Bret McKenzie’s Oscar win last night for best original song “Man or Muppet” reminded me of this NYT Magazine article about McKenzie and the considerations that go into writing songs for Muppets.
A rule: Frogs and bears and pigs can talk, but penguins and chickens can’t. They can cluck or squawk musically, but they can’t say words. “So I was like, ‘Can we get the penguins to sing?’ And they’d say: ‘No. Penguins don’t sing.’ ”
The article also includes a video of McKenzie and Kermit singing “Life’s a Happy Song” together!
You can read Paul Constant’s review of The Muppets here.