Skeeter

[Daffyfan4ever]

Here's something I wanted to mention (while I'm at the forum because of the many Muppet TV appearances that are going on this week). I'm reading this Muppet comic book where adult Skeeter returns, but they don't use her name. They just call her Scooter's sister or whatever, I'm wondering why that is. Could it be that Disney doesn't own the character since she was created by the Henson company for Muppet Babies? Any thoughts on this? If I posted this in the wrong thread feel free to move it.

 

[Slackbot]

As I understand it, Muppet Babies is a separate license from The Muppet Show. Boom didn't technically have permission to use the character Skeeter at first (even though, I believe, story lines had to be approved by Disney) and so for a while she was just "Scooter's sister." However, by the end of the storyline they did get the OK, so when she wrote to Scooter about her adventures they finally used her name.

 

[RedPiggy]

I think there's a thread about that somewhere in the Muppet Babies forum. Also, IIRC, the author said that there were no real issues with the name (at least, not to the dramatic extent imagined by everyone at the time). I think they were just messing with people.

 

[Slackbot]

Hmm... Googline around, I found a Toughpigs interview with Langridge in which he said...

TP: Why didn't you reference Skeeter by name? Was that an artistic choice or did that come from editorial/Disney?
RL: There was some sort of problem at Disney’s end, I’m not sure of the specifics. We did come to an arrangement of sorts in the end, but you’ll have to wait and see how that plays out – I’m not going to spoil it for you!

TP: In our last interview, you mentioned that you didn't mention Skeeter's name in the book because of decisions made on Disney's end. What made them allow you to reveal her name in the end of the story? Was there a deal made where you could only say her name once, like a swear word in a PG-13 movie?
RL: I don’t think it was quite as thought-through as all that – my impression is that everybody at Disney was just being over-cautious and passing the responsibility for making the decision to somebody else in the chain, until I guess it finally hit somebody who could say yea or nay, too late for us to do anything about the first couple of issues. By then we were committed to a course that we kind of had to see through.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Hmm... Googline around, I found a Toughpigs interview with Langridge in which he said...

Thanks for sharing that. It seems like my theory was correct, but I'll stay tuned and see if they eventually end up mentioning Skeeter by name.

 

[Slackbot]

Thanks for sharing that. It seems like my theory was correct, but I'll stay tuned and see if they eventually end up mentioning Skeeter by name.

I take it you haven't read the whole thing.

 

[Drtooth]

Didn't read the whole thread... yeah.. I was a misconception and miscommunication. Somehow I figured he found out after the first issue, but decided it was too good a gag to just give up. That's very much his weird style of humor.

Still... the one thing that kinda bugs me though. I get that they wanted some ambiguity as to whether this was happening or not, as they're adding a character who technically doesn't exist outside a cartoon series and a series of meh books. But somehow I don't see adult Skeeter as anything but a comics exclusive character anyway, no different from Ninja Rogers or Clint Wacky or Calistoga Cleo. They aren't canon, they never would be, and that's pretty much the same place they want Skeeter to be. It's like how they JUST started continuity between the parents of characters on Sesame Street by having specific puppets and storybook designs of those adult characters. Before then, anything goes and it was left up to the imaginations of the kid's book writers and illustrators. Sesame Street characters would have relatives that were never mentioned in the show.

I don't see how that's really different, but they could have easily said no as well.

I know there's been a stubbornness to retcon her, going as far back as Jim's day, so it isn't just a Disney thing. And honestly, it was for the best. Like I've said countless times, would you rather a character that's just a girl Scooter

or would you rather what Roger and Amy created?

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Good thoughts. I'm thinking it may just be a running gag, but I did read in Muppet Wiki that [spoiler alert: don't scroll down if you don't want to see]
































They did have her write a letter signed 'Skeeter' at the end of the strip.

I haven't read the whole thing yet.