{"id":6605,"date":"2026-08-25T23:07:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6605"},"modified":"2026-08-25T23:07:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T23:07:55","slug":"how-the-muppets-were-brought-back-to-life-for-the-disney-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6605","title":{"rendered":"How the Muppets Were Brought Back to Life for the Disney Special"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tThe lights were lit and the music played in the Muppet Theatre once more this year. But before the curtain opened on Kermit the Frog in an episode of television for the first time in 10 years, the show had to be put together \u2014 by the humans behind the characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Sam Register to Depart as Head of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tSimultaneously a nod to the classic \u201cMuppet Show,\u201d which ran from 1976 to 1981, and something entirely new to this era of the beloved characters, \u201cThe Muppet Show\u201d special starring Sabrina Carpenter notched six Emmy nominations, including production design (variety special), character voice-over performance for Matt Vogel as Kermit the Frog and writing for a variety special.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Muppets have bowed in various formats over the years (films, TV specials and even the World Cup Final halftime show this summer). Putting on a Muppet show is always an elaborate production involving angles, runways, monitors and sets that make the audience forget that these are puppets. \u201cIt\u2019s this big magic trick that we\u2019re doing,\u201d Vogel says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s where production designer Denise Pizzini steps in. Her first foray into building for the Muppets was a decade ago, when she notched an Emmy nomination for \u201cThe Muppets\u201d series. She\u2019s familiar with the insider tricks of building in the Muppet Theatre: how to set up boxes and risers to even out the height of performers and humans, the 36-inch height standard for walkways for guest stars like Carpenter above Muppet performers and their monitors hidden on the ground.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAround this infrastructure, Pizzini and her team reconstructed the original Muppet Theatre, from the iconic arches to the filigree to the safety curtain with the door Kermit pops out of in the opening sequence. \u201cI wanted to get that exactly like it should be, like the original show, because that creates a feeling,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd it paid off. For original Muppet fans, Vogel hopes \u201cit feels, it smells, it looks, it sounds, it acts and it just feels like the original show.\u201d The Muppets as a brand are something uniquely familiar to generations. Part of being a Muppet performer, Vogel says, is paying homage to the soul of the original character and performer (in his case, Muppet creator Jim Henson himself). Part of it is imbuing a little personal flair to create an authentic representation of a modern Kermit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe familiarity of the characters is something writer Albertina Rizzo kept in mind, too. \u201cYou can\u2019t veer from their core being,\u201d she says. Kermit wouldn\u2019t say YOLO; internet vocabulary doesn\u2019t fit with the Muppets. \u201cThey exist in a different time and space,\u201d she adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRizzo took inspiration from \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d and variety shows of the 1970s. There\u2019s a sensibility to Muppet comedy that speaks to her background in late-night television, where the revolving door of guests necessitates different styles. A Miss Piggy joke wouldn\u2019t work for Kermit, and vice versa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tOne thing universal across the Muppets is a certain kind of goofy, physical humor. Muppets never get hurt, Rizzo says, but they certainly can have doors fall on them (as Kermit does in the special) or zoom in and out of frame on out-of-control roller skates (like Gonzo).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMuppets are best when in motion,\u201d Rizzo says. That\u2019s in part due to the delight of a well-done physical gag, but also because she finds the fantasy can lapse if the audience is allowed to look too closely at a Muppet for too long. She kept the jokes tight and the physical bits quick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe collaboration required to make that rapid comedy work brought Rizzo into conversation with Pizzini and puppet captain Bill Barretta. Barretta has been working with the Muppets since 1991. Pizzini credits him as the person she would drag over to set to troubleshoot the physical necessities of the script.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Dolly Parton Tribute Specials Set on CBS, CMT<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe production design team did countless tests to ensure different sets worked properly. Pizzini says she watched the original opening sequence so many times that she had the song stuck in her head. After seeing the setup for a stunt where Gonzo roller skates through fire and swinging blades, she recalls performer Dave Goelz hugging her, ecstatic about the complicated set they pulled off.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve always thought that these Muppet performers were just pure artists,\u201d Pizzini says. \u201cThere\u2019s a purity about what they do, and they\u2019re so passionate and excited, and they really embrace these characters, and that just spills over into the whole crew.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tGoelz is the only Muppet performer still in his original role. For him, it is a true return to the original Muppet Theatre. For Vogel, who has been the full-time Kermit performer since 2017, the special was something he had \u201cdreamed about doing for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tHenson created the Muppets in the 1950s, and he performed as Kermit until his death in 1990. He never wanted the Muppets to be a kids show like \u201cSesame Street,\u201d although many Muppet performers throughout the years have also worked on \u201cSesame Street\u201d (Henson and Vogel included).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRizzo says it was helpful to have several people familiar with an 11:30 p.m. audience in the writers\u2019 room. \u201cWe wanted to have jokes where an adult would hear it and get it, and a kid would hear it and laugh at it, but not know why they\u2019re laughing,\u201d she says. With a guest star like Carpenter, whose cheeky lyrics are key to her pop diva brand, the writers were able to embrace what Rizzo calls the \u201cinherent sweet corniness\u201d of the Muppets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe core magic of the Muppets is fiercely protected. Pizzini remembers forgetting Scooter was a puppet during her first Muppet collaboration in 2016. \u201cI love that the performers and Muppet Studios really guard the brand and take good care of them and are very loyal to the original Muppets,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the same time, each new iteration of the Muppet Show is a chance to introduce a new generation to the magic of the Muppets. \u201cYou\u2019re coming in and you\u2019re discovering these engaging characters that are really funny, that are musical, that are magical, that draw you in that same way,\u201d Vogel says. For him, part of the beauty of the Muppets is that everyone can see a bit of themselves in the characters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tVogel grew up with the original Muppet Show. He created his first puppets in elementary school out of his dad\u2019s old T-shirts and put on shows in his neighborhood. But even then, he never thought he would be a puppeteer. \u201cLet alone go like, \u2018I\u2019ll be Big Bird one day\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019ll be Kermit one day,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cI never would have had those thoughts growing up. Even as an adult, I never had those thoughts really until they happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe next Muppet Show might be one of those dreams that you don\u2019t believe can happen until it does. Disney has not greenlit a full show, though many Muppet fans are hopeful that the special can act as a kind of pilot episode. But for the performers who have worked together for years, even decades, returning to the Muppet Theatre even once was worth it. \u201cWhen we all got together for that first scene,\u201d Vogel says, \u201cit felt like coming home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Veteran Hollywood Publicist Leonard Morpurgo Dies at 93<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The humans bringing Kermit the Frog and company to life on television for the first time in 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[217],"tags":[5118,5119],"class_list":["post-6605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artisans","tag-jim-henson","tag-muppets"],"yoast_head":"\nHow the Muppets Were Brought Back to Life for the Disney Special - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6605\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How the Muppets Were Brought Back to Life for the Disney Special - 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