The Muppet gang reunites to save their old theater in The Muppets, the first Muppets movie in a dozen years. Jason Segel, a lifelong fan of all things Muppets, co-wrote and stars in this high-energy revival of the franchise which all involved hope will be just the first of many new Muppet adventures. Joining Segel, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, and the rest of the Muppet crew for this spirited PG-rated film is Amy Adams whose last Disney movie (Enchanted) also involved singing and dancing.
Together for the press conference to promote the November 23, 2011 release of The Muppets, Segel, Adams, Kermie, Miss Piggy, and the new Muppet, Walter, chatted about working together on this return of the Muppets to the big screen.
Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Walter, Jason Segel, and Amy Adams The Muppets Press Conference
Your photo spread in In Style was great. Will you be doing more of those? And how did you enjoy your couture wardrobe in this film?
Miss Piggy: "I just want to say I am sorry about that spread in In Style. I’m sorry to all the ladies who have lost their homes, their husbands, to Moi. People just instantly fall in love with Moi when they see me in that spread, and I just want to apologize."
"The couture that I wore in the movie, I loved it all. I had a wonderful Zac Posen dress that I wore at the end. I’m a pig. I had just a wonderful wardrobe.
Kermit the Frog: "I just wanted to say what a wonderful answer that was and thank you."
Amy, is this your first time returning to singing and dancing following Enchanted? And if so, how did this come about? And to do this song that you and Miss Piggy sang, you don’t get to do it as a duet the way Jason does with his song - you’re on a split screen. Is this because of someone’s diva demands? Finally, Miss Piggy, you were on The Tonight Show with Mickey Rourke who seemed to be very friendly with the front of your dress. Do you have any comments?
Kermit the Frog: "Yeah, he was a little friendly I understand - although I didn’t see it."
Amy Adams: (to Miss Piggy) "I always defer to her."
Miss Piggy: "Yes."
Amy Adams: "You first."
Miss Piggy: "Well, you have to understand the song is called 'Me Party.' You don’t make a duet out of that. It is also true that I didn’t do any of the movie with any of these fine actors here. I did all my stuff separately, and I was keyed in with them."
Amy Adams: "In answer to the first part of your question, yes, it’s my first return. (to Miss Piggy) Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. It is my return to singing and dancing, and it was a lot of fun. I got involved because Jason and Kermit sent me a DVD singing to me; they asked me to do the song and I started crying. I think I knew I’d won the deal. I was definitely doing it."
Kermit the Frog: "Of course, the tears were different by the end of the film."
Miss Piggy, how does it feel to be back together with Kermie? What is your relationship status?
Kermit the Frog: "Can I answer that? ...Maybe I can comment on that after she’s done."
Miss Piggy: "You don’t know what I’m going to say."
Kermit the Frog: "I know but…"
Miss Piggy: "I was going to say how happy I am to be here and to see Kermie today. I haven’t seen you in such a long time. We’ve been so busy on the road promoting this movie and I just want to say how much I love him."
Kermit the Frog: "Yeah."
Miss Piggy: "That’s what I was going to say. Were you worried about that?"
Kermit the Frog: "I have my own little comments. I just want to say that I’m thrilled always to perform with Miss Piggy. I think we make a great duo. It’s wonderful to be together here today and pretty much anytime we’re together. And that’s all I’m going to say."
So you guys aren’t planning on getting back together?
Kermit the Frog: "We are together."
Miss Piggy: "We are. You can’t get back together if you’re already together."
Kermit the Frog: "No, you can’t. Well, we have to separate and come back together ,but it’s too hard to get out of the room."
As a former newsman yourself and reporter for Sesame Street News, what are your feelings about the press tour that you’re on right now? How does it feel to be on the other side?
Kermit the Frog: "Well that’s unusual. It’s unusual for me to be on a stage answering questions from such a distinguished bunch. It’s fun. Right? We’ve got this great rock star room upstairs with a view and lots of cookies."
Walter: "I can’t wait until after the press conference so we can trash it."
Kermit the Frog: "Yeah."
Jason, can you talk about growing up with the Muppets and whether you were friends with them as a child? Also, will you be taking Kermit to London?
Jason Segel: "London? Sure."
Kermit the Frog: "I still have my passport and I have my British drivers license."
Jason Segel: "I grew up with the Muppets. When you’re a kid, Muppets are the entry way into comedy. They lead into harder comedy, like my icon on Saturday Night Live. Muppets defined who I wanted to be as a comedian when I was a kid."
Kermit the Frog: "Wow!"
