When the new Muppets movie debuts in February of next year, one very conspicuous thing will be missing: Frank Oz’s name in the credits.
The puppeteer, who worked for decades with Jim Henson and provided iconic voices to characters like Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Yoda, says he had nothing to do with “The Muppets.”
That’s not to say he wasn’t offered a part.
“I turned it down,” Oz told Metro in a recent interview. “I wasn’t happy with the script. I don’t think they respected the characters.”
The 67-year-old wunderkind then added, “But I don’t want to go on about it like a sourpuss and hurt the movie.”
Aside from the lovable puppets, “The Muppets” has pull in the form of Jason Segel and Amy Adams, as well as the promise of a more modern Muppet family.
Disney acquired the franchise back in 2004, and has been trying to find a way to make it lucrative, The Hollywood Reporter says. The last time the Muppets were on the silver screen was in 1999 with “Muppets in Space,” which was unremarkable at the box office.
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Meanwhile, Oz is pursuing another passion—theater. He says he felt “so deeply privileged” to be a part of the Jim Henson experience, but added, “When you work for 30 years on something, you wanna do something else.”
