Muppets Most Wanted

Context & Trivia

The eighth film in the franchise and the first direct sequel to a previous entry, the production marks a concrete milestone in puppet history: it is the first in which the main antagonist is a foam-and-fabric character — Constantine — rather than a human. Matt Vogel performed him using exclusively traditional puppetry techniques; in the action sequences, tap-dance routines, and gulag escape, performers wore blue suits that were removed in post through wire removal rotoscoping, with no CGI applied to the character itself. In the scene where prisoners hoist Kermit into the air, Steve Whitmire — Kermit's puppeteer at the time — was hidden in plain sight among the extras. To sustain the illusion of Muppets and human actors sharing the same physical space, all props — door handles included — were raised approximately 1.2 metres. The technical casting carries an irony only time could reveal: Matt Vogel, who performed the impostor Constantine, took over as Kermit the Frog in 2016 following Whitmire's departure from the role.