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The Fantastic Miss Piggy Podcast - Episode 11: Of Camp and CAMPO · Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com

0:02
Look, your worship, said Sancha Panza.
0:04
What we see there are not giants, but windmills, and what
0:08
seemed to be their arms are the sails.
0:11
It is easy to see, replied Don Quixote, that thou art not used
0:14
to this business of adventures. Those are giants, and if thou
0:18
art afraid, away with the out of this, while I engage them in
0:21
fierce and unequal combat. I can't give you anything but
0:28
love, baby. That's the only thing I have
0:35
plenty of, baby. Kissy, Kissy and welcome to the
0:40
season finale of the fantastic Miss Piggy podcast.
0:43
I'm Danny Horn and this podcast chronicles my journey to learn
0:46
everything there is to know about that divine swine, the
0:49
incomparable Miss Piggy. This week, Windmills, I'll be
0:53
telling the story of a fan organization called Campo, the
0:55
Committee to Award Miss Piggy the Oscar, which was founded in
0:58
1979 by two guys in Cincinnati with a post office box and a
1:02
dream. As usual on this podcast, this
1:05
is a love story. It's one sided love, perhaps
1:08
expressed in an over dramatic way.
1:10
It's the story of magnificent obsession, full of grand
1:13
gestures and magical thinking and unreasonable expectations
1:16
for success. In other words, it's a story
1:19
about Miss Piggy. It's February 1979 and it is a
1:32
hard winter in Cincinnati. OH Procter and Gamble, a
1:36
corporation that makes personal care and hygiene products.
1:38
They've got their headquarters in Cincinnati and that's where
1:40
James and Bruce met. James Hall is a 45 year old
1:44
executive in the marketing division at Procter and Gamble.
1:46
He's a married man with two children.
1:48
Bruce Collin is a 22 year old who just graduated from
1:51
Connecticut College. This is his first job as a
1:53
business analyst in the marketing department and the two
1:56
of them bond when they discover that they're both massive fans
1:58
of Miss Piggy. Now, that's not super unusual
2:02
for February 1979 when the entire world was in love with
2:05
The Muppet Show. This was the middle of the third
2:07
season, and just to help Orient you Piggy wise, this is when
2:10
Miss Piggy was singing I'm A Woman with Raquel Welch and I
2:13
enjoy being a Girl with Cheryl Ladd.
2:15
The show's viewed by somewhere around 235 million people in
2:18
approximately 108 countries. It was a massive hit.
2:21
In fact, it was pretty difficult in 1979 to distinguish yourself
2:25
as a Muppet fan during a period when practically everybody was a
2:28
Muppet fan to some degree. I managed it, and James Hall and
2:31
Bruce Colin managed it, but it takes work.
2:34
So these two guys are talking at lunch.
2:36
I'm imagining this is lunch and they agreed that Miss Piggy is
2:39
such a superstar that she should be nominated for an Oscar for
2:42
Best Actress for her work in the Muppet Movie, which has not yet
2:46
been released. This is February.
2:48
Movie's not out until June, so they haven't seen it, but they
2:51
assume correctly that it's going to be a masterpiece and Miss
2:54
Piggy's going to be amazing in it.
2:56
They know that you have to run a whole campaign to get somebody
2:59
nominated for an Academy Award. So they decide to start an
3:01
organization, Campo, the Committee to award Miss Piggy
3:04
the Oscar. They spend 20 bucks on post
3:07
office box 3311, and then they write up a press release and
3:11
they send it to Cincinnati newspapers and TV stations.
3:14
Now, my knowledge about this begins when they start getting
3:16
national coverage. So I don't know who picked up
3:19
the story first. Whoever it was, it must have
3:21
been a slow Newsday. In Cincinnati today, two men
3:23
rented a post office box. It's not that exciting, but
3:26
somebody ran the story and a couple days later when James and
3:29
Bruce came back to check their post office box, it was jammed
3:32
with hundreds of letters. OK, letters for younger
3:37
listeners. Let me see if I can help you out
3:38
on this. In 1979, the post office was
3:41
kind of like texting, but you had to write it down on a piece
3:43
of paper and then go outside and drop it in a mailbox and you
3:46
paid money for it. There was like a micro payment
3:48
every time, and it still took days to get to the person that
3:51
you wanted to talk to. So for James and Bruce, the fact
3:55
that hundreds of people took the time to write a letter for their
3:58
silly pig project must have been so exciting.
