Scooter recasts

dwmckim

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It took a long time for them to try it, but eventually about seven years after Richard Hunt's all-too-early passing, Scooter finally appeared again with lines.

Recasting Muppets is not easy! Sometimes you get really lucky as in the case of Eric Jacobsen who was a total godsend in that he shares both similar vocal qualities, humor, and overall "style" as Frank Oz and was successfully able to take over his character pretty seamlessly (no pun intended)...with the one real exception, Cookie Monster done by David Rudman, also being pretty dang close that it's often hard to tell the difference without a careful rewatch/listen. But most of the time, the team has to settle for whoever is able to provide the closest match and live with the idea that the fact that a replacement is occuring will be noticable.

Now Scooter is really intriguing as a recasted character...this is one that they took the longest to recast (not even showing the puppet onscreen mute for a good seven years), and also one that instead of having a consistent performer, had been played by several different people (practically a different one in each major production)...

Adam Hunt (voice) in Muppets From Space
Brian Henson in Very Merry Muppet Christmas
Ricky Boyd in Wizard
and now David Rudman in Studio DC

Richard Hunt has a very distinctive voice, and Scooter was very close to it...so that in itself would make it seem like it would really be hard to find a close match. Yet personally speaking, i've found all four performers's take on Scooter totally satisfying (and surprising when it didn't eventually become permanant!)

Years back, i often said that i totally thought Rudman would be perfect since he had such similar vocal qualities to Hunt (and finally about 16 years later, we got the chance to hear a Rudman-voiced Scooter!) And if Scooter does indeed go on to be permanantly done by DR, i think it would be awesome. At the same time, i would have no problem if it turned out Boyd or Henson was a full-time performer for him (it probably wouldn't have been Hunt since that was a looped-voice situation). I really find it incredible that for a character that i would think would be among the hardest to recast, that it's been done so well - and MULTIPLE TIMES so successfully!

Aside from the Oz-character replacements (and again i have to give a shout-out to Rudman because since he himself has a pretty distinctive voice, i never would have thought of him as a CM replacement until it actually happened...and like i said, it can often be difficult to tell the difference), i would rank Scooter as the best recast - and all four of them actually! Take your pick of any of the post-Hunt Scooter performers and they're better than even generally accepted-among-fans recasts like Baretta's Rowlf or Dr. Teeth or Matt Vogel's Big Bird.
 

anytimepally

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I have yet to hear David Rudman's Scooter (although his Cookie Monster is still my all-time favorite recast), but I agree on the others.. although I thought Rickey Boyd was especially good in Muppets Wizard of Oz.. one of the bright spots
 

matleo

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I was really impressed by Ricky Boyd the most. I'm really hoping the character ends up in his hands. I liked what Brian did too but i think Brian had the most to work with acting-wise and not just a line or two.

--Matt
 

rexcrk

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That's definitely the best part of DC Almost Live! (which is funny, 'cause my favorite part in the other one was Miley singing G.N.O. with the Mayhem, and this part has the Mayhem too lol)

Anyway, about Scooter, I think my favorite re-cast performance was in Muppets' Wizard of Oz. Although I do think Brian Henson did a voice that matched Scooter's personality, even if it didn't SOUND like Richard Hunt.
 

Drtooth

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I'm surprised and not surprised at the same time. After all, a lot of Richard's roles were recast by David... the second head of the 2 headed monster, Sonny Friendly... even Sweetums in one scene of the Cliff's Nightmare episode of the Cosby show. the surprise is that it took them that long. maybe because of the obligations with Sesame Street.... Baby bear is a very major character on the show.

Only thing I don't like is the new Scooter Puppet... why... why does his head look like it was grafted onto his shoulders? I know he doesn't really have much of a neck, but he looks terribly hunched over.
 

Vic Romano

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I was blown away by Scooter's most recent appearance on Studio DC. Maybe it was just the shock of seeing and hearing him for the first time in a long time, but I thought he sounded fantastic, so I'll go with Mr. Rudman. It was great to see him in MWoO (albeit those green eyes were disturbing) but it felt more like a Muppet who just looked like Scooter but didn't sound like Scooter.

I also loved that Scooter was in his classic green jacket on Studio DC. Refresh my memory, but we didn't see his back, so no way of knowing if TMS logo was on there, was it?
 

CensoredAlso

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I think both Rickey Boyd and David Rudman's voices were on the money. Brian Henson's voice wasn't exact but his charicterization was good. :wink:
 

frogboy4

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Which ever puppeteer, Boyd or Rudman, I think it's important to assign Scooter a permanent and available peformer. I liked Brian's version, but he's aloof these days when it comes to Muppets. Every Muppet Show character that is seen in the smileys should have a permanent performer. ----->
 

CensoredAlso

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Which ever puppeteer, Boyd or Rudman, I think it's important to assign Scooter a permanent and available peformer.
Definitely, if the performer was permanent, we'd see the character more.
 
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