Acting for Two: Since Matt Vogel took over for Kermit, he has to pull double roles whenever he performs as Constantine. This was the case during their appearance in the 2017 Pentatonix Christmas special.
Baby Name Trend Killer: The boy's name "Kermit" had already undergone a large decline before The Muppets, but that series was the killing blow — nowadays the name is virtually unusable due to its association with the frog.
Creator's Apathy: Disney CEO Bob Iger allegedly holds this mindset towards the Muppets according to Brian Jay Jones (the writer of Jim Henson: The Biography). While he has nothing against the characters, in contrast to Disney's previous CEO — Michael Eisner, who was the one who bought the Muppets in 2004 — Iger has no real passion or interest in the Muppets, considering them to be a irrelevant leftover from Michael Eisner's reign instead of a viable brand. This is reportedly the reason why Disney under Iger's reign has sidelined the Muppets compared to their later purchases such as Marvel and Lucasfilm, and why most Muppet projects under Disney's ownership have been stuck in Development Hell.
Frank Ozhas been critical toward Disney's handling of the Muppets, stating that Disney doesn't fully understand what makes them tick and that they're approaching the Muppets from an intellectual, business-minded perspective which he feels doesn't work with a brand like the Muppets, arguing that their attempts at maintaining their relevancy and keeping them fresh have come the cost of losing their purity and soul.
Steve Whitmire (former performer of Kermit) has been incredibly outspoken and critical towards Disney's handling of The Muppets, particularly in regards to Kermit’s characterization. Unfortunately, this caused him to burn bridges with Disney and the Henson family, as his outspoken behavior on set (and other alleged misdeeds) would lead Disney to fire him with the Henson family's approval.
The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made! is the most infamous and has been there since 1985. They finally announced it in 2009, but it was set aside once again in favor of The Muppets (2011). There are apparently many reasons it hasn't been made yet, but the only one made public is that, ironically, it would be too expensive to shoot.
There was also The Muppets' Haunted House, first mentioned in 1996, mentioned again in 2001, and mentioned yet again in 2007, but ultimately was shelved in favor of The Muppets' Letters to Santa. The former's concept did eventually get used for Muppet Monster Adventure according to Kirk Thatcher in an audio interview. The idea of a Muppet Halloween film/special would eventually get realized in 2021 in the form of Muppets Haunted Mansion.
In 2006, Disney had announced that it had completed the pilot for a 10-episode TV series that was an X Meets Y of The Muppets meets The Office, which would have been a mockumentary series of how the Muppets work together to put on their shows. Like the above mentioned Haunted House special, it too was shelved shortly thereafter due to the writers' strike. However, elements of this show would later be incorporated into the 2015 series.
In fact, any new major project that was in development between Disney's purchase of the franchise in 2004 and the release of The Muppets in 2011 (sans The Muppets' Wizard of Oz and Letters to Santa) ultimately ended up in Development Hell.
In Canada, McDonald's released plushes of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and Animal in NHL hockey uniforms around the 1995 holiday season.
McDonald's released a set of ten plushies in Europe and Australia to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Muppet Show from 2002 to 2003. These consisted of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Rowlf, Beaker, the Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, and Rizzo. The toys varied depending on the region, but the UK released an entirely different set of eight plushies, leaving out Rizzo and Sam.
In Winter 1997, Long John Silver's released a set of "Winter Muppetland" figures. These consisted of Kermit on skis, Miss Piggy on a Snow Dish, Fozzie on an ice block, and Gonzo rolled up into a snowman.
In 2003, Jack in the Box released a set of figures called "The Muppets Take Hollywood". Available were figures of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, The Swedish Chef, and Pepe the King Prawn.
Outlived Its Creator: The Muppets are still going strong even after Henson and many of the other people involved with them have died.
