Where is Steve Whitmire Petition

[Frogpuppeteer]

I'll answer, personally if Steve Whitmire will no longer be Kermit, its not gonna change my veiw of the muppets, yes i to stepped back from sesame street when elmo basically took over, but then again i wasnt really watching it at that point in my life except for a few skits here and there. ive always loved Kermit, he is my first memory, my introduction to puppetry, and first toy, and his performer changing be it who ever, will not make me stop loving the frog.

 

[mbmfrog]

Ummm, You do recall that Whitmire also does this Jim Henson Character.....

I mean maybe he's busy doing some new Erine and Bert sketches for the 40th season of Sesame Street ?

Also don't forget all of Whitmire's other Muppet characters.

 

[dwmckim]

Nope, haven't forgotten. But it seems like Sesame Workshop and Henson Company are in the dark as to what's going on with Steve. Plus three days before the debut of Kismet the Frog, Steve was not among the group attending the Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony.

I've said before that i'm accepting of recasts and understand their importance. I'm almost always very supportive of them. But this time we have a bit of an unprecidented situation in that a recast happened all of a sudden out of nowhere of a major (in fact the "lead") character and nobody knows the whereabouts/status of the performer who the character rightly belongs to. Do i think Artie was the right choice for Kermit at this particular time? No. Do i see the raw talent and potential for him to become an excellent Kermit years down the line? Yes. Will i stop loving the Muppets if Disney did something very unfair and disrespectful to Steve? Conceptually, no - but that doesn't bode well for the quality of upcoming projects if Disney fails to get the very basic key to Muppet magic is its performers...and if they can be that cavalier about casting, it's not a good sign that they would uphold other areas of integrity that made me love the Muppets in the first place. Will i lose all respect and faith in Disney? You betcha.

I'm concerned about Steve as a person (i.e. is he okay? Is he being held hostage by spies? Did he drink ultra-powerful Jekyll Hyde Potion instead of bicarbonate of soda?) and as an artist (was Steve fired/replaced by Disney despite that essentially being comparable to them deciding they didn't need Jim anymore if he was still with us?) The whole issue harkens back to the worst fears we all had when the sale first happened as per would they respect the brand's integrity as well as the performers who are what makes the Muppets what they are. Sorry Disney, but you can't "bribe" me with a whole slew of awesome merchandise to make up for unceremoniously dumping the person who is the rightful keeper of Kermit's soul. You can even give us Muppet fans a theatrical movie with the greatest script evah but if the film has Melissa Joan Hart playing Miss Piggy, Lady Gaga as Gonzo, and David Deluise as Fozzie (as appealing as the image of him in nothing but a hat and bowtie may be), i'm not gonna be all that happy.

No one knows where Steve is or if he's okay and if anyone does, they seem to be bound by a corporate vow of silence. No general statement of "Steve is temporarily unavailable but he'll be back soon", "Steve has not been replaced; expect to see him in the 2010 movie!" You could simply say something as vague as that which doesn't even say where or how he is but at least assures us this isn't a hostile frogover. The deeper and longer the silence, the worse it makes the whole situation. All sorts of great news came out of D23 this weekend, but it's all overshadowed by concerns over what's going on with Kermit, so where under normal situations we should be celebrating and breaking out the champagne, we're instead more preoccupied with milk cartons which should be bearing images on their sides of "Have you seen this man?"

 

[tomahawk]

It's true and happened back in the early 2000's. That's just one incident that happened with David Rudman, who at the time was working on a show idea. This is from the mouth of Rudman himself, I just know what I heard.
But let's stick to the topic which is Steve. Steve has a personal and private life as well, and it's really no ones business what happened to Steve Whitmire. I assure you all he is alive and well, but sometimes things come up just like with anyone else.
Artie did a terrific job for his first live appearance as Kermit, and in time will blossom into the Muppet family just beautifully. He has Jim's tone, and that's all you need to craft Kermit into the calm and collective sole that he really is.

I've noticed that you seem to know quite a bit, but tease with it and then don't give up what you are hinting at. I for one will be ticked if there is not an official statement about Kermit being handed over to someone else.

Steve Whitmire is Kermit The Frog. Case closed. I'm not putting down Artie or his talent, but until I hear otherwise Mr. Whitmire will be Kermit.

Now if you can quit being so subtle with your hints and come out with it, unless you are contractually bound not to say what is going on, please, do tell. You just don't need Jim Henson's tone to do Kermit. There is soul and personality involved in this. So please, do tell.

 

[muppetperson]

OK, so I know first hand that Disney are not commenting on this situation, nor is Artie Esposito.So now lets try and work this out.why wouldnt Disney want to comment?
What comes into my mind is that they are with holding because it will make them look bad.So I think we can rule out that steve is sick, and start thinking along the lines that Disney have terminated Steve's services.What we dont know is why.And lets hope they havent done the same with Dave Goelz.

 

[tomahawk]

OK, so I know first hand that Disney are not commenting on this situation, nor is Artie Esposito.So now lets try and work this out.why wouldnt Disney want to comment?
What comes into my mind is that they are with holding because it will make them look bad.So I think we can rule out that steve is sick, and start thinking along the lines that Disney have terminated Steve's services.What we dont know is why.And lets hope they havent done the same with Dave Goelz.

