Disney gives reason to why Steve Whitmire got fired

toughpigs.com/disney-statement/

>The role of Kermit the Frog is an iconic one that is beloved by fans and we take our responsibility to protect the integrity of that character very seriously. We raised concerns about Steve’s repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback. The decision to part ways was a difficult one which was made in consultation with the Henson family and has their full support.

As well as the reasons why he was fired:

hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-says-fired-kermit-frog-actor-unacceptable-business-conduct-1021701

>In a Monday interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Whitmire explained that he was let go by Disney in October. He was given two reasons: unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC and a union disagreement. News of his termination has since come to light after months of being told he was going to be "honored for his contributions" to the Muppets and the hope of working out issues with Disney brass.

Other urls found in this thread:

youtube.com/watch?v=Ipe14_yCL_g
youtube.com/watch?v=rFCDMT0mkEo
youtube.com/watch?v=-26rg-N0V7M
youtube.com/watch?list=PLVCNuSyxRxghb84koPGUB_orr0-1rW-bz&v=-WL0eMf5VhU
change.org/p/the-walt-disney-company-make-steve-whitmire-a-muppet-again
youtube.com/watch?v=_BetgJuD1NA
nytimes.com/2017/07/17/arts/television/kermit-the-frog-disney-firing.html
youtu.be/PXBJIZ1NXFU
insideedition.com/headlines/24509-kermit-the-frog-voice-actor-abruptly-axed-after-27-years-so-much-hope-is-gone
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

>unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC
from the same Kikes that brought you "everyone's input is valuable!" and other meaningless platitudes.

So, in more explicit wording, Whitmire acted like a bitch who couldn't handle criticism and got his shit canned and kicked to the road.

>"Whitmire, who was asked to take over Kermit by Henson's family after the creator's untimely death in 1990, said that an instance of a note was over a script for the new ABC series, canceled last year, in which Kermit lied to his nephew, Robin, about his breakup with Miss Piggy.

>"I don't think Kermit would lie to him," Whitmire explained. "I think that is Robin came to Kermit he would say 'things happen, people go their separate ways, but that doesn't mean we don't care about you.' Kermit is too compassionate to lie to him to spare his feelings."

>He continued, "We have been doing these characters for a long, long time and we know them better than anybody. I thought I was aiding to keep it on track and I think a big reason why the show was canceled (after one season last fall) was because that didn't happen. I am not saying my notes would have saved it, but I think had they listened more to all of the performers, it would have made a really big difference.'"

Quite literally

>We have no absolutely no legitimate reason to fire you
>So just make something up

t. Disney executive

Honestly fuck the people involved with writing that ABC show. Those hacks were about 10 years too late to the Office style mockumentary gimmick

>unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC

Sounds like what Disney wants is an interchangeable workman who'll read the lines he's told and clockout for the day; no passion or input in his performance or the character.

Business is just easier that way, I guess.

>Kermit
>Ever lying to Robin

It was a very mediocre show, the showrunner was sacked halfway into the season and they're now blaming Steve for its failure.

Other way around, really. Disney couldn't handle Whitmire's criticisms so they shit canned him.

TFW Disney

>Cheryl Henson kicking Steve while he's down.

Fuck the Henson Company, they were miserable failing to get any sort of project off the ground for decades and only sold The Muppets as a last ditch effort to save themselves. Even today there's countless of announced project after announced project they did fuck all with, Jim Henson company has so many announced projects it isn't funny.

>A Pinocchio stop motion animated movie directed by Guillermo Del Toro in 2011
>A Fraggle Rock movie/reboot has been announced several times
>‘The Happytime Murders’ announced in 2010 and was to be directed by Brian Henson that was basically a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"-type thing but with puppets

2005
>An untitled Fraggle Rock movie has been in development by The Jim Henson Company since 2005.

2008/2009
>The Weinstein Company formerly partnered with the Henson Company to produce and distribute the film. Cory Edwards, the writer and director of the 2005 animated film Hoodwinked!, was announced as the writer and director for the Fraggle Rock film in May 2008. Edwards kept a blog about the process, and began writing about his frustrations with the project in mid-2009.
2010/2011
>In June 2010, Edwards announced that the Weinstein Company is looking for a replacement screenwriter, claiming that he's been told that his script is "not edgy enough." In 2011, the deal fell through with Weinstein.
2012
>In May 2012, new writers for the project were announced.
2014
>After nearly two years of inactivity, Brian Henson briefly talked about the film's progress in a March 2014 Variety interview:
>“Fraggle Rock” is still in development, but the development is looking very strong, where “Dark Crystal” is mostly developed. “Fraggle Rock” might go faster because it’s not as big an undertaking.
MARCH 19, 2015
>Joseph Gordon-Levitt will produce and star in the live-action “Fraggle Rock” movie

Like most announced Henson projects that Fraggle Rock movie was never heard from since.

