Changes: Lips

PERFORMER	Steve Whitmire
DEBUT	1980
DESIGN	Michael Frith designer
	Mari Kaestle builder

Revision as of 05:40, 2 March 2016

Lips GMC — Lips in *The Great Muppet Caper*

ChristmasInRockefellerCenter2009-Zoot&Lips — At *Christmas in Rockefeller Center* in 2009

ObscureMuppetMovie — In *The Muppets* (2011)

File:Lips-2015.png

Lips, rebuilt for ABC's The Muppets in 2015

Episode102 (1) — Lips in episode 102 of *The Muppets*

Lips is the trumpet player from The Muppet Show. The character was created for performer Steve Whitmire, to give him his own member of the Electric Mayhem. He debuted in the fifth and final season of the series, and played trumpet for both the Electric Mayhem and the orchestra. Lips also appeared as part of the Electric Mayhem in The Great Muppet Caper, A Muppet Family Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol and Christmas in Rockefeller Center. Lips had a special mechanism that allowed his eyelids to turn inwards. It was usually used when he blew into his trumpet.

Compared to the other Mayhem members, who participated in skits or the backstage action, Lips functioned primarily as a musician only (with trumpeter Tommy McQuater doing the hornplaying) and seldom even spoke. He did have trumpet solos in several episodes, most notably duetting with Hal Linden on "When the Saints Go Marching In" in episode 517. Steve Whitmire once commented upon Lips' silence:

"I felt great whenever he played the trumpet, and I felt terrible whenever he spoke, because I wanted to do this Louis Armstrong kind of voice, and at that point and time, there was some question about whether or not we would offend African-American people by this white guy doing a black voice as a trumpet player... We might offend people who liked Louis Armstrong. We weren't sure. I never quite got anywhere with Lips. I'd probably be real comfortable with him now, but at that point I wasn't sure. I still wasn't ready to do a character."^[1]

Two rare examples of Lips speaking include "Barnyard Boogie", in which he sings a verse, and The Great Muppet Caper (yelling "Ding ding!" and "Let's hit the road! How 'bout a little travelin' music?" before "Night Life", and "And me!" during the finale). In A Muppet Family Christmas, after Doc accidentally slams a door into Lips' face, the latter can be heard shaking his mouth out due to the sudden shock. In The Muppets, when rehearsal for the telethon goes horribly wrong, Floyd tells Kermit that the orchestra can't keep time without Animal's drums (at which point Lips shakes his head and mutters "uh-uh") and that they need their drummer, with Lips nodding and saying "yeah" in agreement.

In a 2013 interview, Dave Goelz said of the character: "Steve Whitmire has been frustrated that for thirty years he hasn’t really found a character hook for Lips the trumpet player. Just last winter he had to say the line “but we don’t have any instruments.” In a gravelly voice, Steve came out with “Buh we don’ got no insuh-menz.” And the character was born after 30-odd years in labor. I love Lips, and am waiting raptly for his next line."^[2] It is not currently known which project this was (and the scene does not appear to have been released).

Despite the character's obscurity, Palisades Toys released a Lips Action Figure in 2004. A Lips costume was released as part of the Xbox Live Marketplace.

In 2009, Lips appeared with the rest of the Electric Mayhem in the NBC special Christmas in Rockefeller Center. This was his first appearance in over a decade. He appeared again in 2011's The Muppets, where he is seen performing in the orchestra pit as he did on The Muppet Show. He would later be seen as part of The Electric Mayhem again in Muppets Most Wanted and as a part of the house band for Up Late with Miss Piggy on ABC's The Muppets. For the latter, the puppet was completely rebuilt, as the original puppet actually came apart during a YouTube video shoot earlier in the year.^[3] He spoke his first full line in over thirty years in the episode "Hostile Makeover" of The Muppets, declaring, "And we love-a some gas station sushi!" He would later get more lines in "The Ex-Factor" and "Going, Going, Gonzo", while in "Little Green Lie", he got out a word, "Spitachio", during the "Friendly Feud" sketch.

According to The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, Lips earned his nickname one cold day in elementary school when his lips got stuck to his trumpet while practicing outside.

Filmography

The Muppet Show
- "The Muppet Show Theme" (Season 5)
- Episode 504: Shirley Bassey ("Barnyard Boogie", "After You've Gone")
- Episode 505: James Coburn ("Roarin' Twenties" sketch)
- Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal ("Rockin' Robin")
- Episode 512: Melissa Manchester ("Whenever I Call You Friend")
- Episode 513: Tony Randall ("Ti-Pi-Tin")
- Episode 514: Mac Davis ("I Believe in Music")
- Episode 517: Hal Linden ("When the Saints Go Marching In")
- Episode 520: Wally Boag
- Episode 524: Roger Moore ("How High the Moon")
I Love Liberty
The Great Muppet Caper
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
A Muppet Family Christmas
The Jim Henson Hour (In monitor footage)
The Muppets at Walt Disney World
The Muppet Christmas Carol
Christmas in Rockefeller Center
The Muppets (film)
Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Muppets Most Wanted
"Jungle Boogie" music video
The Muppets (series)
"Kodachrome" music video

