My Take on Artie Esposito

[D'Snowth]

I finally got to see and listen to Artie Esposito as Kermit, and I have to say... honestly, I do NOT see what the big deal was. I mean, I guess it was a shock to people who have been so accustomed to Steve's Kermit after all these years, and then a sudden switch in performers, but really, in my opinion, I think he actually did pretty good, consider he's essentially playing THE Muppet of all Muppets, those are some pretty big shoes to fill. I think Artie's Kermit actually sounded very much like Jim's... not exactly the same, but very much so, and you have to admit, Kermit's voice is a difficult one to try and replicate, because it wasn't too incredibly different from Jim's natural voice, Jim's even said before he has to be careful when performing because sometimes he'll start to lose Kermit's voice and slip back into his own.

Yeah, I think people were rather harsh in criticizing Artie's performance as Kermit... God forbid if anything happens to Steve, I think he could do rather well in continuing to keep our favorite frog alive in the future.

 

[Borples]

You know how they say people perceive color differently? Like, what one person thinks of when he hears "pink" might be different than what another person thinks of? Or, there's also taste. What, to me, is pleasantly savory is, to my daughter, "HOT HOT TOO HOT NEED WATER AUUUUGH!!!"

I think it must be the same for perceiving voices. Because I've heard some people say what you just did about Artie's performance--that it's very close to Jim's. And then there's the other camp that holds their ears and howls. I belong to the latter group. I just went back and listened to a clip, wondering if I maybe judged too harshly the first time. And, to me, he sounded like a guy holding his nose and closing off the back of his throat while speaking. I didn't get "Kermit" from his voice at all. I got "needs adenoid surgery." I'm not saying that Artie couldn't ever be a decent Kermit, but that performance---ARGH!

The weird thing is that sometimes when I'm hearing a Kermit clip that I'm not familiar with, it takes me a few minutes to decide whether it's Steve or Jim. And I KNOW there's a difference in the voices, I just sometimes don't hear it.

I'm just glad that Steve's around so that we don't have to worry about it for the time being.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I finally got to see and listen to Artie Esposito as Kermit, and I have to say... honestly, I do NOT see what the big deal was. I mean, I guess it was a shock to people who have been so accustomed to Steve's Kermit after all these years, and then a sudden switch in performers, but really, in my opinion, I think he actually did pretty good, consider he's essentially playing THE Muppet of all Muppets, those are some pretty big shoes to fill.

I agree Snowth, I was impressed with the job he did. Of course Steve does a good job, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that other performers can do a good job too and I don't see what the big deal was either.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Whats this now?

 

[Hubert]

I think a lot of the overreacting was due to the surprise factor. No one knew it was coming, so they were mad and shocked about it. It's like, if you hear about some Muppet movie in the works and follow every detail about it, you're going to be excited over a long period of time. The excitement is more finding out new things about it and waiting to see it in its fullness. However, if you don't have a computer, and you're sitting in a theater waiting for some random movie to begin playing, and all of a sudden a Muppet movie trailer comes on, what happens: excitement overload.

I think it was like that with Artie's Kermit: If you hear, Artie Esposito is going to be performing Kermit for this performance, and you have some time to think about it and talk about it and worry about it. The reaction is more thinking about if it will be good or not. However, if you don't know about it, and think Steve will be performing Kermit as usual, and all of a sudden, Steve's Kermit is not there, what happens: overreaction overload.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I think a lot of the overreacting was due to the surprise factor. No one knew it was coming, so they were mad and shocked about it.

Yeah I think you're probably right. I mean it didn't bother me, I enjoyed his performance, but I can where others just would have been confused about it all.

 

[Drtooth]

We were very mean to him, let's leave it at that. The problem wasn't so much Artie performing him so much as fear that something happened to Steve, without any prior announcement, and the long waiting period to see if he was okay or if this was a stunt by Disney to scare wage freezes into them or something.

He did a great job, it was a dream for him, he's been a member of this board, and then we complained about it. I thought he did a very good job and all, and if something happens to Steve, they should definitely give him a call.

That said, if anyone watched that Simpsons Christmas episode from 2 years ago, he played Mr. Burns. Dubbed over with Harry's usual Mr. Burn's voice, so you couldn't hear him... but he did a great puppeteering job there, and I hope to see more of his stuff in the future.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Really, I am confused...someone please provide a link or something to this...

 

[Reevz1977]

Without picking at old scabs, I stand by my original opinion, Artie just wasn't ready. To me, it wasn't Kermit. That said, nobody can ever blame a guy for trying and we will never know the circumstances behind it. We know Disney did the dirty on Steve as he stated in an interview on the Muppetcast, he was available that night. Artie has come on this board and defended himself and genuinely came across as a truly nice and humble guy and I wish him all the luck in the world if he's next in line to the lilypad - practice can, and does make perfect! Speaking as a die-hard Muppet fan, all I want is Kermit and as long as the performer behind the puppet delivers exactly that I will be happy, but there's certainly a whole lot more that a voice imitation to be Kermit, you have to BE Kermit the frog and Steve Whitmire is just that

 

[CensoredAlso]

I stand by my original opinion, Artie just wasn't ready. To me, it wasn't Kermit.

And that's totally fine, everyone has a right to their opinion. The whole thing just ended up being blown out of proportion. I complimented Artie's performance and it was then implied that I didn't want the Muppets to be good, lol.

But yeah I don't want to pick at old scabs either. Some people liked his performance. Others didn't. That's all she wrote.