy?

It's a buzz word term. As I've always said, you can do anything to a white male character (Homer Simpson, for example) and no one will complain. Anything else, some group or another will usually complain. "Strong female role model" can be a good thing, but often times leads to flat Mary Sue characters that are the equal and the better of the male counterparts. Look at how lame Lola Bunny in Space Jam was.

Kudos to the comic book illustrator who attempted to re-imagine Skeeter, but I just don't see her in hot pink Hot Topic gear, Nanny's old stockings and purple sneakers. It was a clever concept. I just saw Skeeter as more of a proactive earthier type instead of a faux-goth-acrobat. I see her as more of a teenage Laura Croft than just another antisocial mall rat.

I wouldn't mind it they created an actual puppet Skeeter. It's just that she's so unnecessary. Outside of cartoon nostalgia and political correctness, what exactly is her purpose? They'd have to re-invent her, so why not just create a whole new character? The Muppets' personalities balance each other out in other ways beyond gender.

I still think that if they incorporated Skeeter into the Muppets before the comics did, she'd just be a distaff counterpart to Scooter and little else. No difference in personality, nothing. Heck, Muppet Babies Scooter only sort of resembled Scooter in the first place. All due to the characters having to be 1980's cartoon gang of kids prepackaged personalities. They got very lucky for Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal and Rowlf having similar enough traits. But 80's cartoons dictated computers (those amazing things that apparently just came out in the decade that writers had a bare understanding of what they were capable to do), and digital watch and glasses wearing nerds that use them. Skeeter wasn't just created because they needed another female role, but they needed the "sporty" character. Go ahead. Check out stuff like Get Along Gang, Care Bears, and Pink Panther and Sons (the most painfully obvious of them all). They all had the exact same characters. Muppet Babies was able to hide it better.

I too would rather some other classic characters. I'd love to see Brian Henson come back, even if temporarily, to perform Sal and Van Neuter. I'd much rather see them back than Skeeter.

Though, Search for Skeeter would be a great idea for a Muppet Movie.

 

[jvcarroll]

I still think that if they incorporated Skeeter into the Muppets before the comics did, she'd just be a distaff counterpart to Scooter and little else. No difference in personality, nothing. Heck, Muppet Babies Scooter only sort of resembled Scooter in the first place. All due to the characters having to be 1980's cartoon gang of kids prepackaged personalities. They got very lucky for Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal and Rowlf having similar enough traits. But 80's cartoons dictated computers (those amazing things that apparently just came out in the decade that writers had a bare understanding of what they were capable to do), and digital watch and glasses wearing nerds that use them. Skeeter wasn't just created because they needed another female role, but they needed the "sporty" character. Go ahead. Check out stuff like Get Along Gang, Care Bears, and Pink Panther and Sons (the most painfully obvious of them all). They all had the exact same characters. Muppet Babies was able to hide it better.

Skeeter was a good idea for Muppet Babies because the pairing also reflected sibling rivalry. I just never took to the character. I'm a purist. It's not like when a background prawn rose to the ranks of Muppetdom through sheer popularity. Skeeter was more of a calculated move.

 

[dwayne1115]

Well I will have to say that I really am hoping that Skeeter is not in the new movie. "The Muppets" was suppose to help bring the Muppets back into the main light and it did that. What it did not do was develop the characters or there relationships. We did get a little with Kermit/Piggy/Fozzie. but that was about it. It was mostly about Walter which was not bad but it also took time away from the others. Before they bring in new or even minor characters they need to work on building up the core. by core I mean Kermit Piggy Fozzie Gonzo Rowlf the Band Rizzo and Pepe in that order. then work on getting the craziness the wildness and the madness back.
The old Muppets.com videos where starting to bring all that back and We need more of that before we could ever think of having Skeeter in the mix or re launching the Muppet Babies.

 

[Drtooth]

Skeeter was a good idea for Muppet Babies because the pairing also reflected sibling rivalry. I just never took to the character. I'm a purist. It's not like when a background prawn rose to the ranks of Muppetdom through sheer popularity. Skeeter was more of a calculated move.

I'm surprised that the Muppet Studios/Henson even bothered to have a cover story for the character. It's not like animation only characters get any respect or acknowledgement anyway. Though, to be honest, a Men in Black movie about agent Alpha would have been a lot more interesting than the crummy second film. I like Skeeter, I love the attempt by Roger and Amy to bring her back (though I still don't see her as a less valid character than Clint Wacky), but I just don't see them bothering now or ever with the character.

 

[beaker]

I've long felt the Muppets need a teenage Skeeter. Who the heck cares if Muppet Babies is canonical. Also that Puppt is gorgeous! Wow...Who made that?

The Muppets have LONG had a female problem. Meaning lack of gender diversity. Miss Piggy alone shouldn't be the end all be all standard bearer. The Muppets are what, 95% male? I mean Sesame Street has way less main chracters and is heavily female. Skeeter would be PERFECT.

 

[beaker]

As much as I'd love to have Skeeter Retconned in any Muppet project, it's painfully clear that even under Henson, The Muppets and Muppet babies were designed to be 2 different franchise that were never meant to cross into each other. With the exception of the Muppet Babies storybook and cartoon videos and the software hosted by adult Kermit, and that one scene in Muppet Family Christmas (which raises questions). I don't think they ever wanted, or planned on incorporating Skeeter at all. I'm surprised they even address her in fan terms as lost off in some adventure. It would be so easy to address her as a cartoon only character like every single cartoon ever made based on a movie (still ticked they didn't bother putting XR, Booster, and or Mira Nova in the background of Toy Story 3).

It would be great if they got the message, though. But I'm still thinking they want Muppets and Muppet Babies miles apart from each other. That may be a bigger factor for Muppet Babies not being on DVD than copyright reasons.

But why does Skeeter have to reflect or pay tribute to Muppet Babies? Why can't she just be her own thing? It'd be a high school/college aged version. I mean heck, there's a few things from Muppet babies that crossed over into live action Muppet productions and noone took issue with it.