4:01
It was like going viral. But there's no algorithm to
4:04
support it. It's just pure public enthusiasm
4:06
for their idea. And over the course of this
4:08
year, James and Bruce are going to convince themselves that this
4:11
might actually happen, that Miss Piggy might actually get
4:14
nominated. Now I've talked on this podcast
4:17
about Miss Piggy as a trickster figure, someone on the outside
4:20
of the culture who does things that you're not supposed to do
4:22
in order to upend the traditional power structure and
4:25
make the world funnier and stranger and more interesting.
4:28
And here's two guys from the marketing department at Procter
4:31
and Gamble who accidentally turned themselves into
4:34
tricksters using the power of the popular press and the
4:37
mechanics of the postal system to disrupt this self important
4:40
ritual of highbrow culture that we call the Oscars.
4:44
So in March, about a month into this lunatic project, the United
4:48
Press runs a story about James and Bruce which gets syndicated
4:51
to newspapers all over the country.
4:53
The headline is Cincinnati Businessman Campaign for Miss
4:56
Piggy. The new stories always say their
4:57
age and they always say businessmen because that's what
5:00
makes this real. These aren't kids.
5:02
We're not talking about a children's show.
5:04
These are grown up people with jobs.
5:06
Miss Piggy has hundreds of thousands of fans, says the UPI
5:09
story, but none more ardent than a couple of Cincinnati business
5:13
executives. They have formed an organization
5:15
with the sole purpose of getting Miss Piggy, A puppet nominated
5:18
for a 1980 Academy Award for Best Actress.
5:22
So couple things. First quote, they formed an
5:25
organization is fantastic. It's the two of them in a post
5:28
office box. Also, Miss Piggy, A puppet.
5:31
That's the only time in this entire story that anybody uses
5:35
the P word. There are a lot of pig jokes
5:37
that comes up all the time, but the fact that she's a puppet is,
5:40
from this point forward, just not something that we talk
5:42
about. As of March 1979, that is no
5:45
longer part of the public discourse on Miss Piggy.
5:48
In this first National article, James and Bruce don't say the
5:51
number of letters they've received yet, but they say that
5:54
they plan to bring baskets and baskets of mail to the Motion
5:57
Picture Academy. Now, they've already been in
5:59
touch with the Motion Picture Academy and they've received
6:01
what the story calls a witty response, which means pig jokes.
6:06
This is from Martin Cooper, a vice president of the Academy's
6:08
public relations firm. While the Academy does not
6:11
participate in the pork barrel campaigns, which are an
6:13
unfortunate part of the annual Oscar campaign, we do wish you
6:17
appropriate success with your commendable support of such a
6:19
weighty candidate for Academy honors.
6:22
He also says that Miss Piggy's fespic talents have caused many
6:25
competitors to curl their tails with envy.
6:28
That is Martin Cooper's witty response.
6:29
Thank you, Martin, So Bruce tells the United Press.
6:33
Miss Piggy's assertiveness in her high class style represent
6:36
today's woman. We expect the Academy to listen
6:39
to our Oscar demands for we warn you what Miss Piggy wants, Miss
6:42
Piggy gets. And about two weeks later
6:46
there's another UPI story. Miss Piggy has strong campaign
6:50
where they report that Campo has now received an estimated 5000
6:53
letters. When James and Bruce go to the
6:55
post office box, now there's just a card in the box.
6:57
They have to go to the counter to pick up all of their mail.
7:00
This April United Press article has quotes from some of the
7:03
letters. So there's a bunch more animal
7:05
jokes. WH Wally of Toronto, Canada,
7:07
says Miss Piggy is a cut above the rest and certainly far above
7:11
some of the dogs that have won Oscars in the past.
7:14
Brookfield, Indiana, attorney Michael A Douglas.
7:16
I'm confident that Miss Piggy's performance will be far better
7:18
than the other turkeys will be nominated, Paula Benningfield
7:22
from Pocatello, ID, writes. It would be an honor for Miss
7:24
Piggy and a step forward for all pig dumb.
7:27
Do you suppose receiving such an award may alter herself effacing
7:30
personality and drive her whole hog into delusions of grandeur?
7:34
You hear whole hog a lot. Here's James.
