Where is Steve Whitmire Petition

[StarrFilter]

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but to make a long story short- Whitmire has already been fired from Sesame Street and is on the verge of being fired from muppets for being a diva, asking for too much money for every Kermit appearence he does and the just simply NOT SHOWING UP. Disney is over him and will probably have Artie take over.

 

[Frogpuppeteer]

Where do you get your sources...sorry but i have a hard time believing that on a forum with no sources to back it up

 

[ploobis]

Where do you get your sources...sorry but i have a hard time believing that on a forum with no sources to back it up

I agree!

I have met Steve Whitmire in person before and he is anything but a diva! He is a very nice guy!

 

[Kynan Barker]

Where do you get your sources...sorry but i have a hard time believing that on a forum with no sources to back it up

Never mind believing it, I have a hard time respecting it.

Even if it turns out to be true that Steve Whitmire has left Sesame Street, "fired for being a diva" is an incredibly inflammatory claim to make as a statement of fact.

StarrFilter's post opens with "I don't know if this has been posted yet." If someone can't be bothered reading the thread before slandering a Muppet performer, what does that say about their fact-checking?

 

[Luke]

I don't know what the backstage gossip may be but i can't remember a single announced Kermit appearance in the last ten years where Kermit has no-showed.

 

[beaker]

The only handful of people I still keep in touch with from those days are ones I've seen on here or on Facebook. Unfortunately most of those folks have disappeared like you said.

But but..."You can never leave the magic"
Btw, were you able to go to Muppetfest? Im hoping next year we see Disney put on something similar


I hate to say it, but this is how I see this "new" Kermit
(2002 Mcdonalds "Kermit" commercial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owpCZIMcLEY&feature=player_embedded

Yeah I mean I admit it's a pretty rigid viewpoint that doesn't allow much breathing room, lol. It's just how I feel really.

I felt that til the late 1990's, when it occured to me that Whitmire's Kermit was the natural evolution of the character...not one micron of myself sees Kermit under Whitmire as an imitation. The crunchy face, the mannerisms, the chemistry, the unspoken hidden nuances...100% pure Kermit IMHO. I just hope all these rumors of Whitmire stepping away are not true

 

[beaker]

Thirdly, whilst I'm very much looking forward to 2010 year of the Muppets, it would pain me to do so in the knowledge that Steve, who had one of toughest jobs on the face of the planet but managed to do amazingly, i mean whilst we all drool at the thought of working with The Muppets, how many of us would want to have the pressure of being Kermit, mightn't be a part of that.

Finally Disney and Steve have lunch, if there is a problem it can be ironed out with flexibility on both sides, next year is far too important to be tainted with people asking what the heck is up with Kermit and his voice. Artie, it's nothing personal I'm sure you are a talented puppeter and are an all round good guy but you got thrown in at the deep end.

Well Steve is HARDCORE. He's notorious for holding his arm up for hours in the heat performing Kermit while cramped into a tiny space...like in a parade. There's a lot of great talented performers...but how many people can be on the level of Whitmire, Kennedy, Goelz, Nelson, Mazzio, Baretta, Clash?
I absolutely loathe Elmo, but Clash is a master as are the others.
These guys can be talking to the audience, yet compartmentalize their mind to have their puppet look around and almost seem detatched from the performer. Creating the illusion that a puppet is not merely a puppet is not something many can do.

I agree, it would be hard for me to completely lose myself in 2010 Muppet return gloriousness if we have a Steve-less Kermit.
I'd almost rather see him temporarily retired/put on hiatus like on Muppets Tonight.

 

[SarahOnBway]

I don't know if this has been posted yet, but to make a long story short- Whitmire has already been fired from Sesame Street and is on the verge of being fired from muppets for being a diva, asking for too much money for every Kermit appearence he does and the just simply NOT SHOWING UP. Disney is over him and will probably have Artie take over.

THIS is what should have no place on this board: malicious, un-sourced gossip. Not only does the accusation make me angry, the mere audacity that you would want to spread such a vicious tale is astounding. I have a friend who's worked with the Sesame Company for years (first on SS and now on The Electric Co) and she has never, ever said a single thing to me about Steve being a diva, or Steve not showing up. And she dealt directly with the schedule.

As for how I feel about replacements/understudies in general, I wholeheartedly disapprove. I would rather it take years for characters like Scooter and Robin to have a full part than have them appear without the same mannerisms and grace of character that they had before. Clearly years can't be waited for Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, etc. but I would hope that, once the Muppeteers are nearing retirement, they have a long discussion with Disney and follow in Carroll Spinney's footsteps: begin a long session of training until they were fully ready.

And as for theme park appearances, well... All I know is that meeting Gonzo was one of the most magical moments of my life, but it wouldn't have been an eigth as exciting had it not been Dave's hand in there. I've seen the puppets in glass cases and that's great, but that's all it would've been to me had Dave not been the one performing Gonzo at the time. The puppet would be there, but not the personality.

 

[beaker]

That raises the question of what constitutes a "B-level" appearance. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 million people saw "Kermit" on America's Got Talent. If Steve's working on something larger-scale than that, I'd love to know about it.

I agree with you, Jamie: If people are expecting The Muppets, that's who they should get -- accept no substitutes. Walk-arounds and whiz-bang technology (Mobile Labs etc) would be the only exceptions.

I've always argued that if an event is worthy of a Muppet appearance, then a real Muppet is who should appear. That's equally true from the smallest personal encounter right through to the biggest blockbuster. Any breach of that rule just ruins the magic, and Disney needs to understand that.

I agree. Dave Goelz has personally gone to small obscure book signings here and there with Gonzo in tow, and with the exception of one time with Pepe and then the Muppet live show cruise...I cant recall of Muppets not being performed by their signature performer. I can understand Swedish Chef, Statler and Waldorf, Beaker, Scooter, Rowlf, and Electric Mayhem not being performed by any one set performer. But when it comes to the "main 7" of Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Pepe, Rizzo and Animal
there should not be any fill ins.

This is why theres giant walk arounds of Sesame characters,
or the upsized Bear in the Big Blue House live show puppets...because there's a noticeable difference between these and authentic Muppets. Even the "Sweetums" used at Disneyland/WDW is certainly not even par with the real outfit
that Victor or others sometimes don. I could not agree more with ruining the magic.

I don't think to outsiders, they would understand how different the Muppets are from other famous classic family properties like
say Disney or Looney Tunes. There is an almost religious like
quality to these characters...a deep subtext of wanting to change the world, the illusion of being real, etc.
Again I agree, that to have nary a care for who performs these flagship characters just cannot do.

 

[beaker]

Never mind believing it, I have a hard time respecting it.

Even if it turns out to be true that Steve Whitmire has left Sesame Street, "fired for being a diva" is an incredibly inflammatory claim to make as a statement of fact.

StarrFilter's post opens with "I don't know if this has been posted yet." If someone can't be bothered reading the thread before slandering a Muppet performer, what does that say about their fact-checking?

I'm aware of a lot of backroom politics and situations regarding Sesame Workshop that are better left offline, but I have never heard any salacious or disconcerting rumors regarding Steve.

Let's see Disney find someone who is willing to do the sort of hardcore and exhaustive physical things Whitmire has done while performing Kermit. Or have the insane amount of subtle nuances
and mannerisms Steve has perfected.

I'll say this, if Steve was "let go", it'll be the biggest rift in Muppetfandom since the 2004 Disney buyout(which in retrospect now seems to have been a positive thing...tho we shall see)