Just leave them be

If the notes during the ABC Muppets show were bad enough to be considered a reason to fire Steve, I hate to imagine what the "union disagreement" was.

Whitmire couldn't handle criticism? It was the other way around. He criticised them so they fired him

How did you see it from your point of view

Does she seriously not understand that Steve had absolutely nothing to do with scripts that were written for him and were just as displeased with Kermit's characterization as she was? Now that Disney has one of their drones as Kermit, he's just going to stray even farther from what he used to be.

She acts like steve writes the lines

Whitmire, who was asked to take over Kermit by Henson's family after the creator's untimely death in 1990, said that an instance of a note was over a script for the new ABC series, canceled last year, in which Kermit lied to his nephew, Robin, about his breakup with Miss Piggy.

"I don't think Kermit would lie to him," Whitmire explained. "I think that as Robin came to Kermit, he would say 'things happen, people go their separate ways, but that doesn't mean we don't care about you.' Kermit is too compassionate to lie to him to spare his feelings."

He continued, "We have been doing these characters for a long, long time and we know them better than anybody. I thought I was aiding to keep it on track, and I think a big reason why the show was canceled (after one season last fall) was because that didn't happen. I am not saying my notes would have saved it, but I think had they listened more to all of the performers, it would have made a really big difference."

The second issue Whitmire says he was given concerning his termination was a union issue.


"The second issue was framed as 'refusing to work on a particular project’ some 15 months earlier," Whitmire explained. "I happened to get caught in the middle of a dispute on a contract classification between SAG-AFTRA and Disney Labor Relations, which occurred while I was in-flight to work on the project and the associated commercial. I did in fact shoot the commercial, but was unable to shoot the material for the project in order to comply with my obligations to the guild. Ironically, in that situation, my rep had negotiated a special deal with the guild so that we could do the work within the budget parameters for the project."

>Try to do what's right by Jim's vision and the characters he created
>Gets fired by Disney & stabbed in the back by Henson's daughter

(((Disney))) needs to fuck off

Kermit would absolutely lie. He's Muppet Show Kermit, not Sesame Street Kermit.

>Steve’s repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years

So he was selling unlicensed shit and thought he'd get away with it forever.

>he was selling unlicensed shit
proof?

This retard read "business conduct" as "conducting business" and interpreted that to mean "bootlegging." Or he's just a Mouse shill.

It's a joke

me thinks that Cheryl wants a Disney job.

So Disney tried to stiff SAG-AFTRA, the union wasn't having it, and Steve got caught in the middle? Bummer.

That settles it then: Disney needs their shit kicked in. Any ideas?

>Kermit ever lying to his nephew Robin
Absolutely not.

youtube.com/watch?v=Ipe14_yCL_g

According to Muppet fansites Disney already delayed the Muppet Youtube channel video Thought of the Week with Vogel as Kermit to this Thursday. Probably in anticipation of people mass downvoting it.

gipsy curses

>people mass downvoting it.
I really want to when it comes out because Disney needs to know that shit is not acceptable, but then again I don't want Matt Vogel to think that people are protesting him personally.

Winnie the Pooh has been censored and blacklisted in China due to "comparisons of President Xi Jinping and the chubby fictional bear, which ended up going viral." This will be a particularly harrowing concept to Disney as they have a "Winnie The Pooh" film in the works; if the blacklisting extends to the release of the film, Disney will lose out on potential millions through the Chinese market alone.

As such, it becomes apparent that the easiest way to ruin a company such as Disney is to have every upcoming property memed into denouncing the Chinese government, thus having those properties blacklisted in China and prevented from being discussed and, most importantly, screened in theaters.

youtube.com/watch?v=rFCDMT0mkEo

Chinas a shit market though that doesn't even respect copyright

Mass hack Sony style? But then again we already know that Disney does dirty shit under the table.

>WOOOOW HE'S LIKE, MAKING MY FATHER'S CHARACTER ACT LIKE A JERK!

How fucking stupid do you have to be to fail to remember there are writers when making up bullshit excuses for why a man should be vilified?

Perhaps, but even if that's the case then that's money that bypasses Disney's pockets.

I say fuck Vogel. He needs to know he's not wanted.

I was really looking forward to The Happytime Murders. The production art and concept were pretty enticing

you fucking mouseketeers would watch your mothers get raped and cry for your dad to watch i swear to shit.

It would show a clear sign to Disney though I'm sure they'll anticipate it and turn off likes.