Print appearances

Sources

[1] Plume, Kenneth Muppet Central interview with Steve Whitmire

[2] The Muppet Mindset interview with Dave Goelz

[3] "Muppeteers at Dragon Con 2015 (or, How I Cried In Front of Oscar the Grouch)" at ToughPigs.com

[1]

[2]

[3]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{character|image=Lipscloseup.JPG|performer=[[Steve Whitmire]]|debut=1980|design=[[Michael Frith]]|designnote=designer|design2=[[Mari Kaestle]]|designnote2=builder}}
-{{performer|Steve Whitmire}}
-[[Image:Lipscloseup.JPG|thumb|300px|Lips, the 6th member of the Electric Mayhem.]]
-{{designer|[[Michael Frith]]|design|[[Mari Kaestle]]|builder}}
 [[Image:Lips.jpg|thumb|300px|Lips, sitting in with the orchestra.]]
 [[Image:Frith.lips.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Michael K. Frith|Michael K. Frith's]] original design.]]
-[[Image:Muppets2011Trailer01-1920 47.jpg|thumb|300px|Lips and [[Animal]] in ''The Muppets''.]]
+[[Image:Lips GMC.png|thumb|300px|Lips in ''The Great Muppet Caper]]
-[[Image:LipsTrumpetGirl.png|thumb|300px|With [[Trumpet Girl]] on ''The Muppet Show''.]]
+[[Image:ChristmasInRockefellerCenter2009-Zoot&Lips.jpg|thumb|300px|At ''Christmas in Rockefeller Center'' in 2009]]
-[[Image:Lips GMC.png|thumb|300px|Lips in ''The Great Muppet Caper]]''
+[[Image:ObscureMuppetMovie.jpg|thumb|300px|In ''The Muppets'' (2011)]]
+[[Image:Lips-2015.png|thumb|300px|Lips, rebuilt for ABC's ''The Muppets'' in 2015]]
+[[Image:Episode102 (1).jpg|thumb|300px|Lips in [[Episode 102: Hostile Makeover|episode 102]] of ''The Muppets'']]
 '''Lips''' is the trumpet player from ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. The character was created for performer [[Steve Whitmire]], to give him his own member of [[Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem|the Electric Mayhem]]. He debuted in the fifth and final season of the series, and played trumpet for both the Electric Mayhem and [[The Muppet Orchestra|the orchestra]]. Lips also appeared as part of the Electric Mayhem in ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'', ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'', ''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]'' and ''[[Christmas in Rockefeller Center]]''. Lips had a special mechanism that allowed his eyelids to turn inwards. It was usually used when he blew into his trumpet.
 Compared to the other Mayhem members, who participated in skits or the backstage action, Lips functioned primarily as a musician only (with trumpeter [[Tommy McQuater]] doing the hornplaying) and seldom even spoke. He did have trumpet solos in several episodes, most notably duetting with [[Hal Linden]] on "[[When the Saints Go Marching In]]" in [[Episode 517: Hal Linden|episode 517]]. Steve Whitmire once commented upon Lips' silence:
-{{quote|I felt great whenever he played the trumpet, and I felt terrible whenever he spoke, because I wanted to do this [[Louis Armstrong]] kind of voice, and at that point and time, there was some question about whether or not we would offend African-American people by this white guy doing a black voice as a trumpet player... We might offend people who liked Louis Armstrong. We weren't sure. I never quite got anywhere with Lips. I'd probably be real comfortable with him now, but at that point I wasn't sure. I still wasn't ready to do a character. <ref>Plume, Kenneth [http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/Whitmire2.shtml Muppet Central interview with Steve Whitmire]</ref>}}
+:'''"'''I felt great whenever he played the trumpet, and I felt terrible whenever he spoke, because I wanted to do this [[Louis Armstrong]] kind of voice, and at that point and time, there was some question about whether or not we would offend African-American people by this white guy doing a black voice as a trumpet player... We might offend people who liked Louis Armstrong. We weren't sure. I never quite got anywhere with Lips. I'd probably be real comfortable with him now, but at that point I wasn't sure. I still wasn't ready to do a character.'''"'''<ref>Plume, Kenneth [http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/Whitmire2.shtml Muppet Central interview with Steve Whitmire]</ref>
-Two rare examples of Lips speaking include "[[Barnyard Boogie]]", in which he sings a verse, and ''The Great Muppet Caper'' (yelling "Ding ding!" and "How 'bout a little travelin' music?" before he plays trumpet for "[[Night Life]]", and "And me!" during the finale). In ''A Muppet Family Christmas'', after [[Doc]] accidentally slams a door into Lips' face, the latter can be heard shaking his mouth out due to the sudden shock.