Jason Segel: "Well, I’ve told Kermit he really was my idol. Kermit’s like the original Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart or something."
Kermit the Frog: "Just shorter and greener."
Jason Segel: "Yeah, exactly. So I sort of modeled my career after Kermit and the rest of the Muppets."
Kermit the Frog: "That’s very sweet. I’ve heard you say that. It’s a very nice for you to say."
Jason Segel: "I know."
Kermit the Frog: "It’s a little scary, but it’s pretty nice."
Will there be a sequel to this?
Jason Segel: "I’m superstitious about talking about a sequel until this one comes out, but I don’t know right now. I mean, the goal was to set the stage for the Muppets to take the torch and do a million more movies and TV shows, so hopefully we’ve accomplished that."
Kermit the Frog: "And we have to be very careful when we get the torch."
Jason Segel: "That’s right."
Jason and Amy, what was it like doing the big finale on Hollywood Blvd?
Jason Segel: "Well, the dance number came very naturally. You can see by my body. I’m made for dancing. I’m very alive and agile, and I was happy to be able to help Amy sort of get her footing."
Amy Adams: "I really love Jason. We actually learned that dance in about an hour on the same day that we shot it. I’m telling you, Jason is actually much more talented than he gives himself credit for. He’s actually a very, very good dancer. And as a partner, he was quite a natural, I have to say."
Jason Segel: "You were afraid I was going to drop you."
Amy Adams: "He only dropped a couple reps. He didn’t drop me, but he did lift my skirt up by accident once."
Jason Segel: "It was an accident!"
Amy Adams: "That was embarrassing. It was a lot of fun."
Jason Segel: "That was actually a special night for me, too. We filmed that the night of my birthday and Hollywood Blvd was filled with thousands of extras. I walked out and all of the Muppets sang me 'Happy Birthday,' which was like the greatest moment in my life. It was fantastic."
Walter, how did you find your talent for whistling?
Walter: "The whistling thing? In addition to The Muppets, I loved the old Andy Griffith Show. I always tried to whistle that catchy theme, and a lot of times I’ve been mistaken for a tea kettle when I was first learning."
Kermit the Frog: "I’ve been mistaken for a muffin myself."
Walter: "Actually, the worst thing that happened growing up is someone mistook me for a pinata."
Kermit the Frog: "Oh my goodness!"
Miss Piggy: "Did that knock the snot out of you?"
Walter: "Actually, it was just after Halloween and I had just a bad cold, so yes."
Jason Segel: "That’s disgusting!"
Walter, how does it feel to be so embraced and welcomed by the Muppets?
Walter: "Well how else could it feel? It’s unbelievable. I keep pinching myself. I have bruises to prove it. This sort of thing doesn’t happen every day, certainly not to me. It’s just been overwhelming and a real dream come true."
Kermit the Frog: "We’re a pretty easy bunch to come into, you know. We’re pretty accessible."
Miss Piggy: "Really?"
Kermit the Frog: "Relatively."
Walter, what was it like working with just the Muppets in general and being on stage in The Muppet Show? And for Kermit…
Kermit the Frog: "Kermie. I’m standing naked in front of you so you can call me what you like, figuratively and literally."
Since the fundraiser is done, are you inspired to do more of The Muppets Show in the future?
Kermit the Frog: "You go first."
Walter: "I guess you’re asking about The Muppet Show in the movie? Oh my gosh, what an experience that was. They recreated the whole Muppet theater. It was kind of mind-blowing, really. It brought tears to my eyes, walking in the first day and seeing the set. It was just remarkable."
Jason Segel: "And I believe that 'Muppet Show Theme Song' was the first time it had been recorded in 30 years."
Kermit the Frog: "Probably, something like that, yeah."
Jason Segel: "It was really inspiring for all of us. I think everyone got choked up."
Kermit the Frog: " Some of it was because of the quality of that set had me choking up."
Jason Segel: "Yes."
Kermit the Frog: "We had a wonderful time, and we should probably put that question to all of you if you think it’s a reasonable time for something like The Muppet Show to come back. [loud applause from all the journalists] That would be fun after all these years. I hope that happens. We really do put up red curtains in our little theater. That all depends on what you write about the movie."
Walter: "So be kind."
Kermit the Frog: "Be nice! Yes!"
For Jason and Miss Piggy, as a writer how did you conceptualize the storyline? What was your inspiration? And when you got to Miss Piggy’s part, how difficult was it to carry through or was she the editor of her part? How often did you have to send rewrites to her?
