Miss Piggy's Big Nose

[lowercasegods]

Clear cut and to the point. I certainly can't disagree with you. Though I still feel that the writers need to hone their characterization skills (specifically on Piggy), you're right. The root is long gone. And you bring up another solid point: If only we could bring Ed Christie back into the picture. Nobody outside of Don Sahlin could pull off the magic Ed did.

 

[Beauregard]

Actually, here's a thought. MTI. Piggy was good in that, even if her role was small. Was she not?

Ok, MCC was a bit of a silly role, especially the chestnuts bit, but I think she was good in MTI. Or am I wrong?

 

[lowercasegods]

I believe that Piggy's role in Muppet Christmas Carol was her last good one, since she wasn't just an instrument for fat jokes and light sexual innuendo. She showed genuine warmth and strength of character, specifically when dealing with the death of Tiny Tim (Robin). That's the Piggy I knew and loved. I don't want to credit it with the fact that Frank was performing her at the time, but it's a hard point to overlook. I mostly attribute it to Jerry Juhl's top notch writing, which very few Muppet productions have benefitted from in the years since. I feel that Eric Jacobson could do just as good a job with Piggy as Frank did, as long as he had some good material to perform.

Piggy was still good in Muppet Treasure Island, because she was allowed to be a little sexy and not just a cheap joke, but she wasn't as dramatic or sympathetic as she ahd been in the past. After that, it was all down hill.

So I think I have to agree with you for the most part, Beauregard. Piggy still had a little bit of steam left in her with those productions.

 

[beforemyway]

I would say ever since Jim has passed away everything with the Muppets has just gone downhill. Jim set the stage, that was it. Everything the Muppets have done since then has just been a parody of what once was. And, it has nothing to do with the Muppeteers, or the writers, the root is no longer there and hasn't been for sometime now; and that is why Piggy and all the other characters suffer in depth and dimension. As for her nose, well, that's up to the builders, lets get Ed Christie back into the picture already!!

there is truth to this. Most organizations, productions, or anything like that, go down hill when the originator dies. This is just a simple fact I've seen repeat itself over and over again. The next generation is usually unable to reproduce what the originator had invented.

 

[lowercasegods]

Perfect example: After Walt Disney died in the late 60s, his company didn't get its legs back until the very late 80s with the release of The Little Mermaid and their co-production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In those middle years, the Disney people didn't know what to do, floundering through a bunch of awkward productions (how many Herbie films do we really need?), and a couple of brave, yet meager successes (Something Wicked This Way Comes was their best and most original work since Walt's passing, and Return to Oz was in many ways better than it's MGM predacessor). But they eventually found their voice, managed to envoke some of the spirit of the old Disney magic and became a success again.

I think this could still happen for the Muppets, since they're following an eerily similar pattern: They were booming in their early days, rode rough waters in the post Jim years (add your own example here), and found moderate success in some productions (The Adventures of Pinocchio and Buddy were a lot cooler than people want to admit). By this pattern of logic, success for the Muppets is inevitable.

Of course, assuming that this seemingly shared chronology of success is all a lot of hooey, I still think the Muppets can pull it out of the fire. I've been an outspoken critic of a lot of the business that's been happening with them in recent years, but I can't allow myself to lose faith. So, like the rest of us, I'll do my best to be a loyal fan and just wait out the storm, anxious to catch the first glimpse of success on the horizon.