Miss Piggy’s career spans decades, beginning with her humble start on The Muppet Show, where she played the role of lady pig who adores a frog named Kermit. That role proved to be the launch pad of her career (pardon the froggy pun).
Since The Muppet Show she's had roles in more than a dozen movies, been featured in musical performances alongside Celine Dion and Elton John and has provided cultural commentary that's elevated American discourse. She's now a bona fide A-list celebrity. But she came from humble beginnings in Iowa, or so the creators of the Muppets say.
Frank Oz, the puppeteer behind Miss Piggy, created a backstory for the pig to help him get into character. According to Oz, Miss Piggy grew up on a farm in Iowa, where her father died in a tractor accident when she was young. After a strained relationship with her mother, she left the farm to become famous, enrolled in charm school and had to do some shady work to support herself, including posing for a bacon advertisement.
Oz described how he developed her personality in his performances in the documentary Muppet Guys Talking.
She becomes really aspirational for any woman out there who wants to defy expectations and speak her mind.Joe Hennes
“I had a scene with Kermit and I was supposed to slap him, and for some unknown reason, I karate chopped him,” he said. “And that just created Piggy for me, because she is really a truck driver underneath. She has an autograph that's all curlicues. She had to practice that for weeks.”
Oz said the reason she is so funny is because of the pain she is masking.
Joe Hennes, co-owner and editor-in-chief of the Muppet fan blog Tough Pigs, said Miss Piggy’s superpower is that she can declare herself the biggest star in the world and draw fans right to her.
"You want to see some really entertaining music and comedy on TV. Boom, she's there. Are you interested in, like, the biggest movie star, diva in the world? Boom, that's her. Do you like fashion? She's the biggest fashion icon I can think of,” Hennes said. “So of course, we love Miss Piggy.”
Her impact has been felt beyond the stage. In 2015, she penned an article for Time magazine where she explained her feminist politics.
“She becomes really aspirational for any woman out there who wants to defy expectations and speak her mind,” Hennes said. “And, of course, she openly and unapologetically stands up against machismo and misogyny, while also supporting equality of the sexes, because we know that she'll karate chop anyone.”