7:37
The response has been whole hog letters from doctors, lawyers,
7:40
bankers and corporation presidents, every segment of the
7:42
population. Petitions are even being
7:44
circulated in offices. So this organization is really
7:48
gaining traction moving forward to June 1979.
7:53
The movie comes out on June 22nd so people can actually see it.
7:56
Now Bruce says that he's seen it five times and the movie is a
8:00
hit. It's going to make $65 million
8:02
and it'll end up at #10 for the year.
8:04
And meanwhile, CAMPO has received 10,000 letters from all
8:08
over the world, folks from Canada and Australia and Norway,
8:11
West Germany, Bruce says. People are even sending us
8:14
petitions they signed in ticket lines at the movie later this
8:17
year. We're going to take all the
8:18
letters and petitions and make a presentation before the Academy
8:21
Award executives. So they've got a plan now.
8:27
No, I I mean listen. The newspapers are asking
8:30
whether they're serious, and Bruce says we're totally serious
8:34
about having a lot of fun. In a world where there's so much
8:36
tension and trouble, it's nice to have a character that
8:39
represents fun. When we started our campaign, we
8:41
thought the response would be good, but it's been incredible.
8:44
The letters we get are fantastic.
8:46
People going on for three and four pages about what Miss Piggy
8:48
means to them. She's one classy pig.
8:52
In July, The Boston Globe runs an article called The Muppets Go
8:55
Hollywood, where they talk to Jim Henson and Frank Oz.
8:58
And then they called the Academy to determine whether Miss Piggy
9:01
was being denied her civil rights.
9:03
And it's the Boston Globe, so they get through to John Pavlik,
9:08
the executive director of the Academy.
9:10
We hadn't really thought about it, Pavlik says.
9:13
But we don't give Oscars to characters.
9:16
The Globe points out that they give Oscars to actors and
9:18
actresses who play characters, so according to the rules, Frank
9:21
Oz should be eligible for an award as best actress.
9:24
Pavlik pauses, as naturally he would, and he says, well, a man
9:29
can't be eligible for a Best Actress award, so I guess he'd
9:32
be eligible for an award as Best Actor, even though he plays a
9:35
female character. So that sounds an awful lot like
9:38
a no. But the Globe prints Campo's
9:40
post office box and encourages more people to write in.
9:45
By August, this is when the magical thinking starts.
9:48
James and Bruce have received 20,000 letters.
9:50
They've been interviewed by U.S. magazine, the London Daily
9:53
Mirror. They've talked to TV stations in
9:55
Germany and Australia. And there is no more of this.
9:57
We're serious about having fun stuff.
9:59
Now Bruce is saying we are totally serious.
10:02
Sure, it's fun, but I think we're going to pull it off.
10:05
I know we're going to pull it off.
10:07
You can hear him convincing himself they got some money from
10:11
a local theater to print up some incredibly cluttered bumper
10:14
stickers that say Help award, Miss Piggy the Oscar Right Campo
10:17
Box 3311 Cincinnati, OH 452O one.
10:20
And then it has a picture of Miss Piggy holding a golden
10:23
trophy and saying pornois. They're sending these out to
10:26
people. They called up Henson Associates
10:28
about the bumper stickers and Henson said it's fine as long as
10:31
they're not making a profit, which they aren't.
10:34
They't just crazy people. We've had some conversations
10:38
with the Academy, says James. And there isn't any reason why
10:41
Miss Piggy can't be nominated. She doesn't have to be human.
10:44
There was some concern that Miss Piggy was manipulated, but our
10:47
answer to that is, hey, everybody's manipulated at one
10:50
time or another. Somebody at the Academy quoted
10:53
them Rule 7, which says you're not eligible for an award if all
10:56
of the dialogue has been dubbed by another actor.
10:59
But Bruce says Miss Piggy is her own woman.
11:02
She would never allow someone to speak for her or get a word in
11:05
edgewise. We've gone over the entire
11:07
Academy rulebook line by line, and we are sure that she
11:09
qualifies. They're getting feisty now, so
11:14
they wrote to Frank Oz asking if they could get an interview with
11:16
Miss Piggy that could be taped for use on the radio.
11:19
And Piggy sends back a written message.
11:20
I'm not going to do the voice, you're going to have to imagine
11:23
the voice on your end, But, Piggy said.
