The D23 Expo officially opened on Friday, August 14th, at 9:00. Every eligible Disney fan in the country was invited. Unfortunately, none of them showed up. Or maybe I have it wrong and 20,000 showed up… While there were challenges entering the Anaheim Convention Center that morning, those inside had a few tough choices to make. Most opted for the 10:00 Disney Legend Awards, which honored such notable luminaries as George Lucas, Andreas Deja, Danny Elfman and a surprise award to Johnny Depp. But arrival challenges didn’t stop a team of puppeteers from bringing several thousand people to Stage 23, the second biggest venue at the Expo, for “The Magic Behind the Muppets.”
Entertainment Weekly writer Mark Smither moderated the panel as he introduced each puppeteer and announced their credits. Dave Goelz joined Jim Henson in 1973 and created Gonzo and Bunsen Honeydew. Steve Whitmire came on board in 1978, where he took over the role of Kermit and created Rizzo the Rat. Bill Barretta created Pepe the Prawn when he joined the crew in 1991 and is currently the Swedish Chef and Rowlf. Eric Jacobson has continued the tradition of playing Kermit, Ms. Piggy, Sam Eagle, Animal and Fozzie Bear since he joined in 2001. And Matt Vogle was the newest member on the stage, having been with the team since 2008 playing Constantine in Muppets Most Wanted as well as the lovable Robin.
The main reason for having this panel was to promote the upcoming television series, The Muppets, coming to ABC on September 22nd. The team made it clear that they have a limited window to get this right. The lifelong members of the Muppet ensemble feel like this is the first time since Fraggle Rock that they’ve had a perfect team working on something like this. The new series takes a voyeuristic approach into Muppet life and while it’s edgier than previous endeavors, it walks a fine line so that kids can still enjoy it.
The Muppets takes a look at what happens after they call “Cut.” Up Late with Miss Piggy is a show-within-a-show and the writing team has to write for both the late-night talk show and the series itself. Kermit is the producer and his only mistake was hiring his friends to work on it. Swedish Chef heads up craft services, Sam Eagle is in charge of standards and practices, Uncle Deadly handles Piggy’s wardrobe and Beaker/Bunsen Honeydew are prop masters. And of course, tensions are high now that Kermit and Piggy are officially broken up.
If you think the new series looks far removed from The Muppet Show, the team dropped a pretty fascinating bomb. They basically took the premise of the original series, which featured the Muppets working together to put on a variety show, and brought it into the 21st century. Variety shows fizzled out as late-night talk shows rose in popularity. “This is what they’d be doing today,” explained Bill Barretta. According to Eric Jacobson, the best part of The Muppet Show was the backstage shenanigans, they’ve simply brought those to the front of this series while the talk show happens in the background. As for the sets, they are filming in a giant soundstage and have achieved types of shots previously unseen from any Muppets productions before.
If you weren’t already fascinated listening to these guys share their love for these characters, you definitely perked up when they all reached under the table and returned with Gonzo, Rizzo, Pepe, Fozzie and Floyd Pepper. And here’s the really fun part: they did an audience Q&A as the characters! The first question was for Fozzie when someone asked if he thinks his relationship with a human girl will last (referencing his date in the pitch reel for the new series). “Gee, I hope so! I never say no to a date.” For Gonzo, a confused fan wanted to know why he says he likes pigs in the proof-of-concept and if he likes them better than chickens. “Well, I like pigs, mostly for the legs. But I’m still mostly into chickens.”
When a girl took the mic to ask a question, Pepe began to flirt. “Hello sweetheart, mmmkay?” She wanted to know how the Muppets feel about their parody on Robot Chicken and if they had even seen it. Of course, Gonzo doesn’t own a computer and didn’t know what it was. Rizzo asked a question back: “What’s a robot chicken taste like?” And Pepe’s comment was spot on: “I think Gonzo would prefer a blow-up chicken.”
Pepe got to take more of the spotlight when someone asked all of the Muppets who their favorite guest stars have been. “Jou know, the Sandra Bullocks, the Reese Witherspoons, Sofia Veragaras, Michelle Pfeifers… all the womens.” When an Animal fan asked how he is doing, Gonzo looked at Fozzie. “I don’t know, Fozzie, why don’t you go get him?” Fozzie looked stunned as he said “Why me?” And the answer of course is that Eric Jacobson puppeteers both characters, so Fozzie disappeared under the table and within a few seconds Animal emerged to greet his adoring fan.
The final question asked if the Muppets had any plans to do a Star Wars parody now that Disney owns the franchise. While there aren’t currently any plans to do that, Gonzo did have a unique reason for wanting to make it: “I love playing in a vacuum.” On a serious note, this question lead to the reveal that they have filmed some brand new Pigs in Space segments that will debut as web exclusives.
To demonstrate how difficult it is to be a puppeteer, they invited several guests on stage to use some of the puppets. They proved the holding them above their heads is not only tiring, but difficult to keep doing for more than a few minutes. They also provided some tips for making mouth movements more realistic. Each group got to talk a little before lip synching to songs like “Uptown Funk” and “Single Ladies.”
The presentation ended with a thank you to the large team (150 people) that are making the new series a reality. Eric commented on how the timing felt right while Steve complemented the “clever, smart writing” in the new show. The producer, Bill Prady, was originally hired by Jim Henson as a writer years ago. His return to the Muppets is a “thank you” to the man who gave him a career. And regarding the breakup between Ms. Piggy and Kermit, the said they originally thought of it in 1990 when Jim passed away. ‘They’ve never been a stable couple.” Ain’t it the truth! I went in to this presentation already excited for The Muppets, but now I can’t wait for it to begin.