Kermit the Frog has a new voice and people aren’t having it
February 28, 2018Set aside everything else because this needs your immediate attention: Kermit the Frog’s voice is off. Kermie’s not sounding like himself and nobody’s having it.
Kermit the Frog (formerly lizard) was one of Jim Henson’s first and admittedly favorite Muppets, that he made from one of his mother’s discarded coats with a split ping pong ball for eyes. Although he’d allowed others to inhabit his other creations, Jim remained Kermit’s voice and puppeteer until he died. Jim’s devotion to Kermit was part of the reason I couldn’t take up a side on the Kermit/Miss Piggy divorce. I adore The Pig but I couldn’t turn my back on Jim’s first born.
When Jim died in 1990, Steve Whitmire took over the role of Kermit and remained the Kermit we knew and loved until last year when all hell broke loose in Muppetville. After 27 years, Whitmire was suddenly fired for what the Muppet organization claimed was, “unacceptable business conduct.” Whitmire claimed his dismissal was because of character notes and a union dispute. Disney and The Muppet Studio said they’ve been warning Whitmire to behave for a while. For the record, the Henson children have sided with Disney and The Muppet Studio on replacing Whitmire. However, the fandom got caught up in the intrigue, leaving only one true victim: Matt Vogel, the poor sap who replaced Whitmire as Kermit’s voice. When Vogel debuted last August, the reaction was mixed. A lot of people approved but some – let’s say “didn’t”:
And now we’ve circled back to where we started. Kermit appeared yesterday alongside long-time companion, Fozzie Bear, on Britain’s This Morning for a simple baking segment. You can watch a clip – and hear Kermit’s voice – below. British fans were not amused. They flooded Twitter to voice (ha!) their dismay:
I haven’t actually heard Kermit for a while (he never calls anymore *sigh*) so he doesn’t sound that off to me, more like jetlagged. If anything, he sounded like Seth MacFarlane’s impression of him (5:30 mark). I think maybe this is the first time Britain has heard the new voice.
What do you think? Can you accept the new voice? It’s just a voice, folks – he’s still the same Kermie inside. Well, except for the hand inside him which is also Vogel’s. I don’t care about the voice, I care about how he intends to win Piggy back.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Twitter