The Muppets are going to Broadway, but not in any way that should excite longtime fans.
Disney has finally answered the question everyone was asking since they closed the door on MuppetVision 3D: “What’s next for the Muppets?” The answer, apparently, is licensing them out to a magician for a Broadway magic show.
An advertisement for Rob Lake Magic With Special Guests The Muppets on Broadway – Rob Lake
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That’s right — this fall, illusionist Rob Lake will headline Rob Lake MAGIC at the Broadhurst Theatre with “special guests” the Muppets. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the rest of Jim Henson’s beloved creations will be reduced to novelty sidekicks in an act that highlights, more than anything else, just how little Disney understands the treasure they bought two decades ago.
From Hollywood to Broadway Rentals
This isn’t a new golden age for the Muppets. It’s a clear sign Disney has no idea what to do with them. After closing the final Henson-backed project still running in the parks — MuppetVision 3D at Walt Disney World — Disney is now packaging the Muppets out like brand mascots.
Kermit the Frog in The Muppets (2011) – YouTube, Muppet Songs
Once they were innovators in film, puppetry, and television comedy. Now, they’re being rented out for a Broadway magic sideshow.
It’s licensing by desperation, not inspiration.
Fewer Familiar Faces
The video announcing the Broadway production featuring the Muppets already rubbed fans the wrong way for one particular reason. Kermit is voiced — or, more accurately, poorly imitated — by Matt Vogel. Vogel’s voice has never managed to capture the magic of Jim Henson’s creation, and audiences hear it immediately.
Why Vogel? Because Disney fired Steve Whitmire, Henson’s hand-picked successor, in 2017 after decades of service. Whitmire’s offense? Refusing to “play ball” with Disney’s corporate approach to the Muppets. He wanted to honor the characters as Henson intended, and that didn’t fit the mouse’s vision.
Frank Oz, the legendary performer behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and so many others, has said the same thing publicly. He won’t work with Disney because he refuses to go along with their take on the characters. Think about that. The very men who built the Muppets from scratch won’t work with Disney because they don’t recognize the characters anymore.
MuppetVision 3D Was the Last Authentic Piece
The timing of this announcement stings even more. Just weeks ago, Disney shuttered MuppetVision 3D in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That attraction was Jim Henson’s final directorial project, a living time capsule of the Muppets at their best. Fans loved it because it was authentic — Henson’s humor, Henson’s characters, Henson’s fingerprints all over it.
The MuppetVision 3D Theater on Closing Day – YouTube, ParkHoppin’
Now, the last real Muppet creation is gone, and in its place? A Broadway rental where the Muppets are props for magic tricks.
Disney’s Legacy of Muppet Mismanagement
The truth is simple: Disney has no vision for the Muppets and never did. Every attempt at rebooting them — from the 2011 film’s brief spark to the disastrous Disney+ series that tried to turn them into awkward modern audience memes — has shown the same problem. They don’t get it.
Kermit the Frog sings Pictures in My Head in The Muppets (2011) – YouTube, Muppet Songs
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The Muppets were never just puppets. They were characters with warmth, wit, and edge. They worked because Jim Henson, Frank Oz, and the original team poured heart and humanity into them. Strip that away, and you’re left with plush merchandise that speaks in uncanny voices.
And that’s exactly what Disney is selling now.
The Bottom Line
When you see Rob Lake MAGIC with The Muppets advertised for Broadway this fall, don’t mistake it for a Muppet renaissance. It’s the opposite. It’s the latest chapter in Disney’s slow dismantling of a once-brilliant creative empire.
A screenshot of Jim Henson’s Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios via DocumentDisney YouTUbe
They closed down Henson’s last masterpiece. They pushed out his hand-picked successor. They alienated Frank Oz. And now they’re renting Kermit out to wave his felt arms around for a magician.
This isn’t magic. It’s malpractice.
What do you think about The Muppets on Broadway? Does Disney have a plan for Kermit and the gang? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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Disney: destroying everything precious. Out of spite.
It is like a second funeral for the Muppets. The first was when Jim Henson died. Now they’ve taken away the purpose of the Muppets. Whoring them out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who flashes a couple bucks at Disney is the last step on most IPs.
I feel sad that my kids won’t have anything as wholesome as the Muppet Show and movies. Even Muppet Babies wasn’t entirely about monetization like Bluey, Paw Patrol, and all the other modern kids shows.