+Two rare examples of Lips speaking include "[[Barnyard Boogie]]", in which he sings a verse, and ''The Great Muppet Caper'' (yelling "Ding ding!" and "Let's hit the road! How 'bout a little travelin' music?" before "[[Night Life]]", and "And me!" during the finale). In ''A Muppet Family Christmas'', after [[Doc]] accidentally slams a door into Lips' face, the latter can be heard shaking his mouth out due to the sudden shock. In ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]], ''when rehearsal for the telethon goes horribly wrong, Floyd tells Kermit that the orchestra can't keep time without Animal's drums (at which point Lips shakes his head and mutters "uh-uh") and that they need their drummer, with Lips nodding and saying "yeah" in agreement.
+In a 2013 interview, [[Dave Goelz]] said of the character: "Steve Whitmire has been frustrated that for thirty years he hasn’t really found a character hook for Lips the trumpet player. Just last winter he had to say the line “but we don’t have any instruments.” In a gravelly voice, Steve came out with “Buh we don’ got no insuh-menz.” And the character was born after 30-odd years in labor. I love Lips, and am waiting raptly for his next line."<ref>[https://muppetmindset.wordpress.com/2013/09/17/interview-with-legendary-muppet-performer-dave-goelz-part-1/ The Muppet Mindset interview with Dave Goelz]</ref> It is not currently known which project this was (and the scene does not appear to have been released).
 Despite the character's obscurity, Palisades Toys released a [[Lips Action Figure]] in 2004. A Lips costume was released as part of the [[Xbox Live Marketplace]].
-In 2009, Lips appeared with the rest of the Electric Mayhem in the NBC special ''[[Christmas in Rockefeller Center]]''. This was his first appearance in over a decade. He appears again in 2011's ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'', where he is seen performing in the orchestra pit as he did on ''The Muppet Show''.
+In 2009, Lips appeared with the rest of the Electric Mayhem in the NBC special ''[[Christmas in Rockefeller Center]]''. This was his first appearance in over a decade. He appeared again in 2011's ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'', where he is seen performing in the orchestra pit as he did on ''The Muppet Show''. He would later be seen as part of The Electric Mayhem again in ''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]'' and as a part of the house band for ''[[Up Late with Miss Piggy]]'' on [[ABC]]'s ''[[The Muppets (2015)|The Muppets]]''. For the latter, the puppet was completely rebuilt, as the original puppet actually came apart during a [[Kodachrome|YouTube video shoot]] earlier in the year.<ref>[http://www.toughpigs.com/dragoncon-2015/ "Muppeteers at Dragon Con 2015 (or, How I Cried In Front of Oscar the Grouch)"] at [[ToughPigs.com]]</ref> He spoke his first full line in over thirty years in the episode "[[Episode 102: Hostile Makeover|Hostile Makeover]]" of ''The Muppets'', declaring, "And we love-a some gas station sushi!" He would later get more lines in "[[Episode 106: The Ex-Factor|The Ex-Factor]]" and "[[Episode 109: Going, Going, Gonzo|Going, Going, Gonzo]]", while in "[[Episode 114: Little Green Lie|Little Green Lie]]", he got out a word, "Spitachio", during the "[[Family Feud|Friendly Feud]]" sketch.
+According to ''[[The Muppets Character Encyclopedia]]'', Lips earned his nickname one cold day in elementary school when his lips got stuck to his trumpet while practicing outside.
-<gallery widths="250" spacing="small" position="center" captionalign="center" hideaddbutton="true">
-Image:ChristmasInRockefellerCenter2009-Zoot&Lips.jpg|At ''Christmas in Rockefeller Center'' 2009
-</gallery>
 ==Filmography==
-<div class="appear">
 *''[[The Muppet Show]]''
 **"[[The Muppet Show Theme]]" (Season 5)
@@ Line 41: / Line 38: @@
 *''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]''
 *''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]''
+*''[[The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years]]''
 *''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''
+*''[[The Jim Henson Hour]] ''(In monitor footage)
 *''[[The Muppets at Walt Disney World]]''
 *''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]''
 *''[[Christmas in Rockefeller Center]]''
-*''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]''
+*''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'' (film)
+*''[[Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular]]''
-</div>
+*''[[Late Night with Jimmy Fallon]]''
+*''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]''
+*"[[Jungle Boogie]]" music video
+*''[[The Muppets (2015)|The Muppets]]'' (series)
+*"[[Kodachrome]]" music video
 ==Print appearances==
@@ Line 53: / Line 57: @@
 *''[[Muppet King Arthur]]'' Issue #4
 *''[[Muppet Snow White]]''
+*''[[The Muppets Character Encyclopedia]]''
-==References==
+==Sources==
-<references/>
+<references />
 [[Category:Muppet Characters]]
 [[Category:Muppet Show Characters]]
 [[Category:The Muppets Characters]]
+[[Category:The Muppets (2015) Characters]]