Search Engine Assistance

FeaturedMary A. Tags: administrative, comic con, kermit, muppet pundit, slightly off-topic, steve whitmire Leave a comment

Usually WordPress doesn’t inform me what search terms people use to find my blog via search engines. Sometimes it does, however, and more than once people have found my site using the keywords “steve whitmire blog”.

While I’m happy to get the attention, I can only assume that those people are pretty disappointed to find out that this is not, in fact, Steve Whitmire’s blog, even though he figures prominently on it. So here’s my attempt to help those people out:

Thank you for visiting my blog, and I’m sorry to tell you that it is not exactly what you’re looking for. I am a supporter and fan of Steve Whitmire, but I am not affiliated with him despite a very slight internet acquaintanceship.

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Muppet Heresy: The Many Facets of Kermit

March 11, 2019Mary A. Tags: 2015 series, disney, henson family, jim henson, kermit, matt vogel, muppet movie(s), muppet pundit, muppet show, sesame street, steve whitmire, the schism 1 Comment

If there’s one thing that Muppet fans agree on, it’s that there are variations to Kermit’s behavior/personality. Many see the differences as a negative and attribute them to the change(s) in performer. Both Steve Whitmire and the writers are frequent targets of this criticism, with fans on forums claiming that the writers and Steve alike have been too “precious” about Kermit, resulting in Kermit’s having become too soft, too bland, or too nice. I understand what they mean, and I understand that “precious” is meant to be a pejorative in this case, but personally, I think that being “too precious” with Kermit and the other Muppets is vastly preferable than treating them like old socks that can be tossed around willy-nilly, as Disney is doing now.*

However, I get the impression (and this is pure conjecture on my part) that Steve had been hearing criticisms in this vein for years and years. No more than one day before Cheryl Henson infamously weaponized the criticisms against him in a Facebook post (which, in her defense, was apparently intended to be private), he made the following statement in a blog entry: “[T]here is actually no such thing as Jim’s Kermit and Steve’s Kermit – There is only Kermit.”

In my opinion, the whole issue is a lot more complex than anyone, perhaps even Steve, is willing and/or able to fully acknowledge.

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Sixty for 60: Bean Bunny and Lips

February 24, 2019February 25, 2019Mary A. Tags: 60 for 60, frank oz, jerry nelson, muppet movie(s), muppet show, music, steve whitmire 4 Comments

Welcome back to 60 for 60, a yearlong celebration of the work of Steve Whitmire in anticipation of his 60th birthday coming up in September. This month is a bit of a departure; instead of a post focusing entirely on a major character, this one features two relatively minor characters of Steve’s: Bean Bunny and Lips.

cold bean bunny

I’ve been trying to feature Steve’s characters in rough chronological order of when he started playing them. (Thus far they’ve all been original characters of Steve’s but that will change in the near future.) I’m changing up the pattern slightly because Lips was introduced in 1980 and Bean Bunny was introduced six years later, but in the late ’80s, Bean Bunny was a more prominent character, so therefore he figures more prevalently here.

Though relatively minor characters, Bean Bunny and Lips are each awesome in their own ways. Lips is a literal rock star with a cool hairdo and an air of mystery about him, while Bean Bunny is an adorable badass pacifist.

If I tried, I could probably find enough clips to devote one month each to Lips and Bean Bunny, but there are a lot more characters to get to and only six months left in this project (not counting the culmination in September).

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“Actual Footage”

January 27, 2019Mary A. Tags: count von count, fraggle rock, kermit, mokey, muppet movie(s), music, sesame street Leave a comment

Sometimes I see photos that people have posted on Twitter, and they’ll remind me of a Muppet song, so I make a joke about it. It’s happened three times now, which I think qualifies as a running gag, so I’d like to share my immense cleverness with you nice folks over here:

The Rainbow Connection: Actual footage. https://t.co/TuqA0uHu0z

— Mary A. (@frogoflamancha) September 21, 2018

The Batty Bat: Actual footage https://t.co/GVjBujTfQn

— Mary A. (@frogoflamancha) December 29, 2018

Caribbean Amphibian: Actual Footage https://t.co/6mBqVCbNMU

— Mary A. (@frogoflamancha) January 19, 2019

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Sixty for 60: Sprocket

January 24, 2019January 25, 2019Mary A. Tags: 60 for 60, fraggle rock, gobo, jerry nelson, jim henson, music, steve whitmire Leave a comment

Welcome to the first 60 for 60 entry of 2019! For those just joining us, this is a year-long celebration of the work of Steve Whitmire in anticipation of his 60th birthday later this year. This month is devoted to Sprocket, the dog that Steve played on Fraggle Rock. Interestingly enough, it fits in well with something Steve said in the interview I posted yesterday about making a puppet believable by mimicking the movements of real-life creatures, be they animal or human.

