Why doesn ' t Frank Oz perform with the Muppets anymore ? Frank Oz was one of Jim Henson ' s closest creative partners , beginning in 1963 . Oz played Bert to Henson ' s Ernie on " Sesame Street " , and he also performed Cookie Monster and Grover . In 1976 , Oz created many of the core characters for " The Muppet Show " , including Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal and Sam the Eagle , and he continued to perform these characters in the Muppet movies and TV specials . Henson and Oz collaborated on the 1982 film " The Dark Crystal " , directing as a team . In the mid - 1980s , Henson and Oz began to pursue separate creative projects , outside of the Muppets . Henson produced fantasy film and television projects - - " Labyrinth " ( 1986 ) , " The StoryTeller " ( 1988 ) and " The Witches " ( 1990 ) . Meanwhile , Oz began a career of directing comedy films - - " Little Shop of Horrors " ( 1986 ) , " Dirty Rotten Scoundrels " ( 1988 ) and " What About Bob ? " ( 1991 ) . In 1989 , Henson created a new Muppet TV series , " The Jim Henson Hour " , with " MuppeTelevision " segments filmed in a studio in Toronto . Oz , who was working on film projects at the time , participated in the show by filming solo segments with Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy . Fozzie was seen in New York City in , and Oz performed both Miss Piggy and Fozzie in Los Angeles for a half - hour segment in , " Miss Piggy ' s Hollywood " . In " An Evening with Jim Henson and Frank Oz " , Oz stated that he only did a few days of work on " Sesame Street " and " The Jim Henson Hour " in the past year because " it ' s an issue of scheduling . I do a lot of movie work now . It ' s hard to make the schedule work . " Later Henson jested that he lost his best puppeteer to a directing career . When Henson died in 1990 , and his children began to run The Jim Henson Company , Oz began a gradual process of pulling away from performing , and focusing on his directing career . In a 2007 interview , Oz explained why he distanced himself from Muppet performing : 1990s Muppet projects . After Jim Henson ' s death in 1990 , his 27 - year - old son Brian was named President , Chairman and CEO of The Jim Henson Company . Brian planned to revive the Muppet franchise with a series of movies , beginning with the 1992 film " The Muppet Christmas Carol " . Oz was working on another movie at the time , but supported the Muppet project by performing Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal , Sam the Eagle , and other incidental characters in several scenes and served as an executive producer for the film . The gag reel for " The Muppet Christmas Carol " includes a possible reference to Oz ' s limited time on the set . In one outtake , Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat ( performed by Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire ) are sitting on a shelf next to a bust of William Shakespeare . Noticing a resemblance to Oz ' s hairline , Rizzo says , " Hey , it ' s Frank Oz ! " Gonzo says , " Whoa , they ' ve coated him with plaster ! " and tries to get " Frank ' s " attention : " Frank , speak to us ! " " Huh , " Rizzo says , shaking his head . " As usual . " In the mid ' 90s , Oz was able to participate in smaller Muppet projects such as the albums " Muppet Beach Party " and " Kermit Unpigged " , and the direct - to - video " Muppet Classic Theater " performing Miss Piggy , Animal , and Fozzie Bear . In the late ' 90s , Oz ' s character Sam the Eagle made a guest appearance on of " The Animal Show " . Oz was not available to puppeteer the character , so someone else performed the character on set and Oz looped the voice in post - production . In 1996 , Oz was unable to participate in the majority of the filming of " Muppet Treasure Island " because he was directing at the time . Kevin Clash performed Oz ' s characters on set , and Oz looped the dialogue in post - production . Oz was also the executive producer of that film . Oz was however available to perform Fozzie Bear , Miss Piggy , and Animal in new video material produced for a smaller project , the computer game , released the same year . For the 1996 TV show " Muppets Tonight " , Oz performed Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal , and Sam the Eagle in a limited number of episodes , although other puppeteers filled in at times . Miss Piggy appeared with many of the guest stars , including Michelle Pfeiffer ( ) , Garth Brooks ( ) , Billy Crystal ( ) , Whoopi Goldberg ( ) Martin Short ( ) and Pierce Brosnan ( produced in the first season , but aired as ) . Oz also performed several one - shot characters , such as a stagehand ( episode 101 ) , a lion ( episode 103 ) , and others . Oz ' s involvement was even more