Jason Segel: "I’ll start with the first part of the question because the second part is very delicate, frankly. I tend to get into trouble when I answer this question. The idea of the movie was actually fairly simple. What do the Muppets do best? They put on a show. So I knew ultimately the movie was going to be about putting on a show. That’s the real spirit of the Muppets. They always had a great villain so we thought of Tex Richman, the evil oil baron. And then once Chris Cooper came into our minds, it was very simple. And then what occurred to me was that it’s been 12 years since the Muppets were last on the big screen and I wanted to acknowledge that this movie was bringing them back to the forefront of comedy where they belong, because they should have been making movies this whole time – grand, big dance movies with song and dance numbers like the old MGM style musicals. It was about getting the Muppets back together sort of as a metaphor of getting back onto a big screen where they belonged."
"As for Piggy’s part, she wanted it bigger. I’m not going to lie to you. And she wanted a very strange credit sequence where we would all be introduced and then it would say 'And Miss Piggy,' but then that would just stay on throughout the entire movie.
Miss Piggy: "Exactly! I saw nothing wrong with that. And you know what? I did not demand any rewrites though. I want to go on record about that. But that’s probably just because I didn’t really read the script."
Jason Segel: "She just says what she wants."
Miss Piggy: "I just show up on the set and people say their lines and then I say whatever comes into my head."
Kermit the Frog: "So the rewrites were basically around Miss Piggy’s improvisation."
Jason Segel: "Yeah."
Miss Piggy, after the long days on set, what do you do to maintain your flawless appearance and what sort of beauty tips can you share? And then, for Kermit, after all this time, has it gotten any easier being green?
Kermit the Frog: "Well I’ll definitely let Miss Piggy answer first, and your answer may have some bearing on that."
Miss Piggy: "I’ve never really had a problem with aging. It’s not that I have wrinkles. The truth is that stuff they inject into your face and your lips…"
Kermit the Frog: "It’s called Botox."
Miss Piggy: "No, not that stuff."
Kermit the Frog: "Not that?"
Miss Piggy: "Restylane. That stuff comes from my people. They get that from pigs."
Kermit the Frog: "You might like to try nitrates and nitrites, too. For me, you’ll get that on the way home."
Jason Segel: "That’s a ham joke."
Kermit the Frog: "When I first sang that song about being green years ago, it was about being comfortable in your own skin, and I think it might have helped that a little bit. I think we’re all more comfortable there. Now it’s sort of the battle cry of the environmental movement, which is fine because I’m quite low on the food chain and I’m very close to that environment we’re trying to take care of. That’s getting a little easier, too. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next."
Walter: "Oh, you mean about people being green?"
Kermit the Frog: "Yep."
Walter: "You were green before it was hip."
Kermit the Frog: "I was."
Walter: "You were hop before it was hip hop."
Kermit the Frog: "That’s right. There’s a little more hop in the hip, I believe."
Miss Piggy, it’s been many years since we’ve seen you and the years have been kind. We don’t want to imply that you’ve had some work done, so perhaps you could quash any rumors that are out there. And for Jason, can you talk about Gary and Mary - who are not married - going on a vacation together and staying in the same motel room in a Disney film?
Walter: "Separate beds."
Amy Adams: "Walter was our chaperone. Walter always makes sure nothing is going to happen."
Walter: "That’s right."
Is this breaking new ground for a Disney film?
Kermit the Frog: "Wow, I like that question much better than your first one."
Miss Piggy: "With Kermit, you see, he doesn’t have any hair so it can’t really turn grey."
Kermit the Frog: "If I turn grey all over, that’s a whole different story."
Miss Piggy: "You’d probably be in some classroom somewhere."
Kermit the Frog: "You can avoid the question, but I think you should answer the question about whether or not you’ve had any so-called work done."
Miss Piggy: "Moi is perfect...perfect in every way."
Kermit the Frog: "That’s not answering the question."
Miss Piggy: "Let’s just say I’ve gotten a little more perfect over the years."
Jason, of the older Muppet films, do you have a particular favorite or one that maybe inspired you more than others for the themes for this particular film?
Jason Segel: "Sure. Well, the first three are the ones that I grew up on. And I think there’s something about them that’s lodged in my brain and a sense of humor somewhere. The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, and they each influenced it a little bit. I kind of borrowed one of my favorite jokes from The Great Muppet Caper, in terms of Walter and I are brothers and we don’t really feel the need to explain it. Just like we never explained that Kermit and Fozzie Bear are identical twins. When I was growing up, I thought that was one of the funniest jokes I’d ever heard. And then you have the idea in Manhattan Melodies that they’re putting on a show in The Muppets Take Manhattan. That was part of the putting on a show element. The meeting the gang along the way came very much from the original Muppet movie. So it really is sort of a mix and paying homage to those three films."