11:25
Now that I am such a celebrity, I feel it would be a little out
11:28
of character for me to do an interview to be used in the
11:30
campaign to get an Oscar, even though I appreciate the good
11:33
taste of the committee. I do expect to be nominated,
11:36
however, and I'm grateful to my fans.
11:37
Kissy kissy. So things are heating up.
11:41
In September, People magazine has a big cover story about Miss
11:44
Piggy, and it mentions Campo in the second paragraph.
11:47
Campo is now part of the conversation when people talk
11:49
about Miss Piggy. Late September 1979, another
11:54
United Press story syndicated around the country.
11:57
This is the third national article in six months about this
11:59
effort. The total is now 25,000 letters,
12:02
and James and Bruce were running out of places to store them.
12:06
Bruce says we're even storing them in big shopping bags now.
12:09
But each one is going to be valuable when we fly to
12:11
Hollywood around the end of the year and begin making a personal
12:14
pitch to Academy members to get Miss Piggy nominated.
12:17
So let's talk for a second about Norma Ray, which is one of the
12:20
other big movies of 1979, Norma Ray * Sally Field, a person who
12:25
will actually get nominated for Best Actress this year.
12:28
In the movie, Norma Rae works in the textile factory in North
12:31
Carolina, and she organizes a union at the factory.
12:34
It's a very heroic role, one person on her own standing up
12:38
for what's right against the corporate interests who are
12:40
trying to silence her. That's where James and Bruce are
12:43
at this point. They now believe that this is a
12:45
'cause that they are fighting for, Bruce says.
12:49
We honestly think Miss Piggy can be nominated and win.
12:53
This is people power. This is democracy at work.
12:58
By December 1979, CAMPO has received more than 35,000
13:02
letters from around the world. Just imagine that in your house.
13:06
35,000 letters just stacked up everywhere.
13:08
And that includes petitions. There's one petition from
13:11
Stevens Point, WI with 7000 signatures.
13:14
Miss Tiki has released a statement.
13:16
I feel I am but a humble actress, singer, and I do not
13:19
believe it is my place to comment on this wise,
13:22
perceptive, discerning and tasteful Oscar campaign and
13:26
demonstrating that this movement is actually gaining traction
13:29
among the public. The New York Film Critics
13:31
Circle, in their balloting for Best Actress, voted Miss Piggy a
13:34
runner up, but that is not enough for Bruce, he says.
13:37
I'm overjoyed that the New York film critics recognized Miss
13:40
Piggy. However, Miss Piggy is runner up
13:43
to nobody. By January 1980, Campo has
13:48
collected 38,000 letters and they're getting ready to go to
13:51
Hollywood and attack those windmills.
13:53
Bruce is flying from Cincinnati to Hollywood at his own expense
13:56
from February 2nd to February 9th to campaign for Miss Piggy.
14:00
He says I won't have any lodging expenses because I'm accepting
14:03
the invitation of West Coast Miss Piggy supporters to stay at
14:06
their houses while I'm out there, which might be my
14:08
favorite part of this whole story.
14:10
There's a community developing of lunatic Miss Piggy fans who
14:13
are coming together as friends to make this happen.
14:16
The deadline for the nominations is February 8th, and the
14:19
nominees will be announced on February 25th.
14:22
So there goes Bruce Collin winging his way to Tinseltown to
14:25
spread the good news about Miss Piggy.
14:27
Well, climb aboard the bus, We'll have breakfast.
14:30
At Hollywood and Vine, now Bruce, going to Hollywood, did
14:37
not meet with a great deal of success at the Academy office.
14:41
They were not as open to looking at all of his correspondence as
14:43
he might have hoped. But on February 15th, a week and
14:48
a half before the nominees were announced, ABC World News
14:51
Tonight did a feature with news correspondent Hughes Rudd on the
14:54
effort to get Miss Piggy nominated.
14:56
They don't mention Bruce or James, but this is about their
14:59
movement and ABC actually talked to Miss Piggy about it.
15:03
Now I've got an audio clip for this, which I will play for you
15:05
right now, but just a heads up on the source that I got this.
15:09
From about halfway through there's a breaking news alarm.
15:13
It lasts for about 5 seconds and then it goes away, so don't be
15:16
alarmed, it's just five seconds. Here's the clip.
15:21
Finally tonight, on this day after Valentine's Day, Hughes
15:24
Rudd is all aglow, anticipating the Academy Awards with dreams
15:28
about a certain romantic leading lady.
