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I’ve had many dreams about Jim since he passed away. And in most of them, Jim would show up in my dream, and I’d think ‘Oh my God, I have to give Kermit back. I shouldn’t be doing this, this is Jim’s character.’ And in all of those dreams Jim said ‘No it’s fine, go ahead.’ You know, he always said ‘No, you know, I’m just watching, go ahead.

Steve Whitmire (via the-frog-is-staying)

artzquez

ryanccole

The Muppet Show Live (2001)

jwcartoonist-pre2022

A Tribute To Steve Whitmire.

haveamagicalday

deejay

Steve Whitmire who voices Kermit the Frog revealed that Disney planned on replacing him last October. Whitmire who has voiced Kermit since the 1970′s will be replaced with someone else.

Matt Vogel will be replacing the legendary Whitmire and honestly, everyone so far is beyond displeased. Especially at Disney who called up Whitmire during October and simply stated they were recasting and did not require Whitmire’s services anymore.

theboxofme

Dude, do some research. You don't voice a puppet, you performer them. Steve Whitmire wasn't a voice actor. Also, Jim was well and active in the 70's, the 80's even, Jim died in 1990. Steve took on Kermit in the 90's, but joined he muppet studios in the 70's. He started performing Rizzo, and went on to do Sprocket and Wembley in Fraggle Rock. Kermit and Ernie were given to Steve once Jim died in 1990.

xsunnyeclipse

So, the official statements are out and I think it’s time for me to rant about it.

So, they claimed one of the problems they had was with Kermit’s character being too “bitter” and “mean-spirited” through the years. Now, I’m generally a new Muppet fan (as I got into them during the 2011 movie), but watching all the projects Steve had done with the character..I don’t see that??

They claim it started with the 2011 movie, which is where my connection to Kermit came from. The reason I felt so connected to the character was through the struggles he went through. He had given up on his friends, but found some hope through Walter being such a huge fan. And throughout the movie, my connection kept getting stronger, especially seeing him realize that he couldn’t let Piggy slip away from him or any of the Muppets. It was an emotional connection I felt ever since.

And then they brought up the 2015 show which..yeah, I won’t argue on that claim. The first half wasn’t as strong because of the writing and portrayal of the characters. It had nothing to do with the performances because they got a script and went with it. However, they saw all the problems and decided to FIX IT.

The second half of the show was so much better and the writing was as well. Steve claimed in an interview he didn’t like Episode 14 because of Kermit lying to Robin about him and Piggy breaking up which…yes I agree on that, but that’s one of my favorite episodes next to the finale. That’s where I felt Kermit’s character was better and the connection was there.

Now back to the situation, they felt Matt Vogel taking over would be a good idea. And, I’m not against them doing this..I’m afraid of what’s gonna become of it. I’m scared The Muppets won’t do anything else besides commercials and appearances just like in the 2000’s. With all the pieces being put together, I still don’t know if this was the right decision on Disney and Jim Henson Company’s part.

Steve wanted to keep the integrity of the Muppets and it seemed like Disney/Jim Henson Company wanted to as well, but if they felt like this for a LONG time..why couldn’t they just TALK to him about it instead of just replacing him out of the blue and have him pondering the situation for 9 months?? If he was that difficult to work with, then they should of spoke up about it. Maybe they did but I don’t know.

This whole situation is just a mess and I hope in the end something good comes out of it.

arsenicolada

this may come a little late in the game but what leaves a sour taste in my mouth about the steve whitmire firing is that at jim henson's funeral, he was wearing a bright green suit with a frill because he was *that* honored to be taking up kermit, and i think he hasnt gotten over being honored since. taking away that without any consent on steve's part is frankly criminal

I know. This whole thing is just so heartbreaking….

I’ve seen people say “there’s two sides to every story” and I get that, but there’s a pretty strong chance I won’t agree with disney’s side regardless since they are notorious for making pretty shitty decisions. As creators I respect them but as a business, ehhhh…… saying they’re kinda shady is an understatement.

And the way Steve described this experience, it sounded like it was very much a cold-blooded business type ordeal since he never got a chance to actually have a face to face talk with someone higher up. I just… the fact that they brought Jim Henson into their hall of fame, then had the NERVE to fire the only person Jim trusted enough to take on one of his most beloved and personal characters years later is plain despicable. Not to mention that Steve feels like he let everyone down, his fans, the muppets, his coworkers, and Jim himself, which is not true in the slightest.

Like you said, he was so honored that he was chosen to take on Kermit and has been doing his mentor proud for all these years. And disney felt the need to take that away from him. I’m sure it wasn’t personal, just some old exec being like ‘we need money’, but seeing that the company clearly feels no remorse for this and won’t take both Steve AND Jim, ya know, the guy that was celebrated back in 2011 and Steve did a performance for, into consideration is so…. criminal, as you put it.