Obviously hoping on picking up all those brand spanking new Muppet fans who won't care.

 

[Luke]

OK, so I know first hand that Disney are not commenting on this situation, nor is Artie Esposito.So now lets try and work this out.why wouldnt Disney want to comment?
What comes into my mind is that they are with holding because it will make them look bad.So I think we can rule out that steve is sick, and start thinking along the lines that Disney have terminated Steve's services.What we dont know is why.And lets hope they havent done the same with Dave Goelz.

Disney may just not be commenting to the public, it may even be a standard policy not to. It doesn't mean they are avoiding it. I'm sure something will be said sooner rather than later.

A few people saying they see potential in the new performer in time being a "great" Kermit ... i'd love to know on what basis because those recent performances are pretty shocking. Either you "get" the basic character or you don't - Eric and Steve were way closer on their first goes even if they weren't polished. Also remember if the trainee Muppeteer programme has been going since the auditions then these people have been learning the characters for 3 years now, not 5 minutes.

I'd also add, didn't seem like the AGT Muppeteer doing Kermit at D23. Just a hunch, but the puppets mannerisms were 100% better, yet at MTV next day was back to the same level as AGT so i'd like to add it seems a 3rd Kermit was in the mix somewhere but obviously it was just looping so voice was probably steve anyway.

 

[SarahOnBway]

This whole thing really upsets me, and if expletives were allowed on the MC boards, you can bet I'd be using all of them.

Would I still love the Muppets if Steve was fired? Absolutely. Would I watch the new things they had coming out? Absolutely not. No offense to Artie or to any one of you who has replied that they like and, in some cases, even prefer his Kermit, if that was the Kermit we were getting in Cheapest Muppet Movie, I wouldn't go see it. There's no way I could sit through 90 minutes of that without driving myself crazy. It's not Kermit to me. Someone up thread hit it on the nose--there was no soul there.

There aren't THAT many people in the world who can breathe life into a puppet. The Muppeteers are a rare breed--and they had to work themselves up to where they are now. Even Steve--think of how long he was doing background puppets, or Rizzo would get a line or two here and there, before he was moved up to a real starring role. Dave talks about how he didn't feel ready when he was given Gonzo, that he felt out of place and less than all the other performers at the time, and that's another reason why puppeteers have to work their way up the ranks: to gain confidence in themselves and their ability to breathe life to these characters. When it comes to Kermit, the training ground should be even longer than it is for other characters. He is Kermit--there's no one else like him--a national figurehead, for Pete's sake. These performances do him no justice.

Gotta go to work but... argh. I just wish there was official word already.

 

[Super Scooter]

My fandom is not based on whether or not Steve continues to play Kermit (although he IS the obvious and best choice for the role). My fandom is based on whether or not Kermit is Kermit. AGT Kermit was not. VMA Kermit was not. Even Steve's first appearance as Kermit in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson was very nearly Kermit. AGT and VMA Kermit was nowhere near Kermit.

I've said it before, Artie's puppetry talents are very good, and I think he could play plenty of good one-shot characters, maybe even create his own Muppet to join the rest of the cast on a regular basis some day. But his Kermit is just not right.

As a puppeteer, I know that if a character I had been working with for 19 years was suddenly taken away from me, I would be devestated, and it upsets me to think that something like that could happen. It's appalling to think that this might have happened to Steve. I'm really hoping this isn't the case, but... it's hard not to think that at this point.

My hope is that all is well with Steve. Steve, if you are ill, get well soon. If you've retired from performing Kermit, I send you my best with regards your future endeavors. If you're training an understudy... well... see the second paragraph of this post.

<--- Stevie Smilies

 

[Super Scooter]

This whole thing really upsets me, and if expletives were allowed on the MC boards, you can bet I'd be using all of them.

Would I still love the Muppets if Steve was fired? Absolutely. Would I watch the new things they had coming out? Absolutely not. No offense to Artie or to any one of you who has replied that they like and, in some cases, even prefer his Kermit, if that was the Kermit we were getting in Cheapest Muppet Movie, I wouldn't go see it. There's no way I could sit through 90 minutes of that without driving myself crazy. It's not Kermit to me. Someone up thread hit it on the nose--there was no soul there.

There aren't THAT many people in the world who can breathe life into a puppet. The Muppeteers are a rare breed--and they had to work themselves up to where they are now. Even Steve--think of how long he was doing background puppets, or Rizzo would get a line or two here and there, before he was moved up to a real starring role. Dave talks about how he didn't feel ready when he was given Gonzo, that he felt out of place and less than all the other performers at the time, and that's another reason why puppeteers have to work their way up the ranks: to gain confidence in themselves and their ability to breathe life to these characters. When it comes to Kermit, the training ground should be even longer than it is for other characters. He is Kermit--there's no one else like him--a national figurehead, for Pete's sake. These performances do him no justice.

Gotta go to work but... argh. I just wish there was official word already.

My apologies for double-posting, but, uh... AMEN!