15:30
Bring home the bacon, Hughes. Never before helped your souls
15:38
join so freely. And so fast.
15:44
Ah yes, one of the all time great romantic moments in the
15:47
movies. When Miss Piggy and Kermit the
15:50
Frog find love at first sight and fling caution to the winds.
15:58
Miss Piggy almost threw Kermit to the winds in her Piggy
16:01
passion. But if you've seen the Muppet
16:03
Movie, you know there's a happy ending and Miss Piggy is now a
16:07
star. To see Miss Piggy is to think of
16:12
Olivia de Havilland, Betty Davis, Katharine Hepburn,
16:15
Inward, Bergman, Oscar winners all.
16:19
So why shouldn't Piggy have an Oscar?
16:22
There's a movement involving thousands of people all over the
16:25
world who think she should, and they've written letters to say
16:28
so. But there's a problem here,
16:31
according to the Oscar committee.
16:33
You know, we all do love Miss Piggy.
16:36
Nobody can fault her. She's adorable.
16:39
But the rules of the Academy say that we give awards and
16:43
nominations to actors and actresses, not to characters.
16:48
And since Miss Piggy is a character, we just can't.
16:51
We can't do that. At the moment, Miss Piggy's on
16:59
location in England, installed in the Anne Boleyn suite of a
17:03
hotel in Elstree, which is the British version of Hollywood.
17:07
So newshawks that we are, we called her on the transatlantic
17:10
telephone expense. No object.
17:13
We asked her if she thinks she has a good shot at the Oscar,
17:17
and in her answer she displayed that maidenly modesty for which
17:20
she's famous as. I say she was A and being in the
17:24
company of the great actresses of all time.
17:26
I mean it's it's quite an honor I all, all I would want is to be
17:32
nominated. The award matters not.
17:35
Not not much really. It's it's really the nomination
17:38
that's that's the main thing being being honoured amongst my
17:42
sisters, my fellow peers. But I want it.
17:49
Have you had to step on many people's backs in order to make
17:52
it? I know showbiz is a tough
17:53
business, Hughes. I don't step on anyone.
17:59
I mean, when one has talent, one has talent.
18:02
When one thrives on competition, I may have cut a few people in
18:08
half but never step on their backs.
18:13
I suppose you have been accused of being a ham.
18:16
I'll just let that pass, Hughes. What about the trying to survive
18:21
in Hollywood? You know, that's a pretty tough
18:23
town for a poor, defenseless young female.
18:28
I can cut it. Well, I just want to say goodbye
18:32
now, Miss Piggy. Au vois in Other.
18:34
Words, Yes. Auvois, as the French say.
18:39
Bye, bye. Oh, a huge just just one more
18:43
thing. Yeah.
18:44
Kissy kissy. Kissy, kissy.
18:50
Bye. Bye.
18:51
All right, guys, wrap it up. How'd I do?
18:55
Is this Sunday Jill's wish for now?
19:02
Everybody always says there's a lot of politics in the Academy
19:05
Awards, and that's the only reason we can think of for Miss
19:09
Piggy not getting an Oscar. It can't be because she's not
19:12
real flesh and blood, because we've seen an awful lot of
19:15
dummies step up to accept the award and the Hollywood
19:19
establishment didn't even blink. If Miss Piggy doesn't get it,
19:23
we'll be convinced there's something not kosher about the
19:26
whole thing. Hughes, Rudd.
19:31
ABC News, New York. Thank you, Hughes.
19:37
Miss Pickey also granted an interview in the Atlanta Journal
19:40
on February 22nd, just three days before the nominees are
19:43
announced. I'm going to read an excerpt to
19:45
you because it's funny. Again, not going to do The
19:47
Voice, but here it is. If nominated, will you accept?
19:51
It would be an honor from Wah to be the first pig nominated.
19:55
If you win, will you accept the award?
19:56
Of course. But it is too early to speak of
19:59
winning right now. I think it would be an honor
20:01
just to be nominated so I could get a good aisle seat.
20:04
Do you plan to attend the ceremony?
20:06
Yes. Kermit shall be my escort.
20:08
He looks gangbusters in the tux. Do you have any wardrobe plans
20:12
at this time? My gown is already being
20:14
designed for the occasion. It will be something daring yet
20:17
elegant, something only a pig could wear.