It's not Matt Vogel's fault in the slightest, he's got it rough too with suddenly losing a colleague and long time friend, having suddenly Kermit thrust into his lap by Disney execs while already juggling Sesame Street (Big Bird, Count von Count) and in turn he was handpicked by Jerry Nelson to do his Muppet characters as well (Floyd Pepper, Uncle Deadly, Robin and Lew Zealand).

When it's that many people in a situation like this, actors know man. They know.

They're still filming it now, but they just announced an August 2018 release date a few days ago.

Yeah and that was seven fucking years ago.

oh hello mouse nigger. upset about Homeflopping getting APED?

It seems as though the rest of Steve's characters are going to Peter Linz.

Here he is as Statler:
youtube.com/watch?v=-26rg-N0V7M

and Ernie (even though Billy Barkhurst had previously replaced Steve as Ernie in 2014):
youtube.com/watch?list=PLVCNuSyxRxghb84koPGUB_orr0-1rW-bz&v=-WL0eMf5VhU

I didn't notice a difference in Statler, but it's pretty obvious with Ernie.

I thought it was a union thing and the poor guy was caught in the middle of it
Fuck disney and fuck unions

what a fucking bitch

Joel did you download cartoon boobs on Sup Forums again Joel?

"n- no dad"

I'm beyond pissed, what can we do about this? Is there a petition we can sign? Videos to down vote?

>Is there a petition we can sign?
change.org/p/the-walt-disney-company-make-steve-whitmire-a-muppet-again

I say just let them burn. Even Walt knew bad acting could screw one over. Time they get bit hard including the Henson company which seems to have lost its way.

>yfw you actually liked the NUppets

Descendents are fucking awful and usually greedy i.e. Kirby's, Siegel and Shuster's, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle, etc.

You liked THIS?

youtube.com/watch?v=_BetgJuD1NA

Damn Pat's was a wreck but I still found her irresistible as a child...

>Kirby's
Kirby's actual children sure, but his grandson is pretty cool.

Reason Batman and Superman are kinda piecemeal in some ways nowadays.

yes, uncle deadly had some hilarious jokes
I'll admit some characters were pretty much out of character, also the focus was all over the place but it had some pretty great moments nonetheless

One character with good jokes does not a good show make.

not saying its a good show, but its enjoyable enough for people to like it
you try watching paul gauntlet and tell me there's people that would like that, now that, that is a godawfully unlikeable show

>its enjoyable enough for people to like it

Is that why it hemorrhaged viewers to the point of cancellation? It was a mediocre at best show, the showrunner was sacked halfway into the season and their replacement tried to salvage things but it was already too late by then.

they just asked me a question and I answered it, don't know what else you want here lol

>Descendents are fucking awful and usually greedy
Two words: Brian Herbert

>the muppets struggle this hard to be new and fresh

They're classic characters but they just don't fit with anything anymore.

This idea sounds good on paper but it's kind of cringeworthy. I did always like people taking them seriously like individuals though

That's 100% a sign it was something personal and they needed an excuse. Normies do this all the time. They make up rules as they go along that never applies to themselves and only works that one time getting rid of that one person.

I hope this guy sues the shit of them.

>Normies do this all the time
>Normies
You are fucking ADORABLE!

>suing Disney

>both sides are equally bad!
I guarantee he was in the union, there was no "middle" for him.

Maybe SAG-AFTRA will do something (I hope)?

Yeah fuck workers for having protection! Disney wanting to force Steve to record overtime for less pay is just as bad as not wanting to do that!

An upboat for you, my redpilled 'pede sir!

The Henson family is dead to me, I hope all their future projects fail. Fuck em.

Reposting this from the other thread.

Things have taken a turn for the worse, Brian actually joined in the shitflinging and has thrown Steve under the bus as well. How big a cheque did Disney give them, holy shit.

nytimes.com/2017/07/17/arts/television/kermit-the-frog-disney-firing.html

>“He played brinkmanship very aggressively in contract negotiations,” said Lisa Henson, president of the Jim Henson Company, and Jim Henson’s daughter, in a telephone interview.

>Ms. Henson said Mr. Whitmire was adamantly opposed to having an understudy for his role, which presented problems when it came to what she called “B-level performances, such as a ribbon-cutting.” She said he was unwilling to appear on some of these occasions but also refused to develop an understudy and that he “blackballed young performers” by refusing to appear on the show with them.

>Brian Henson, the company’s chairman and Jim Henson’s son, said that while Mr. Whitmire’s Kermit was “sometimes excellent, and always pretty good,” things changed when he was off set.

>“He’d send emails and letters attacking everyone, attacking the writing and attacking the director,” he said. .”

>In a reflection of Disney’s determination to undercut Mr. Whitmire, executives there also arranged an interview for a Times reporter with a producer on a Muppets-related project who expressed the same criticisms as the Henson family. The producer declined to speak for attribution, however.

