To hear Nancy Kanter tell the story, it was her favorite
part of working on "Sesame Street."
Being able to walk down to the stage while scenes with the Muppets were being
shot and then listening in as the younger members of that show's cast
interacted with those much-beloved characters.
"Those pieces when — whether it was Kermit or Grover
— you saw a kid interact with the Muppets, they've always been one of my
favorites because they are so genuine," Kanter recalled during a recent
phone call. "They were unscripted, so obviously you just never know what
was going to happen, what's going to come out between the Muppets and that kid.
And sometimes it was pure gold. That suspension of disbelief that kids can do
so easily when they are just sitting next to a Muppet and really believing that
that character is talking to them without any awareness of acknowledgment of
the puppeteer that is sitting 6 inches away from them. I always really loved
that aspect of childhood that only the Muppets can bring out."
But that was back in the late 1990s when Nancy
was working at the Children's Television Workshop as the executive producer of Sesame Street's TV specials and direct-to-video
productions. Now jump ahead to 2014, when Kanter is the executive vice
president of original programming and general manager of Disney Junior
Worldwide. And that arm of The Walt Disney Company's vast media empire is
casting around for ways to best make use of Kermit & Co.
To Kanter's way of thinking, the solution as to how best use
the Muppets over on Disney Junior was obvious.
"It's been a while since the Muppets themselves have
been in something that was very much directed just to kids. Mostly because
they've been making movies like 'The Muppets' and "Muppets Most Wanted,'
projects that were intended for the family audience. And here at Disney Junior,
we hadn't done anything with puppets or Muppets for a long time. So it seemed
like there was an opportunity here that was worth exploring," Nancy
recalled. "So we pitched this idea to the Muppet folks about recreating
some of those kid interaction moments in a brand-new series of shorts that then
would be made specifically for the Disney Junior audience. And they really
responded to it. The puppeteers themselves loved the idea of going back into
the studio and seeing what they could come up with."
So now it's November of 2014. And Disney has brought the Muppeteers together
with 35 – 40 preschoolers on a soundstage in Southern California.
And for four days, they shoot footage of these kids spontaneously interacting
with these characters. And the end result was Disney Junior's "Muppet
Moments." A new short-form series which premieres today on the Disney
Channel (with four new shorts bowing at 8:25 a.m., 8:55
a.m., 9:25 a.m. and 9:55 a.m. respectively) made up of completely
unscripted conversations between these characters and young kids. As they
discuss everyday topics that range from favorite food, apologies and manners.
"Mind you, when you're working with small children, you
obviously can't interview them for too long or you then get diminishing returns.
So what we'd do is bring these kids in, have them talk with Miss Piggy &
Kermit for a little while and then let them take a break. Then after a while,
we'd bring these same kids back to the stage and then have them talk with Gonzo
& Pepe," Kanter stated. "And what was fascinating to me was to
watch as some kids would spark to a particular Muppet and then have a far
breezier, easier conversation with that character than they would with another
Muppet."
"And the Muppeteers? They're incredible improv artists. So when their
conversation with that kid would sudden veer off in an interesting direction,
the Muppeteers just went with it. They could turn on a dime," Nancy
continued. "And this new series of shorts is a real testament to the
talent of those puppeteers. They have this incredible ability to engage in the
most genuine, child-like way. Which is why — when you're looking at these kids
on camera — you can see that they're looking straight at that Muppet thinking
that he or she is real."
Of course, what's great about doing anything with these particular set of characters
is that they have the ability to perform on multiple levels. So that these
Disney Junior's "Muppet Moments" are genuinely entertaining for
children 3 – 5 year-olds, there's also enough off-the-cuff humor being
thrown in to also entertain Mom & Dad should they wander through the room
while this new series of shorts are playing.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
"Honestly, I don't think that I've laughed that hard at
a shoot in ages. As a life-long fan of the Muppets, It was a genuine pleasure
to see these characters in action again," Kanter enthused.
"You know, people are claiming that children are far
more sophisticated these days. They insist that kids are getting older younger.
But then when you put them in front of a Kermit or a Fozzie Bear and you know,
a kid's a kid. When we were shooting these new 'Muppet Moments' shorts, those
kids were just totally there. Captivated and wanting to have a conversation
with these characters. That was the magic that we hoped to capture with this
project. Me personally, I'm thrilled with the way these shorts turned out and
hopefully there are more to come."
Starting today, Disney Junior will be airing "Muppet Moments" daily
now through Friday, May 8. New shorts will continue to roll out throughout 2015
and will also be available on WATCH Disney Junior.
This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on April 3, 2015