For all of you, what are your plans for this holiday season?
Kermit the Frog: "Oh wow, what are you going to do, Walter?"
Walter: "Well I’m going to go out to the movie theater and watch The Muppets."
Kermit the Frog: "Is that all you’re going to do the whole time?"
Walter: "That’s exactly what I’m going to do the whole time."
Kermit the Frog: "So you’re just going to watch and then go out and buy another ticket and go back in?"
Walter: "You got that right, sir. I can’t wait. Jason is coming with me."
Jason Segel: "That’s right. One of the good things about the Thanksgiving release is it’s a great place to go with your entire family where you don’t have to speak to each other. That’s what I love the most about the Thanksgiving movies."
Kermit the Frog: "I always go back to the swamp."
Miss Piggy: "What? You go back to the swamp?"
Kermit the Frog: "Sure."
Miss Piggy: "Well then who’s that that they fill with helium and send down the avenue in New York on Thanksgiving?"
Kermit the Frog: "Well that’s a bigger rubber version of me."
Miss Piggy: "Oh!"
Kermit the Frog: "I don’t think we should go any further with the bigger rubber version of me. We’re not allowing Amy to talk. What are you doing this holiday?"
Amy Adams: "That’s all right."
Kermit the Frog: "You have a beautiful child."
Amy Adams: "I do. I’m going to be spending it at home with her. You guys are welcome to come over. I’m sure she’d love to see you again."
Miss Piggy: "Oh that’s a wonderful idea. Having children, a wonderful idea."
What is Miss Piggy doing for the holidays?
Kermit the Frog: "What are your plans?"
Amy Adams: "Well, she’s coming over to my house."
Kermit the Frog: "Why don’t we get together?"
Miss Piggy: "Well I would, dear, but I have to work."
Kermit the Frog: "You’re working during the holidays?"
Miss Piggy: "I have to keep promoting this film. I’m going to be on a plane. Plane food!"
Miss Piggy, do you feel living in Paris has refined you? And for Jason, being such a huge fan and we’ve heard how emotional it was for you making this movie, now that the release is getting closer, what are the emotions now? Are you as nervous for people to see this as you were for people to see all of you in Forgetting Sarah Marshall?
Jason Segel: "For sure."
Kermit the Frog: "Inspired by me."
Jason Segel: "Yes. I’d like to say Kermit is the inspiration for the opening scene of Sarah Marshall. I’ve never seen him in pants."
Kermit the Frog: "Full frontal naked."
Jason Segel: "That’s right."
Miss Piggy: "I would have loved to have lived in Paris for a while while shooting this movie, but unfortunately we shot everything on a Hollywood backlot except for the car shots. I think they actually took a car to Paris, but they did not take Moi."
Jason Segel: "That was one of my tricks when I wrote Sarah Marshall. I made it take place in Hawaii. When I wrote the Paris scenes, I thought, 'Free trip to Paris,' but then they said, 'No, we have Paris right here on the backlot. We’re good.' So it was a bummer."
"But, yeah, I’m not so nervous about the movie coming out because everyone who’s seen it seems to love it. I think what I’m more excited about is this thing that’s born in your brain five years ago and it stays in your brain for a while and then it slowly moves to an editing room, and you’re stuck there with five or six people watching it and finally it’s going to get sort of born and everyone’s going to get to see it and enjoy it. I’m just so proud of it. It’s the thing I’ve done in my career that I’m most proud of, without a doubt."
Walter: "It’s nice that it worked out that way."
Jason Segel: "Yeah, no kidding."
Walter: "Things that stick in your brain, either they become movies or they become tumors."
Jason Segel: "This one worked out all right."
For the whole panel, can you talk about getting a chance to revisit some of those great old songs like "Rainbow Connection" and "Mah Na Mah Na"?
Kermit the Frog: "I never stopped singing that song in the last 12 weeks."
Miss Piggy: "And you sing it so well."
Kermit the Frog: "Well, thank you. It’s wonderful to have the chance to reintroduce that particular song to our new younger audiences. I think it’s so heartfelt."
Walter: "I think Mah Na Mah Na is as relevant today as it was back then. It’s got really inspirational lyrics."