20:20
If you're not nominated but merely called upon to be a
20:22
presenter in this year's award ceremony, will you still go to
20:25
Hollywood? We shall see.
20:27
Being a superstar. Why I'm Trey.
20:29
Trey Busy. If you win, does that mean
20:32
you're asking price for the next film goes up?
20:34
I am just a silly woman. I don't know about big important
20:37
things like money. All I want is to fulfill myself
20:40
as an actress and a pig while Bernie watches the gross
20:42
receipts. And then on February 25th, the
20:47
nominees for Best Actress are announced, Jill Clayburgh
20:51
starting over, Sally Field for Norma Rae, Jane Fonda The China
20:56
Syndrome, Marsha Mason Chapter 2 and Bette Midler for the Rose
21:01
and nothing from his Piggy. The Muppet Movie was nominated
21:06
for Best Score and The Rainbow Connection for Best Song, but
21:10
that's it. So there's one more news article
21:13
in The Associated Press on February 27th.
21:16
Because this is still national news somehow.
21:18
The article is called Sorry, Miss Piggy, No Oscar.
21:22
There's a quote from an Academy publicist about how Miss Piggy
21:24
is a character and we don't give awards to characters, blah blah
21:27
blah. And then there's a last word
21:29
from James Hall, who says we sort of gave up.
21:33
The article says they decided things were hopeless when Bruce
21:37
went to the Academy's Beverly Hills office early in February
21:40
and was basically told to skip it.
21:41
Kid, It sounds like Bruce showed up at the Academy office with
21:45
several big sacks of letters and they wouldn't even meet with
21:47
them. James says there doesn't seem
21:50
much else to do if she couldn't get a nomination for Best
21:53
Actress in the leading role. I'm glad that she wasn't
21:55
demeaned to a point where she got some Second Rate nomination,
21:59
and that is all from James Hall and Bruce Collin.
22:02
I don't know what happened to them.
22:05
If they're still with us, then James is 90 years old now and
22:08
Bruce is 67, and all that remains of their battle with the
22:12
Hollywood windmill is memories. And if I could talk to them, I
22:18
would shake their hands and congratulate them because this
22:21
is something that I think people have missed about this story.
22:24
They won. It's Oscar night, April 14th,
22:29
1980, and Kermit the Frog, Oscar nominee for Best Song, is booked
22:33
to sing The Rainbow Connection. It's not going to win.
22:36
Unfortunately, the best Original Song goes to It goes like it
22:39
goes from Norma Rae and Best Actress goes to Sally Field for
22:42
Norma Rae and Best Picture goes to divorce drama Kramer versus
22:46
Kramer. And it's all very depressing and
22:48
boring. But to introduce Kermit, host
22:51
Johnny Carson brings in a special guest, and here's how
22:54
that goes. Now to announce the first
23:05
nomination for Outstanding Song, Everyone's Favorite Porcine
23:09
Performer, the exotic and exciting Miss Piggy.
23:25
It's a real, real treat to have you with us tonight, Miss Piggy.
23:29
I imagine you're pretty excited being a presenter on the most
23:32
prestigious award show in the world.
23:35
Well, I I can see you're at a loss for words.
23:37
And that's understandable. After all, we have the most
23:39
glamorous and glittering names. The finest actor?
23:41
It's. Because I'm a pig, isn't it?
23:43
It's because I'm a pig. What is?
23:48
They know you know, don't you? It's because I'm a piggy.
23:53
I did not get the nomination for Best Actress.
23:55
Now, come on, let's. Yes, yes, yes.
23:58
I don't care. I am too big a star to worry
24:00
about it. Let's let's, let's be fair, be
24:03
fair. Now you.
24:05
Talking love fair. Jonathan, you saw my performance
24:10
in The Muppet Movie. Yes.
24:12
Can you stand there in your red tuxedo and and and honestly say
24:17
that I am not Oscar material? Oscar Mayer maybe?
24:28
It's all right. You can get your cheap laughs.
24:31
I shall remain. You're right, dignified
24:32
superstar, that more I am. I apologize that that was a
24:36
cheap shot. I ask you, Jonathan, in this
24:39
male chauvinist, non pig world, did you think I even stood a
24:43
chance? In a pig's eye.
24:46
Escape now can I escarce? Now look, why don't you just
24:51
calm down, Miss Piggy, and you got it out of your system.
