Enraged at what he considered to be an insult to his father's memory and wanting his father's dream for the Muppets' longevity to become reality, Henson's son, Brian, sued Disney, leading the organization in a spirited continuation of his father's iconoclasm. Disney eventually conceded, agreeing to an out-of-court settlement. Henson's creations are now part of the pantheon of children's favorites that also includes Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.
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To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Disney encouraged him to do interviews in character. But now, after voicing the role of Kermit the Frog for 27 years, voice actor and puppeteer Steve Whitmire has been fired.
But Disney and members of the Henson family disagree, alleging multiple instances in which Whitmire behaved unprofessionally and exhibited hostility toward colleagues. He played the role until October , when he alleges Disney fired him over the phone. In multiple interviews, Whitmire has clarified the two issues in question. In one example Whitmire shared with the Hollywood Reporter , he said he had taken issue with the fact that Kermit lied to his nephew in an episode of the series, which was canceled last spring after one season.
The second issue concerned an incident that occurred 15 months prior to his firing, in which Whitmire failed to complete a short video appearance. The details surrounding the incident are unclear, but it reportedly involved Screen Actors Guild contract negotiations, and Whitmire has claimed that the union had advised him not to do the project. I believe characters like Kermit need to remain built on the sturdy foundation of their past in order to be progressive going forward.
As one of the last two active originators of the Muppets, I still have a big job to do before the next group can effectively step in. 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.
If this is true, it would be a sad and alarming tale for Muppets fans. The role of Kermit the Frog is an iconic one that is beloved by fans and we take our responsibility to protect the integrity of that character very seriously.
We raised concerns about Steve's repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback. The decision to part ways was a difficult one which was made in consultation with the Henson family and has their full support. My father never asked him to perform Kermit, my brother Brian did.
Steve performed Kermit as a bitter, angry, depressed, victim. Later, in collaboration with such team members as Jerry Juhl and Jocelyn Stevenson , this extended to specific personality details coining and character names with Boober named after a cow encountered by Henson's daughters.
As Henson defined the series' purpose in that first draft, "What the show is really about is people getting along with other people, and understanding the delicate balance of the natural world. These are topics that can be dealt with in a symbolic way, which is what puppets basically do all the time. This led to co-productions , with involvements ranging from completely new frame sequences tailored to each nation to unique Uncle Traveling Matt postcard inserts, to simple dialogue dubs.
Although very much involved in the series as a creator, and serving as a director on several episodes, by this point Jim Henson was becoming increasingly "hands-off" as a performer and beginning to look at ambitious "realistic" puppet projects, instead assigning the regular roles to The Muppet Show veterans as well as up-and-comers and Canadian talent.
However, his very occasional appearances on Fraggle Rock showcased two scene-stealing characters, the enigmatic, "implacably calm" Cantus the Minstrel , who represented Henson's Zen-like beliefs and musical interests, and the flamboyant, fast-talking Convincing John , representing Henson's more frenetic, showman qualities. Jim Henson continued to innovate with the creation of the computer-generated puppet character Waldo C. Graphic for The Jim Henson Hour in A puppeteer could perform the character in real time with the other Muppets, thanks to the Henson Performance Control System.
Jim Henson also won an Emmy for directing one special featured in this series, Dog City. Although most of his major characters from The Muppet Show made at least one appearance on The Jim Henson Hour , Henson did not perform any new recurring characters in the series. In late , Henson made a radical change in his career.
Wanting to become less of a businessman and focus more on the creative side of his company, he entered into talks with Michael Eisner to sell his company and characters minus those of Sesame Street to The Walt Disney Company. After Henson's sudden and untimely death, negotiations went awry, and Disney would not acquire The Muppets until February , which it now controls through the wholly-owned subsidiary The Muppets Studio.
Henson became infected with an extremely rare bacterium called Group A streptococcus [11] [12] in May that was discovered too late for him to receive proper treatment.
He died at a. He was 53 years old. Two memorial services were held for him that year, one on each side of the Atlantic.
Today, Jim Henson's legacy is carried on in different forms. Sesame Workshop formerly the Children's Television Workshop now owns all of the Sesame Street characters and continues to experiment with its format. The Jim Henson Company itself, under the guidance of Henson's children Brian , Lisa , Cheryl , and Heather John Henson died in February , continues to produce new projects, including original content and spin-offs of their classic properties such as Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal.
Henson as "Man on Phone" in Into the Night. Muppet Wiki Explore. Main Page All Pages Community. Snuffleupagus Oscar the Grouch More characters Random Muppet. What's New. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Jim Henson. History Talk Jim Henson with Kermit the Frog. Jim Henson with the cast of Sam and Friends.
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