--- title: New Kermit the Frog Debuts and Sounds Like Old Kermit description: After the controversial dismissal of long-time puppeteer Steve Whitmire in July, the new voice of Kermit, Matt Vogel, made his debut. canonical: https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-30T15:44:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:55.746Z og:title: The New Kermit Sounds A Lot Like the Old Kermit og:description: The voice may have changed, but the character sounds the same og:url: https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The New Kermit Sounds A Lot Like the Old Kermit twitter:description: The voice may have changed, but the character sounds the same twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Hear the Voice of the New Kermit the Frog  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2017 3:44 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 30, 2017 3:44 PM UTC The [new voice](http://time.com/4852111/kermit-frog-whitmire/) of Kermit the Frog has made his official debut. Matt Vogel, the latest puppeteer to take on the iconic fuzzy green character, replaced [long-time Kermit puppeteer](http://time.com/4855481/kermit-actor-on-leaving-muppets/) Steve Whitmire after he was fired in the [midst of controversy.](http://time.com/4861731/steve-whitmire-kermit-fired-business-conduct/) (Whitmire was only the second person to voice the beloved felt amphibian, after Muppets creator [Jim Henson](http://time.com/4626229/why-heroes-matter/) himself.) In a video posted to YouTube and social media, the old Kermit with a new voice popped up for a short installment of the ongoing “Thought of the Day” series. “Dreams are how we figure out where we wanna go. Life is how we get there. I’m headed this way,” Vogel-as-Kermit announces in the frog’s signature voice. “My mistake, it’s this way,” he corrects himself, heading offscreen. In a [post on his website](https://stevewhitmire-muppetpundit.com/2017/08/21/doing-what-is-best-for-the-muppets-part-2/), Whitmire noted that he harbors no animosity towards Vogel, although he still wishes things had turned out differently. “Inside and outside the Muppets, Matt is a stand-up guy… that I have been proud to call my brother,” Whitmire wrote. “I am having trouble understanding his support of the recast,” he added, but said that he was “trying to empathize with where he finds himself.” “Still, we don’t need ‘Team Steve’ versus ‘Team Matt’. That not what’s best for the Muppets, for the fans, for Matt, or for me,” he concluded. As for those fans? They seem willing to give Vogel a chance. “It will definitely take some getting used to, but I kinda don’t mind it,” noted a popular YouTube comment. “I think Matt’s Kermit is closer to Jim’s than Steve’s. Matt has more of a rubbery sound that Jim had. As he performs Kermit more and more he will get better.” All eyes — or ears — will be monitoring closely. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/"},"headline":"Hear the Voice of the New Kermit the Frog","datePublished":"2017-08-30T15:44:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:46:55.746Z","description":"After the controversial dismissal of long-time puppeteer Steve Whitmire in July, the new voice of Kermit, Matt Vogel, made his debut.","url":"https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Muppets"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4921794/new-kermit-frog-matt-vogel/","name":"Hear the Voice of the New Kermit the Frog"}}]}] ```