24:53
Why don't you just announce the first nominated song like this,
24:56
like the true professional? You are?
24:57
Yes. I shall put personal feelings
24:59
aside and get on with it. Please do that.
25:02
The first song nominated for Outstanding Original Song That's
25:06
Good is The Rainbow Connection. It was written by Kenny Asher,
25:12
who also believed I should have gotten the nomination and.
25:16
Just try to keep personal feelings.
25:17
And and and dear, sweet, loyal Paul Williams, who is boycotting
25:22
these awards tonight because I did not get the nomination.
25:24
No, no, no, he's he's in the audience at. 2 Williams All
25:33
right, I'm not hurt. I'm bigger than all this.
25:35
I shall continue. The song from the Muppet Movie
25:39
will be Song Tonight right by my beloved Kermie.
25:42
That's good. Ladies and gentlemen, the first
25:45
nominated song. Don't feel badly, buddy.
25:55
Control yourself, ladies and gentlemen, here's Kermit to sing
25:58
the Rainbow Connection. So that's what I mean when I say
26:06
that they won. Just imagine this scene.
26:09
James and Bruce at home, they're watching the Oscars.
26:12
They might be watching it together, for all I know.
26:14
I'm going to imagine it that way, that Bruce is over at
26:16
James's house and they're sitting with James's family and
26:19
to their great surprise, Miss Piggy pops up on the Oscar
26:22
telecast. And to their even greater
26:23
surprise, she's talking about them.
26:26
She doesn't mention their names or Campo, but Miss Piggy is
26:30
talking about them on the Oscars and they smile.
26:34
That's the way I picture it, because this silly campaign that
26:38
they put together has been appreciated on a global scale.
26:42
James and Bruce helped 10s of thousands of people to publicly
26:46
express their love and their belief in this piggy, and they
26:49
did that at a time when Miss Piggy needed it.
26:52
The first Miss Piggy calendar was released in fall 1979, right
26:56
around the time that Campo was getting news coverage.
26:58
And as I said, this campaign marked the point where people
27:02
stopped referring to Miss Piggy as a puppet and started treating
27:05
her like a real life celebrity who just happens to be a
27:07
glamorous pig. Obviously there were a lot of
27:10
factors in the rise of Miss Piggy as a character, but
27:14
planting news stories worldwide for a year about how great Miss
27:17
Piggy is, that was an important moment in the construction of
27:20
Miss Piggy as a joke that everybody wanted to play along
27:24
with. So I would say in the history of
27:27
silly things that people have done, James Hall and Bruce
27:30
Collins are kings. They got coverage in People
27:33
magazine and the Boston Globe and ABC News and the Muppet Show
27:37
fan club newsletter. And they got a pig puppet, their
27:40
favorite pig puppet invited to the Academy Awards.
27:45
They won. So kissy, kissy.
27:50
And thank you for listening to the season finale of the
27:52
Fantastic Miss Piggy podcast, brought to you by my friends at
27:55
toughpigs.com. This is the end of this batch of
27:58
episodes, but I will be back with another season of lunatic
28:01
Piggy Obsession. Second season will include
28:03
topics like his Miss Piggy A feminist.
28:06
What about Baby Piggy from Muppet Babies?
28:08
What changed when Eric Jacobson took over the role?
28:11
Plus maybe more interviews if I can wrangle some.
28:13
There's a whole bunch of people I still want to talk to.
28:16
Thank you to Joe Hennis and Tough Pigs for bringing this
28:18
project to life. Thanks to Peter Savieri and to
28:21
all of my guests. And thanks to David Sola for
28:24
providing me with extremely helpful video clips.
28:27
And as always, thank you to the editors of Muppet Wiki for doing
28:29
what you do every day. If you have questions or
28:32
suggestions or you know stuff about Miss Piggy that you'd like
28:35
to share, you can write to me at fantasticmisspiggy@gmail.com.
28:39
That's fantastic Miss Piggy at Gmail and please do I would love
28:43
to hear your ideas for Season 2. I'm also on X at Fantastic Miss
28:46
P Or come and join us on the Tough Pigs Discord.
28:49
Thank you everyone. Kissy kissy.
28:51
I'll see you next time. G I'd like to see you looking
28:56
swell, baby. Diamond bracelets.
29:02
Woolworth doesn't sell baby till that lucky day.
29:10
You know that. Well, baby, I can't give you
29:17
anything but love.