Miss Piggy's Big Nose

[lowercasegods]

About the best thing I can say about Piggy's appearance in the Muppet Wizard of Oz Trailer is that at least they're creating a new look for the Wicked Witch of the West. Margaret Hamilton made the old black pointy hat look a winner, but for anyone else these days to try it is just cliche. So I like that Piggy will have an eye patch and leather, at least from the perspective of being original. Plus, unless I'm mistaken, I thought that in the original illustrations of Baum's Wizard of Oz book that the Wicked Witch of the West had an eyepatch, so if it's true, it's a nice tribute to the movie's source material from the Muppets. The Muppet's would also be the first production to ever pick up on that little detail, which none of the bazillion other Oz productions have acknowledged (of course the Muppet's choice to use an eyepatch could just be a coincidence, but I prefer to think they're paying tribute). But honestly, the best role in Muppet Wizard of Oz for Piggy would have been as Dorothy. Her character could have been equally sassy and sympathetic, and there could have been some interesting jokes regarding her living on a farm (Aunt Em: "Dorothy, why don't you go slop the pigs?" Dorothy: "EXCUSE ME???"). Plus she wouldn't have to be the butt of the joke by being an expendable villain. Sure, it's a juicy role, and Piggy's an outrageous enough personality to pull it off, but it doesn't allow her any quiet or subtle moments in her performance. I mean, they could have made Piggy Dorothy and given the witch to a celebrity. Heck, Queen Latifah could have pulled double duty as aunt Em and the witch. Imagine the implied symbolism there, with the daughter figure butting heads with the mother figure. A true coming of age story if ever there was one. But as it stands, Piggy's really going to have to pull off one heck of a performance to become anything more than a ridiculous one-dimensional, over the top villain.

 

[JaniceFerSure]

Piggy's looks have always been evolving.She looked entirely different in the early days of The Muppet Show.I'm glad her looked have improved for the better over the years.

 

[Beauregard]

Her looks, yes. But her character? I don't think so.

 

[lowercasegods]

Piggy's looks have always been evolving.She looked entirely different in the early days of The Muppet Show.I'm glad her looked have improved for the better over the years.

We've already established that she looked different in the early days of the Muppets Show, consisting of the specials done in '75 and the first season of the Muppet Show in '76. But after that she's had a pretty consistent look, the look that made her an icon and that everyone, from fans to major magazines and national press, associated her with until 1984 when they started dramatically changing her look. After that, call it an evolution if you want. I consider it a regression. She looks like a caricature now, or something far less than what she was during those '76 to '84 years. And I stand with Beauregard in believing her personality has gone down the tubes and needs some serious maintenance. All that having been said, everyone's entitled to their opinions, and I acknowledge yours. If you like Piggy's new look then that's good. I would hope the Muppet folks are appeasing someone with all this change. However, I can only speak for myself. And I'm only saying what I've always said, which is that, in my opinion, her old appearance was the greatest and ideally should be returned to her, not to mention a serious overhaul of her character.

 

[Beauregard]

I still can't picture which look you are talking about specifically. Do you know of any pictures of her with this look on the Net?

I thought I knew which one you meant, but now I'm not sure. Is there a pic you know of?

 

[lowercasegods]

Hmmmm....well, it'd help if I could attach a photo here or something, but I don't think I can. Let me see...Do you have a copy of The Great Muppet Caper? Check out the scene where she first walks into Lady Holiday's office. That look (minus the hat), with the long blonde hair and proportionate facial features, was the basic look of the character for the height of her career. Go through old Muppet Show episodes and you'll see what I mean. The only possible exceptions were when she'd wear a wig or put her hair up for a specific production number on the show. Other than that, check out any number of pictures of her in Jim Henson: The Works or Of Muppets and Men, both by Christopher Finch. They're all good examples of what I'm talking about.

 

[Beauregard]

Ohhhh.

That look.

Yes, Muppet Caper look is nice. And that's a thought, I have to watch that movie again.

 

[King Jim]

I saw in a moive once someone pulled Miss Piggy By the Noise.

 

[Beauregard]

Noise? I persume you mean Nose. What movie?I've seen people pull her hair before, but never nose. Which was it?

 

[lowercasegods]

Y'know, I bet it was Muppets From Space. In every other Muppet film when Piggy fought, it was as if the other actors knew that Piggy's nose was totally off limits. In Caper, for example, one of the cat burglers grabs her ears, and that's okay. But Piggy's nose, well, that would have been going too far, like grabbing Dolly Parton's chest or something. However, Muppets From Space shattered a lot of Muppet taboos, and during the fight between Piggy and Andi McDowell, I'm sure Andi grabbed her nose. And y'know, this point just takes us back to the original topic that began this thread: if the Muppet folks hadn't made Piggy's nose bigger and disproportionate from the rest of her face, it wouldn't have been as easy for Andi to grab!