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Frank Oz, the actor and puppeteer who gave life to iconic Muppet characters Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal and Sam Eagle in The Muppet Show as well as Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, said he would love to work with the beloved characters again.
In 2001, actor Eric Jacobson, who was a regular performer on Sesame Street since 1994, succeeded Oz in voicing many of the same characters from The Muppets.
Oz recently revealed in an interview there was one hiccup preventing him from ever having a Muppet reunion.
" Disney doesn't want me," he told The Guardian.
I honestly think the best job in the world ever was working with the Muppets in the 70s and 80s. The second best job is interviewing those who worked with the Muppets. Last week I got to interview the magnificent @TheFrankOzJamhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/aug/30/frank-oz-on-life-as-fozzie-bear-miss-piggy-and-yoda-id-love-to-do-the-muppets-again-but-disney-doesnt-want-me?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other\u00a0\u2026— Hadley Freeman (@Hadley Freeman) 1630311012
Oz, who is also famously known for voicing Yoda from Star Wars, said in the teleconference interview he has not worked with The Muppets, since 2007.
He misses playing the characters he helped create with late Muppets and Sesame Street founder, Jim Henson.
He told the news outlet:
"I'd love to do the Muppets again but Disney doesn't want me, and Sesame Street hasn't asked me for 10 years. They don't want me because I won't follow orders and I won't do the kind of Muppets they believe in."
Frank Oz really should fight for the creative freedom over The Muppets and Sesame Street that he deserves! And I\u2019m willing to fight alongside him and give him my full support!— Andrew Hager (@Andrew Hager) 1630380305
Oz added he will not watch The Muppets today.
Oz has a point. Nothing Disney has done with Muppets has stuck. Gosh that sitcom they did ala The Office was terrible, nobody wanted to see Kermit date someone else! \n\nAnd the new skit show on Disney+ is like the writers hate the show unfunny. Give it back to Oz!— JAY WHO? (@JAY WHO?) 1630395892
The 77-year-old explained:
"The soul's not there. The soul is what makes things grow and be funny. But I miss them and love them."
Disney ruining the legacies of legends? Tell me something new. First George Lucas Star Wars, now Frank Oz Muppets and next could be Marvel if Feige left them. It's a high time for people to realise that Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny are ruining everything.— Ishan \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 (@Ishan \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3) 1630421568
Disney ruins everything it touches. All the Disney Muppet projects have failed miserably. The magic is gone.— Henry Rosemont (@Henry Rosemont) 1630412029
In 2004, Michael Eisner—then the head of the Walt Disney Company—bought The Muppets but not Sesame Street because Jim Henson did not allow it.
Oz believes the stress in negotiating with Disney eventually took a toll on his colleague's health.
Time and time again corporations and the people in charge of them just beat down on such talented and wonderful people. Heartbreaking— luci (@luci) 1630394643
"The Disney deal is probably what killed Jim. It made him sick," Oz said of Henson, who at 53 died in 1990 of streptococcal toxic shock syndrome—right around the time Eisner and Henson were actively in negotiations.
"Eisner was trying to get Sesame Street, too, which Jim wouldn't allow. But Jim was not a dealer, he was an artist, and it was destroying him, it really was."
Here's where I cried -\n'Henson died suddenly in 1990 when he was only 53.\n\u201cThe Disney deal is probably what killed Jim. It made him sick. Eisner was trying to get Sesame Street too which Jim wouldn\u2019t allow. But Jim was not a dealer, he was an artist, and it was destroying him.\u201d '— Michael Strauss (@Michael Strauss) 1630345106
I'm not crying, you're crying.\n\nSomehow artistry has to make a comeback because corporatism can't compete with direct artistry.\n\nIt may not be the Muppets, it'll be different, but it'll be art and creative!— Rob Milliken (@Rob Milliken) 1630342428
Since Disney's acquisition of The Muppets, Oz said there was a "demarcation line between the Jim Henson Muppets and the Disney Muppets"
"There's an inability for corporate America to understand the value of something they bought. They never understood, with us, it's not just about the puppets, it's about the performers who love each other and have worked together for many years."
Stick to your guns, Master Yoda!— \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8#StarWarsForever \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8#StarWarsForever \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1630345744
; Keep On Rockin', Frank Oz!pic.twitter.com/yG9bQgYUtH— Valkyrie-Ziege (@Valkyrie-Ziege) 1630414985
Disney currently owns all Muppet-related trademarks, including the word, "Muppet."
Many of the Muppet/Henson titles, including all episodes of The Muppet Show, are available for streaming on Disney+.
Under the Disney acquisition, two feature films, The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014) have seen moderate successes.