What this? Kermit the Frog embroiled in a nasty juicy scandal that doesn’t also feature Miss Piggy?
When news broke that the man who had voiced one of the most beloved Muppets out there for over 25 years (since creator Jim Henson’s death in 1990), Steve Whitmire, had been let go – in the increasingly he said, they said battle for hearts and minds that followed he was variously the soul of Kermit, or his greatest liability – many fans wondered where it would lead.
Would Kermit be forced to communicate using placards Love, Actually-style? Would he have do great big chalk drawings? Or, and yeah this is the only actual option considered, fun though the first two were, would someone else step in to give Kermit his temporarily-stilled voice back?
Points to the people who picked option 3!
It’s been announced that Matt Vogel, who has been the puppeteer captain on Sesame Street since 2008 when he inherited responsibility for many of Jerry Nelson’s Muppet characters, would give voice to Kermit from this point on.
Honestly, listening to his voice for the first time on this video, I have to agree with Gizmodo:
“Knowing it’s Vogel and listening for a difference, you certainly hear one. It isn’t spot on to what we’ve been used to hearing for almost 30 years. But it’s also clearly still Kermit, and really that’s the most important thing.”
It’s lovely to hear him again and I’m looking forward to many more years of the world’s greatest advocate for being green being around.