Steve Whitmire has left the Muppets, Matt Vogel to continue as Kermit

[mbmfrog]

If he was fired because Disney thought He was the cause of poor box office from the last two movies or poor ratings on the 2015 Muppets show Disney are way off the mark I happen to love Muppets 2011 and Muppets Most Wanted and The Muppets 2015 show I think for whatever reason the public for the most part has lost interest in the Muppets? Also why was the show in 2015 canceled It was doing pretty good ratings wise. Like I brought up a show like Fresh Off The Boat that Debuted in February 4th 2015 and was on the same night as The Muppets in the Fall of 2015 that is still on the air Is FOTB any better then Muppets 2015? point is Whitmire Is not the problem none of the voice actors are the problem, the problem is like I said less people care for the Muppets and It would help to market the brand better put more Muppets stuff out there.

Another thing I was thinking Is maybe Disney has an Idea for a Muppets Movie or TV show and Whitmire didn't Like there Idea thought It wasn't a Muppety storyline? The Good news If this Is true we might be getting New Muppets Content hopefully Its good. Frank Oz didn't Like the idea of Muppets 2011 Mostly a Jealousy thing from what I can tell Oz came up for the plot for a Muppet movie wanted to direct It but Disney in his Opinion shunned him and went with Jason Segel's idea instead. Could be something like That heck maybe Whitmire suggested Oz Direct his movie and Whitmire said either let Oz Direct his Muppet movie or I'm out so they said fine good bye your fired. I happen to Like Muppets 2011 It felt like Classic Muppets I think Oz Is bitter and sounds insane with his hate for the film.

Now I Didn't like the Muppets 2011, but that was mostly due to the HUMAN Casting of the film and the need of not truly rehashing a familiar plotline. I like the film if it was more like the Muppets take Manhattan and use unknown actors and Actresses and work with them and the Muppets.

Frank Oz had the right idea on that movie and how to manage the Celebrity cameos better.

Frank Oz Knew of the quality and effort it took for the Muppets to shape what they are now. He is a great man

Oz had better experiences with the Muppets and had Disney brought him on to be a consultant, then maybe the recent Muppet ideas wouldn't be so mixed in reviews.

 

[D'Snowth]

now please someone step in and correct me if I am wrong I am probably getting this wrong, sorry in advance,
It was called,
The Worst Muppet Movie Ever made?
The premise is Gonzo hatches up this idea to direct a Muppet movie but make it schlocky and really just plain bad. I forget why he does this but when I read it I got a Producers feel to the whole thing and the Producers is one of my favorite movies especially the Will Farrell one! I am sure someone will explain the movie better then me again sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Oh, that! I knew Jim and Jerry Juhl had the idea before Jim's death, but I don't recall Frank saying he wanted to do that movie instead, but rather, Disney played with the idea of doing that movie before they ended up with Jason Segel's script.

 

[Mo Frackle]

now please someone step in and correct me if I am wrong I am probably getting this wrong, sorry in advance,
It was called,
The Worst Muppet Movie Ever made?
The premise is Gonzo hatches up this idea to direct a Muppet movie but make it schlocky and really just plain bad. I forget why he does this but when I read it I got a Producers feel to the whole thing and the Producers is one of my favorite movies especially the Will Farrell one! I am sure someone will explain the movie better then me again sorry I couldn't be of more help.

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cheapest_Muppet_Movie_Ever_Made!

 

[D'Snowth]

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Cheapest_Muppet_Movie_Ever_Made!

Hmm, I missed the details about Frank's involvement.

 

[muppetperson]

Basically when Artie (Espo I think that is his surname) performed Kermit on AGT that was the response

What was Artie's Kermit's nick name? Kismet wasn't it?

 

[Oscarfan]

I kinda side with Drtooth on the idea of "Cheapest"; there's no way they could sustain that joke for 90 minutes. An hour-long TV special / movie, maybe. Jim and gang might have been able to pull it off, who knows, but the basic premise can only go so far.

 

[Mo Frackle]

I kinda side with Drtooth on the idea of "Cheapest"; there's no way they could sustain that joke for 90 minutes. An hour-long TV special / movie, maybe. Jim and gang might have been able to pull it off, who knows, but the basic premise can only go so far.

I think it would work better as a short film, honestly. The way it's described gives off a "needs to be seen in theaters" vibe. Sort of like Muppet*Vision 3D.

 

[minor muppetz]

I kinda side with Drtooth on the idea of "Cheapest"; there's no way they could sustain that joke for 90 minutes. An hour-long TV special / movie, maybe. Jim and gang might have been able to pull it off, who knows, but the basic premise can only go so far.

I've often wondered about that as well. I keep thinking about the whole movie taking place in a movie studio with the characters working on the film, but there's probably a lot more to it than that. Maybe there's a villain, or maybe it's like MTM where there is no main antagonist. Of course Frank Oz has expressed a desire to do it, so maybe the screenplay is a lot stronger than we'd expect. Of course I also thought similar things about the 2011 film when plot details were announced and clearly that had a lot more to it than what was in my head.

I'm reminded of an interview Jim did when The Dark Crystal came out, where he talked about the possibility of having movies released straight to cable or home video, and now I wonder if he'd intended on this being released like that (though otherwise I have no doubt it was intended as a theatrical feature). Jerry Juhl said that one of the main things that kept it from being made was that it would have been really expensive - with direct-to-video/television films having smaller budgets than theatrical features, it might have been a bit too costly even for that kind of a release. I wonder if this would make for a good straight-to-Netflix release (and Disney does have an exclusive deal with Netflix...).

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I kinda side with Drtooth on the idea of "Cheapest"; there's no way they could sustain that joke for 90 minutes. An hour-long TV special / movie, maybe. Jim and gang might have been able to pull it off, who knows, but the basic premise can only go so far.

I honestly think The Muppets would do really well if they did TV specials for a while. Maybe they could have a bunch of holiday specials like the Peanuts.

 

[JimAndFrank]

So, Steve just posted again, clarifying a little on his first one and he seems to be subtly indicating that his dismissal was mostly due to creative differences.

'It is no longer the Muppets if core values are lost or discarded. While I fought very hard for the integrity of the Muppets over the last twelve years largely to my own detriment, maybe I should have fought even harder and louder…and, yes, I would have likely been gone sooner… I fear I was the last samurai.'

That statement speaks volumes, which if anything, makes the situation even more annoying. Disney didn't like what he had to say after all. Which goes back to the reason why I can't trust the Muppets Studio to do the right thing.