Today I started off a discussion topic on my "We love Scooter the 'gofer'" group. Thought I'd post it here too as a good Journal entry. Think of me what you will heh.
Scooter's treatment and importance on The Muppets -
I'm gonna sound a little biased here I know. I have a lot of favourite muppet characters but if I had to pick a No. 1 favourite, it would be Scooter. He's just always stuck out to me for some reason. When I was a kid, he always struck me as an elusive character in some way. There weren't a lot of Muppet stuff I watched as a kid. I constantly watched 'Muppet Babies' and caught 'Christmas Carol' and got 'Muppet Treasure Island' on video as a Christmas present one year and I watched 'Muppets Tonight' when it was on in the UK. But I remember one time, finding a VHS tape with various shows and movies taped on it, one of them was 'The Muppets take Manhattan' and I was really shocked and surprised to suddenly see a grown-up version of Scooter on there when I watched it for the first time. I remember wondering why Scooter wasn't seen in every other Muppet production I had seen.
Last year when I found myself revisiting my muppet memories and becoming a fan, Scooter pretty much became my favourite character and when I learned more about the behind the scenes aspect of The Muppets and their performers, Richard Hunt became my favourite.
After watching all the movies and as much TMS episodes as I can and the productions that came after Jim and Richard's deaths, it made me a little sad to see how Scooter's been treated over the years even a little bit before Richard passed away. In 'The Muppet Movie' he was The Electric Mayhem's Road Manager and didn't join Kermit & Fozzie on their road trip to Hollywood. I think there's an argument to be made that he would have really. Granted, he showed up with the rest of the band later on but I think he would have earlier. As a Richard Hunt fan too, there was a point in the movie that bothered me a little. In the car just before it breaks down in the desert, the main gang so far consists of Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf and Camillia the Chicken - basically characters by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz but not one Richard Hunt character there. Like I said earlier, I may sound a little biased but I can't help it if I'm a fan.
Out of the original trilogy of Muppet movies, there's a big part of me that actually prefers 'The Muppets take Manhattan' just cos I felt more of a family sense with the gang in that one, them being all together and I really liked the main group being Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Scooter, Gonzo & Rowlf. Scooter even showed his leadership qualities in the movie with the rest of the gang when Kermit's not there to lead them. Don't get me wrong, I love all three of those movies, they each have their own strengths and weaknesses IMO.
Scooter's absense after Richard's death was understandable although there's part of me that wonders why he was the only core character of the original group to not even make a background silent appearance. I could understand if the case was that everyone there felt it was hard to see the go-fer since he embodied more of Richard's soul than any other character, as I understand it. I would think there's a definite possibility that was the case on 'Christmas Carol' at least.
I went to a local store recently and in the clothing section I saw a pair of pajamas with Animal on the shirt. The pajamas are hung on this little plastic board with a Muppets logo and signatures from various characters such as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Rizzo, Pepe, Sam, Bunsen, Beaker, Dr. Teeth, Floyd, Zoot, Janice, Animal, Swedish Chef, even Camilla the Chicken and I think Johnny Fiama also. All those characters and I was sad and disheartened to not see Scooter's signature in there at all. It doesn't stop there either. The Muppets Studio logo has characters like Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo,Animal, Statler & Waldorf, Rowlf, Swedish Chef, Bunsen & Beaker and Camilla. It looks like they're showing the original core group too since Rizzo and Pepe aren't there. That's great but where's Scooter? He was just as much a part of the core group as Swedish Chef, Camilla and Bunsen and Beaker. Another thing I noticed from the Muppet Studios Twitter is their main pic which is really a lovely photo of the group (
a1.twimg.com/profile_backgroun…). It has the usual gang and the Mahna Mahna guy & a Snowth but yet again, no Scooter? C'mon.
I think he's just as much a part of the core group and I think he derserves a little better. I'm hoping now that it seems David Rudman will be permantly performing the character, Scooter can make more of a comeback. It does look like it might be starting to look that way considering his recent appearances - I was so surprised and happy to see him on 'Late Night with Jimmy Falllon' performing '12 Days of Christmas' with the others and thankful that they didn't replace him with someone else on his 'six geese a-laying' part.
Well, that's my nerdy rant over heh.