limited in the show ' s second season . For the 1999 film " Muppets from Space " , Oz was again unavailable for most of the filming ; Peter Linz performed Miss Piggy on set , John Kennedy performed Fozzie Bear and Sam the Eagle , Rickey Boyd performed Animal , and again Oz looped the dialogue in post - production . Oz only spent two days on the set , performing Miss Piggy those days . " Sesame Street " . In the late 1990s , Oz ' s directing schedule was continuing to limit his time on " Sesame Street " and other Muppet projects . Although at times he ' d dub to other puppeteers ( as with the Muppet movies ) , it was decided to find replacement puppeteers for his major characters . Oz himself chose who he wanted to take each character ; the bulk of his roles went to " Sesame Street " puppeteer Eric Jacobson , who began performing Bert in 1997 on a semi - regular basis , and started performing Grover the year after ( and soon became their principal performer ) . Despite this , Oz returned to perform Bert , Grover , and Cookie Monster for the 1999 film " The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland " . Veteran Muppet performer David Rudman took over Cookie Monster in 2001 . In an interview , Oz said on the subject , " What happened was , I was off directing for six months and I can ’ t say [ to the Henson Company ] , " You can ’ t use [ those puppets ] for six months . " So I had to give it up , but I do miss it , yeah . " Oz commented on the performer shift : Oz continued to return to " Sesame Street " , at least once for almost every season until season 43 ; recent instances include Mr . Draper in a " Mad Men " parody ( 2009 ) , Keith Heartburn in a " Deadliest Catch " parody ( 2011 ) , Grover as Spider - Monster ( 2011 ) , Clucky Luciano in a " Boardwalk Empire " parody ( 2012 ) , as well as Grover singing " I Am Special " . In a 2017 interview , Oz said " I was doing a couple days a few years ago at Sesame Street . I have not been asked , partly because I ’ m expensive . I worked a certain way ; I work with the abandon that Jim taught me . I don ’ t know the young people at Sesame Street , so I don ’ t know what kind of fit I ’ d be . As far as working with the guys , I love working with them , but not all the time . I ’ m a director . I love directing . I miss my characters . " Oz was last credited as a performer on the show in season 44 . Departure from the Muppets . In the early 2000s , Oz retired from performing Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Animal , and Sam the Eagle . One of Oz ' s last Muppets projects was in 2000 , performing a version of Fozzie Bear in the MuppetToons shorts created for the now - defunct MuppetWorld . com . In December 2001 , Eric Jacobson secretly debuted as Miss Piggy ' s new performer in a video greeting shown at the MuppetFest fan convention . Jacobson made his first major Muppet production debut performing Fozzie Bear , Miss Piggy , and Animal in the 2002 TV - movie " It ' s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie " . Jacobson took over the role of Sam the Eagle starting in 2005 with " The Muppets ' Wizard of Oz " . Oz ' s last known performance of Miss Piggy was on January 14 , 2002 , alongside Kermit the Frog as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of NBC ' s " Today " . " The Muppets " . Evidently , Frank Oz was offered the chance to perform in the 2011 film " The Muppets " , despite the fact that as noted , he had retired from Muppet performing . In Fall 2011 , when speaking of the early script of the then upcoming film , Oz was quoted in a UK article as saying : Oz stated in the same interview that : Oz ' s quote about being dissatisfied with the movie ' s early script was soon publicized , picked up by several U . S . websites and bloggers , combined with unsourced claims that some of the film ' s Muppet performers were also unhappy with the movie . Since Oz ' s Muppet retirement in 2000 was relatively quiet , some of these authors were under the impression that his dislike of the early script was the reason for his departure from , even though his true departure from performing with the Muppets was almost ten years prior . In a July 2012 interview , Oz stated ; When asked if he would want to ever work with the Muppets again in a sequel or a TV series , he said : In a 2015 interview , when asked about whether he would want to return , he said , " I ’ m not asked to go do it [ because ] they have other people doing [ the characters and voices ] now , and they ’ re satisfied . But I would love to go back and do it for a short period of time , yeah . " Oz shed more light on his departure from " Sesame Street " and the Muppets , and his view on the characters ' future in a 2017 interview with Yahoo Movies .