: “With Sprocket, Steve manages to get a performance that is both very dog-like and somehow more than human.”–Jim Henson

I made a point of including Sprocket in this project because it’s very easy for me to forget that he’s a not real dog, and that is thanks to Steve’s talent and commitment. I said once that Big Bird is miraculous in his mundanity; Sprocket is even more mundane which, arguably, makes him even more miraculous.

That being the case, it’s hard for me to think of things to say about him in the following clips apart from things like, “Wow, he’s just like a real dog! Oh, he’s so doglike!” Nevertheless, if you’ll bear with me, I’m willing to make the effort.

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Steve Whitmire Talks New Characters, Big Cats, and More

January 23, 2019January 23, 2019Mary A. Tags: big bird, comic con, fraggle rock, interviews, jim henson, kermit, music, oscar the grouch, sesame street, steve whitmire, wembley 3 Comments

Gigantic thanks to reader and commenter Sidney who alerted me to the existence of this newly posted interview that Steve gave at Louisville Supercon in either late November or early December. It made my day. Pretty much my whole week, really:

For months (and this isn’t a criticism, just a statement of fact), Steve has been talking in the vaguest of terms about new characters he’s been developing, and now we finally have something more specific. Apparently he made a new character debut in Louisville. Someone commented upon it on Instagram, but I didn’t mention it at the time because I didn’t know any specifics.

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Muppet Mindset’s “ALL NEW Great Muppet Survey”: My Responses

January 7, 2019January 7, 2019Mary A. Tags: beaker, bert and ernie, frank oz, jerry nelson, jim henson, kermit, muppet movie(s), muppet show, muppets meet the classics, music, richard hunt, sesame street, steve whitmire, the schism Leave a comment

In June 2017, The Muppet Mindset published questions for the “ALL NEW Great Muppet Survey,” an updated version of their previous “Great Muppet Survey,” which I had filled out in 2013 and revisited in 2018. They published two sets of responses to the “ALL NEW Great Muppet Survey” but have never mentioned it since, as far as I can tell. This was approximately a month before they, along with ToughPigs, broke the news of the Schism, but whether they abandoned the project as a direct result of the world turning upside down and sideways, I do not know.

I recently discovered the “ALL NEW” survey questions and thought, “I have access to these questions and I have a blog; why don’t I just answer the questions on my blog instead of submitting them and waiting to see when and if somebody else decides to publish them?” So that’s what I’m doing. Thanks to Jarrod Fairclough for the questions, and I hope you don’t mind me taking matters into my own hands.

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Conclusion

January 6, 2019January 6, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, epiphany, muppet heresy, muppet movie(s) 2 Comments

dueling scrooges

The 12 Days of Muppet Christmas are over for the 2018-2019 season, and because comparisons are apparently meaningless without arbitrary value judgments, it’s time to tally the results:

Muppet Christmas Carol: 6
A Christmas Carol (1999): 5
Draw: 1

So, Muppet Christmas Carol wins, right? Well…sort of. Things are a bit more complicated than that.

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Narrators

January 5, 2019January 3, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, dave goelz, disney, muppet movie(s), steve whitmire Leave a comment

At long last, it is the twelfth day of Muppet Christmas, and not a moment too soon because my brain has more or less turned into guacamole. But before we wrap up, we must take a look at the narrators in Muppet Christmas Carol and Christmas Carol ’99.

Narrators

Image result for 1999 dominic west "christmas carol"

Dominic West (in his role as Scrooge’s nephew, Fred) provides voice-over narration at the end of Christmas Carol ’99

Gonzo the Great as Charles Dickens and Rizzo the Rat as himself provide narration throughout Muppet Christmas Carol (Gonzo and Rizzo are performed by Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire, respectively)

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Charity Collectors

January 4, 2019January 3, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, dave goelz, disney, muppet heresy, muppet movie(s), steve whitmire Leave a comment

We’re in the home stretch now! It’s day eleven of the 12 Days of Muppet Christmas, and we’re looking at the two gentlemen in each production who attempt to persuade Scrooge to donate to charity

Charity Collectors

Image result for 1999 charity OR collectors "christmas carol"

Edward Petherbridge as Foster and Jeremy Swift as Williams, the charity collectors in Christmas Carol ’99

Beaker and Bunsen as the charity collectors in Muppet Christmas Carol, with Michael Caine and Kermit. (Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are performed by Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire, respectively)

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Mrs. Cratchit

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, disney, frank oz, muppet movie(s) Leave a comment

It’s the tenth of 12 Days of Muppet Christmas, and I find myself running out of introductory comments to make. This is about the point where I started getting tired and uninspired when I did 12 Days last year as well. Maybe it would work out better for me if I limited myself to ten days of Muppet Christmas, even though there’s not a song about that. While I contemplate that possibility, let’s look at the role of Mrs. Cratchit, Bob’s wife and Tiny Tim’s mother.