Schedule Slip: Following Steve Whitmire's termination from the Muppets and Matt Vogel taking over the role of Kermit, it was said that Matt’s first public performance as the character would be in a Muppet Thought of the Week video said to be released sometime during the week of July 17th, 2017. However, the video ended up being delayed until August 28th for reasons unknown (though the various news articles released the week of July 17th providing more details regarding why Steve was fired from the Muppets might've had something to do with it).
Perhaps one of the most ambitious and infamous scrapped Muppet projects to date is The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made!, which was originally developed by Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl and Frank Oz back in 1985 and would've been the fourth Henson-made Muppet movie after The Muppets Take Manhattan. The premise would be that it would be a "terrible" film directed by Gonzo (who would take over directing duties from Kermit) that would start off strong, but would gradually deteriorate into a cheap and low-quality mess thanks to Gonzo having blown off the film's budget on the opening titles. Unfortunately, the film would be put into Development Hell, ironically because it was too expensive to shoot and would get cancelled when Jim Henson passed away. Disney did consider reviving the film at one point and would even announce the film at the 2009 D23 Expo. However, it was scrapped again in favor of The Muppets (2011).
Disney had originally planned to buy not only The Muppets, but the Jim Henson Company as a whole back in the late '80s and early '90s. However, disputes over the rights to the Sesame Street Muppetsnote Michael Eisner wanted to obtain the rights to the Sesame Street characters, but Jim Henson wanted the rights to be given to the Children's Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) to ensure that they would stay true to their non-profit roots and the sudden death of Jim Henson in 1990 would lead to a public falling out between Disney and the Henson family and for the deal to get scrapped. The deal falling apart would lead to several planned Muppet projects by Disney (most notably a Muppet Studios area at Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney MGM-Studios) and a year-long Muppet takeover of Disneyland Park) getting scrapped as a result. Disney would eventually buy the Muppets (and Bear in the Big Blue House) in 2004, but they would not buy the Jim Henson Company (which remains independent to this day) nor would they get the rights to the Sesame Street characters (who are now owned by Sesame Workshop).
There was going to be an Atari game titled Miss Piggy's Wedding.
A press release from 2001 mentions a couple of film projects that never got off the ground, Such as the aforementioned Muppets Haunted House, as well as a Muppet time travel movie called Muppet Time Travel, however, neither one went anywhere for unknown reasons. Though the Muppets Haunted House concept would eventually be realized years later in the form of Muppets Haunted Mansion.
The aforementioned press release also mentioned plans for a new TV show called The Muppets Present, which would have been on FOX and aimed towards an older audience, complete with edgier jokes and swearing, with one separate press release mentioning the show to be "fabulous, edgy and audacious." Much like the above two films though, plans ultimately fell through, with the only other stuff being out in the public being the first draft of the pitch and a image of the pitch.
Another scrapped Muppet series was Muppets Live Another Day, which would have centered around Kermit and the other Muppets reuniting immediately after the events of The Muppets Take Manhattan to search for Rowlf, who had mysteriously disappeared. The series was intended to be a Disney+ original mini-series and would have been developed by Josh Gad and Once Upon a Time co-creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis. However, creative differences between them and the executives of The Muppets Studio led to the series getting scrapped and replaced by Muppets Now.
Miscellaneous Trivia:
The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show marked the final time that performance artist Andy Kaufman appeared in character as his Lounge Lizard stage persona, Tony Clifton. Unlike prior appearances, Clifton's crassness is considerably toned down, with the comedy instead coming from him and Miss Piggy being kindred spirits.
holds this mindset towards the Muppets according to Brian Jay Jones (the writer of Jim Henson: The Biography). While he has nothing against the characters, in contrast to Disney's previous CEO — Michael Eisner, who was the one who bought the Muppets in 2004 — Iger has no real passion or interest in the Muppets, considering them to be a irrelevant leftover from Michael Eisner's reign instead of a viable brand. This is reportedly the reason why Disney under Iger's reign has sidelined the Muppets compared to their later purchases such as Marvel and Lucasfilm, and why most Muppet projects under Disney's ownership have been stuck in Development Hell.