Jason Segel: "One of the important things about the movie and the witches brew that we had to try to balance was we wanted a fair amount of nostalgia for our generation that grew up with the Muppets, but we also have to acknowledge that there is a generation of kids who were just being introduced to the Muppets. And so, if it had just been a nostalgia fest, it really wouldn’t have meant anything to kids who didn’t experience it the first go-around. We have a really healthy mix of old songs and then new songs written by Bret McKenzie that are, in my opinion, just right in the spirit of the Muppets. He really found the wheelhouse. In my opinion, Flight of the Conchords is very Muppety on its own. It’s about two wide-eyed innocents making their way through tough New York who were never mean to anyone, and it’s very much how I feel about the Muppets. It was a really good union of styles."
You had some great cameos. Was there anyone who couldn’t participate in the movie because of scheduling conflicts? And what was Chris Cooper’s reaction when you said he was going to rap?
Jason Segel: "I will say this: When Chris Cooper started rapping and dancing, I privately thought to myself, 'Wow, I’ve really tricked everyone.' You know what I mean? It was just, first of all, I’m working with the Muppets and I get to make a new Muppet movie, and I’ve got an Academy Award-winning villain rapping and dancing. It just seemed like this is the craziest thing that has ever happened."
Kermit the Frog: "I think Chris is kind of a Method actor on set. He just scared the bejesus out of me. He never quite broke character between takes so..."
Miss Piggy: "He’s not evil or mean, but he is scary in real life."
Walter: "Yes."
For the Muppets, were any of the supporting Muppets trying to take the spotlight when you were shooting?
Kermit the Frog: "Always. We encourage that."
Walter: "Ever since The Muppet Show it’s always been about us trying to upstage each other. I think we encourage that."
Kermit the Frog: "Yeah."
Jason Segel: "One of the fun things about the Muppets I find, just as a fan, is that it feels like this controlled chaos that could bubble over at any minute. And that’s the fun part of it. Crazy Harry is blowing things up all the time."
Walter: "Didn’t Crazy Harry actually try to steal the spotlight? I mean like literally?"
Jason Segel: "Literally. Yes, he did."
Miss Piggy: "It was missing the last day."
Kermit the Frog: "Yup."
Walter: "That explains it."
Miss Piggy, you and Kermie have been together for a while now. What advice do you have for finding and keeping a good guy?
Miss Piggy: "Well, implanting one of those GPS chips in his skin. That’s a really good way of keeping track of him."
Kermit the Frog: "In a place that the guy can’t find or reach."
Kermit and Miss Piggy, how does working on this film differ from working on the television shows and the other movies? And for Walter, Jason and Amy, what did you take away from this experience that was different from the other movies that you’ve worked on?
Kermit the Frog: "Different? Well, it’s a new year. There was new food. It was wonderful. One of the great things about the work we’ve done over the years is that we get to work with wonderful celebrities, and this time we had Jason and Amy and Chris and all those folks. I always cherish those experiences. That’s what movies are for. That’s the stuff we look back on as we move forward. Walter is with us now. I hope our friends like what we have out there."
Walter: "For me, it was actually my first experience. I’m hoping the first of many more. I was just really amazed by the professionalism and just how incredibly crafted this whole…I mean, just speaking of the film as a piece of art. It’s just so deliberate and crafted and gone over with a fine tooth comb. I think that speaks to the professionalism of everybody that worked on it, and Jason and Amy."
Kermit the Frog: "Save it for the Academy."
Walter: "I just got played off."
Amy Adams: (to Miss Piggy) "Can I go first?"
Miss Piggy: "Go!"
Amy Adams: "For me, it was my first family film that I did after having a daughter and it was really, really cool to work with the Muppets. They were a big part of my childhood. So every day was sort of me reliving my childhood while I had a child now. That was really cool and really special. It’s going to be fun to introduce her to these guys and to know that I had a relationship with them. I’m just excited. I’m excited that she has a film that she can watch as well."
Kermit the Frog: "We were singing songs from The Rocky Horror Picture Show between takes and it was wonderful."
Amy Adams: "I had a blast with these guys. They’re amazing."
Miss Piggy: "I can’t wait for the next movie to have the same experience as Amy. (to Kermit) What do you think?"
Kermit the Frog: "I think that’s wonderful. Yeah. We’ll work on it."
Jason Segel: "For me, it was like, you know, there’s a lot of reasons to choose what movie you’re going to do next and nothing can ever be like doing something you love. That was the lesson I took away from it. I was working with my childhood idols and with I think the best actress of our generation and…"
Miss Piggy: "Thank you!"
Jason Segel: "...Amy is amazing. She really is. Every day was a joy. That’s what I took away from it."
Walter: "We hope you guys like it. We really do. That means a lot to us."