Mrs. (Emily) Cratchit

Saskia Reeves as Mrs. Cratchit (no first name given) in Christmas Carol ’99

: Miss Piggy (Frank Oz) as Emily Cratchit in Muppet Christmas Carol

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Belle

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, disney, muppet heresy, muppet movie(s), music Leave a comment

Well, it’s day 9 of the 12 Days of Muppet Christmas. I’ve put it off as long as I can, but it’s time to address the elephant in the room: the character of Belle, Scrooge’s one-time fianceé whom he meets again as one of the shadows shown him by the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Belle

Laura Fraser as Belle in Christmas Carol ’99

Meredith Braun as Belle in Muppet Christmas Carol

In Muppet Christmas Carol, Belle sings a dull, depressing song. In Christmas Carol ’99, Belle does no singing at all, dull or otherwise.

Advantage: Christmas Carol ’99

Well, that was easy!

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Nephew Fred

January 1, 2019January 2, 2019Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, disney, muppet heresy, muppet movie(s), music Leave a comment

Depending on the interpretation, Scrooge’s nephew Fred can either be the most admirable character in the story or an even more despicable character than Scrooge. Find out how on this, the eighth day of the 12 Days of Muppet Christmas.

Nephew Fred

Dominic West as Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, in Christmas Carol ’99

Steven Mackintosh as Nephew Fred in Muppet Christmas Carol

One small but significant difference right off the bat between Muppet Christmas Carol and the 1999 TV movie starring Patrick Stewart is that Christmas Carol ’99 includes Fred’s backstory: he’s the son of Scrooge’s deceased sister (called Fran in Christmas Carol ’99, although the original story has her name as “Fan”). In MCC, Fred is also Scrooge’s nephew, but no mention is made of his parents one way or the other. This is similar to the approach taken in “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (the first “Christmas Carol” adaptation I ever saw and the one by which I judge all others, for better or worse), and perhaps that’s not surprising because nephewism is prominent in both franchises. (Which is fine, by the way; if our choices are nephewism and “cross-promoting,” I’ll take nephewism any day.)

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Tiny Tim

December 31, 2018December 31, 2018Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, disney, jerry nelson, muppet movie(s), music Leave a comment

Day seven of the 12 days of Muppet Christmas is Kid-Appeal Character Day with a look at the small but significant character of Tiny Tim as portrayed in Muppet Christmas Carol and the 1999 TV movie starring Patrick Stewart.

Tiny Tim

Ben Tibber as Tiny Tim in Christmas Carol ’99

Robin the Frog (Jerry Nelson) perched atop Kermit’s shoulder as Tiny Tim in Muppet Christmas Carol

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Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come

December 30, 2018December 30, 2018Mary A. Tags: 12 days of muppet xmas, disney, intertextuality, muppet movie(s) Leave a comment

The 12 Days of Muppet Christmas have reached the halfway point, which means it’s time to take a look at the Ghosts of Christmas Yet To Come from Muppet Christmas Carol and the 1999 TV movie starring Patrick Stewart.

Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come

Composite of Tim Potter as the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come in Christmas Carol ’99

Donald Austen (body) and Rob Tygner (puppetry) as the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come in Muppet Christmas Carol

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Frog of La Mancha

Probosculations of a Muppet Heretic

Search Engine Assistance

Muppet Heresy: The Many Facets of Kermit

Sixty for 60: Bean Bunny and Lips

“Actual Footage”

Sixty for 60: Sprocket

Steve Whitmire Talks New Characters, Big Cats, and More

Muppet Mindset’s “ALL NEW Great Muppet Survey”: My Responses

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Conclusion

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Narrators

Narrators

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Charity Collectors

Charity Collectors

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Mrs. Cratchit

Mrs. (Emily) Cratchit

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Belle

Belle

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Nephew Fred

Nephew Fred

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Tiny Tim

Tiny Tim

Twelve Days of Muppet Christmas Carol: Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come

Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come