PLUME: And finally, Bowfinger…

OZ: Bowfinger was watching the brilliance of Eddie Murphy work. He’s a brilliant performer and it’s wonderful to see him work. Again, it’s the people I work with… my crew, always… the producer, First DP, camera operator, and my actors. And of course, to get to work with Steve (Martin) again. It kind of goes without saying.

That’s why, in part, I did the movie – and also because of Brian Grazer and the people at Imagine. The more work I do, the more important it is to work with people I like who are very talented. So I remember the actors and the fun we had… I had a lot of fun with the actors in that one, and the crew.

The actors and crew got along great. I have great memories of working with all those actors and crew. And Steve, without saying, is a unique individual. He’s a gifted and brilliant performer and writer.

PLUME: He’s almost like the stock Frank Oz player…

OZ: Or I’m the stock director for Steve. We’re friends and I think we respect each other’s work.

PLUME: I think that shows through in the final product as well…

OZ: Well, I hope so. He never stops working and I guess I’m the same way. It’s all about the people and the company that hires you and those people, the actors and talent… That’s my reaction probably to every movie.

PLUME: And does that atmosphere on the set play through in the final product?

OZ: I guess it does, but on the other hand, you’ll see movies like Casablanca which was hell, supposedly, and it turned out great.

PLUME: But “Casablanca” wasn’t a comedy…

OZ: That’s true, but there was tension on the set during What About Bob? And it came out fine. It’s an odd thing because, on the one hand, you’d like to say that if the atmosphere is good, that’ll help, but on the other hand, if you go to the original Bedtime Story with David Niven and Marlon Brando you’ll see it didn’t make any money and it was a failed attempt in certain ways, but I understand they had a ball on the set.

PLUME: Do you think it’s the difference between an animosity and a creative friction on the set?

OZ: If it’s animosity, I run for the f***in’ hills. But if the extraordinary tension is because people want to make the movie better and have their own strong viewpoints, I have time for that.

PLUME: During this time, it seemed like you were, to a certain extent, distancing yourself from the Muppets. Was it merely just a time consideration, or an active plan?

OZ: It was both. It was a time consideration and it was also planned, because the more I did the Muppets, I thought the less credible I’d be as a director in the beginning. Now I think I’ve reached a point with the Muppets where I’m there as much as possible.

The real reason that it was planned was because the Muppets are so iconic and so strong. I’ve made a policy over the last 15 years of not having any picture with my characters and I, at all, in the same shot. That is because, as a director, I can walk on a film and work 18 hours a day for a year – work my ass off – and people will see it and say, “Ah yeah, that was nice. That was a good film.” They see one picture of me and one of my characters and they’ll go apeshit. They’ll freak out and say, “You do that character!”

The power of the Muppets, and the popularity of these characters, is so iconic in people’s lives, that I had to distance myself from publicly. Not privately… Privately, hell, I’m with them for life and I love these people. They’re my second family. But publicly I have to distance myself from it so I can gain a little bit of credibility as a director and not have the power of those characters overwhelm who I am.

At the same time, there’s tremendous love for the people there and the characters. You can’t do those characters without loving them. I think I’ve gotten to the point where I still don’t allow pictures, but now I’m developing the next Muppet movie which I’ll direct, I hope, so I’m with them for life.

PLUME: How big a blow was Jim’s passing to you?

OZ: You just can’t express it in words. I’d known him since I was 17. It was a mortal blow to a part of me, and always will be.

PLUME: Everyone always describes the bond that you and Jim has as performers and friends…

OZ: That’s very precious and that’s very nice. I think we had a yin and yang feeling. He and I were so extraordinarily different in many ways that I think we kind of filled each other’s empty holes in certain aspects. I am in no means closer than his wife and children, but on a professional level and as friends, I guess our relationship was special.

PLUME: Was it hard to continue on with the company after Jim?

OZ: Yeah, but I think it was harder for Jim’s kids and his wife. I think it was hardest for them, not in a professional way like “How are we going to get this company growing as much?”

We lost somebody we loved. We lost somebody we loved dearly. It was very difficult. Then after that, it was how can we continue on with the company and make it grow. It was difficult, but people stepped up to the plate, and Brian Henson was one of them… David Lazer and Charlie Rifkin and the family. It was a difficult time.

PLUME: How would you characterize the company after Jim? Do you think it’s fully stabilized yet?

OZ: It’s stabilized, certainly. I think there’s a breadth to it that wasn’t there before, and I think it’s financially more secure. The difference is that there’s not that one leader that began the company, it’s now his son, and his son is doing a magnificent job. But it has to be slightly different.

Jim was a magnificent innovator and performer, but Brian has other strengths. He’s a great performer also and into technology just like his father, but it’s more of a bigger corporation than a smaller company, and I think in today’s world you have to be more of a corporation to survive than a smaller mom & pop company, like it was.

I think that’s the main difference. The spirit is till there, maybe because almost all the key people who are there were people that Jim hired. They’re still there.

PLUME: The Muppet Franchise seems to be struggling, and seems to have lost a certain spark. Do you agree with that assessment?

OZ: I think in certain areas that it’s struggling. In the last movie it was struggling – I don’t think the last movie was up to what it should have been. I think Muppets From Space was not the movie that we wanted it to be. I think we’ve lost our way a little bit in certain areas, but in other areas, like the Creature Shop, we’re doing fantastic work, and so is Sesame Street.

PLUME: Is it just a matter of reestablishing the Muppets as a viable franchise?

OZ: It’s not that corporate, it’s more a spark. That’s why I want to do the next Muppet movie, because I’m excited about a particular idea, and the idea is something that Jim and Jerry Juhl and I thought of 15 years ago. So that still excites me. I think the crux of it has been – and I think it’s getting much better now – is that the key people don’t have the time to do everything.

The key people did everything before: Jim and me and Richard Hunt and Jerry Juhl and Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire and Kevin Clash and so on, but we now have a brilliant new group of performers like Bill Barretta, who’s an amazing performer.

But all the performers can’t do everything, we have a lot of productions, and I think we realized that we’ve really got to put our key people into the most important stuff and then have them teach the other people so it can be spread around a little bit more. I think it’s been lacking in some areas, but in other areas, I think it’s pretty f***ing exciting!

(continued below…)

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