For Mr. Whitmire, who didn’t respond to the criticisms leveled by the Hensons or Disney, this is the end of a professional journey that has occupied his entire adult life. His bond with the Muppets began when, at age 10, he wrote a letter to Mr. Henson asking questions about puppetry around the same time “Sesame Street” had its premiere.

>that pic
Oh my god, Jim Henson's alive?!

FUCK! Not Brian too...

>Landed nobles are fucking awful and usually greedy
fixed that for you

The copyright and patent system was created to prevent this new form of lowbrow aristocracy from being created!

>Stabbed in the back by even Brian Henson

Something is real fishy about this and it's not Lew Zealand's boomerang fish, did Disney promise they'd fund and distribute a Fraggle Rock movie for them to turn their backs on Steve like that? Real disappointing and I didn't expect Brian to drop this low.

The Disney propaganda machine is all fired up to slander Steve. The sheer venom and hatred from Disney towards everyone who they feel like they own is disgusting to see.

It does seem like they are trying to paint him the worst human being alive, if it were the case of them firing him legit they wouldn't even say a word about it, let him have his say or whatever and move on but the fact that they are pushing for this so hard just gives more credit-ability towards Steve Whitmire.

youtu.be/PXBJIZ1NXFU

This story just makes me think of the last few minutes of this damn video.

Steve speaks to Inside Edition:
>insideedition.com/headlines/24509-kermit-the-frog-voice-actor-abruptly-axed-after-27-years-so-much-hope-is-gone

They are really trying to make him look bad, but the things they are saying... "He refused to open shitty stores at malls and he just constantly attacked our shitty writers!!"

What the fuck are they doing?

What a cunt for not training his own replacement, right?

Holy shit that part with Lisa Henson, what a cold hearted cunt.

"It was a long time coming"

>he had not been not funny

...so he was funny?

Honestly the mockumentary format wasn't even the worst part. The characters just became assholes for no reason.

Your not alone user.

I mean they'd have to try really hard to make me not enjoy the Muppets, though this situation might just do it.

EXACTLY! "This cunt just wouldn't make things easier for us to replace him. How dare him?!?"

Cheryl, Brian and Lisa all stabbed him in the back. "He had it a long time coming" She said while stuffing her wallet with Disney dollars. This is beyond ridiculous, Steve was only sticking up for what Jim stood for and those three sold his vision and characters out by actually selling out.

>The characters just became assholes for no reason.
That was my biggest problem with it, that and it was missing a little silliness.
There is a noticeable improvement after they changed the showrunner.

At this point, I'm wondering who else is going to join the Steve Slander Train. The Hensons and Disney seem poised to run him out of town. Would they try to convince the other puppeteers to turn on him, or would they refuse?

Hell, with Disney like this, I worry they might try it with other actors or properties.

Frank Oz will stay out of this I'm sure, he blames the original Disney deal for wearing Jim down and being a large contributor to his death.

At this point I just feel for Whitmire.

>get job from hero
>spend all adult life doing it
>be autistic about muppets from age 10, know everything you can
>watch characters get derailed
>try to fix, if autistically
>whatareyoudoingtomylife.jpg
>btfo
>stabbed in the back like ceasar by everyone

feels really bad man.

>I’m actually responsible for Matt having become a part of the Disney Muppets," Whitmire said. "The performers are my brothers, my family of choice. That includes Matt, and the hardest part of this is knowing we probably will never work together again. He’s very talented with the Muppets; he is already performing and he was chosen by Jerry Nelson prior to his death to carry Jerry’s characters forward.

>The hardest part is that I genuinely like both of the executives who chose this action, and that makes this all the more disappointing," he said. "My sadness is over knowing how important it is for the success of the Muppets to have the characters remain consistent and seeing the value of that ignored."

I never thought I'd see the day where the Muppets left me feeling so blue.

>checked
>EL DIABLO!!!!!
trips of truth of the devil. that vid wayyy to real user.

>and we take our responsibility to protect the integrity of that character very seriously

nigga quit lying the only integrity you care about is how much green that green motherfucker can make you you got antsy because he made fun of the role and all you care about is paper

if all you care about is money at least be honest about who you are that's all i ask

hey, Disney needs a Henson to basically say that they're not fucking up her father's vision, its exactly what they wanted. She'll make a killing. Like when they drag a minority person onto stage and say its the film is wonderful for that minoirty whenever they want to make movie with exotic waifus

Well, we now know who was one of the people asking to fire Whitman.

She probably had a bone to pick with him for a while and jumped at the opportunity with the whole ABC thing

I doubt Disney cares. Their approach to their franchises seems pretty hands off.

Yeah, but all three of them? There must have been some 6-7 figure account to turn all of them against Steve.

>Give Kermit his voice back or I'm sure the fans will speak for him.
Damn.