Early life
Oz was born Richard Frank Oznowicz in Hereford, England, the son of Frances and Isidore Oznowicz, both of whom were puppeteers. His parents were refugees from the Holocaust who moved to England after fighting the Nazis with the Dutch Brigades. Oz's Dutch/Polish father was Jewish and his Flemish mother was a lapsed Catholic. Oz moved to California, United States with his parents when he was five years old. He attended Oakland City College.
Career
Oz is known for his work as a puppeteer (including voices), performing with Jim Henson's Muppets. His characters have included Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam the Eagle on The Muppet Show, and Grover, Cookie Monster and Bert on Sesame Street, among many others. The Muppet character Fozzie Bear is actually not named after Frank Oz, as is widely believed. In addition to performing a variety of characters, Oz has been one of the primary collaborators responsible for the development of the Muppets over the last 30 years. Oz has performed as a Muppeteer in over 75 movies, video releases, and TV specials, as well as countless other public appearances, episodes of Sesame Street, and other Jim Henson series. His puppetry work spans from 1963 to the present, though he has retired from the Muppets. His muppets were taken over by Eric Jacobson, though Oz still performs his characters on occasion. He also worked with the puppets on the movie Labyrinth, starring David Bowie.
Oz is also well known as the performer of Jedi Master Yoda from George Lucas' Star Wars series. Oz performed the voice and puppet for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, and provided the voice of the CGI Yoda in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. The conversion to CGI was met with some criticism among fans but Oz himself said that was "exactly what [Lucas] should have done." Oz had a great deal of creative input on the character, and was himself responsible for creating the character's trademark style of using OSV (object-subject-verb) word order instead of normal English SVO. George Lucas was so impressed by Oz's performance as Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back that he tried to get him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
As an actor, Oz appeared in 1980 as a Prison Storeroom Keeper in The Blues Brothers movie, directed by John Landis. He also appeared in later Landis movies An American Werewolf in London, Spies Like Us, Trading Places and Innocent Blood. In 1998, Oz portrayed a Warden in Blues Brothers 2000. And while it wasn't for Landis, in 2001 he had a minor part in the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. as Randall's scare assistant Fungus.
Other cameos have included playing a surgeon in scenes cut from the theatrical release of Superman III, The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan and several other Jim Henson-related films that didn't involve just his puppeteering.
Oz began his behind-the-camera work when he co-directed the fantasy film The Dark Crystal with long-time collaborator Jim Henson. The film featured the most advanced puppets ever created for a movie. Oz further employed those skills in directing 1986's Little Shop Of Horrors. The musical film starred Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene, as well as Steve Martin, Bill Murray, John Candy, Christopher Guest, and a 15-foot-tall talking plant (voiced by Levi Stubbs) which at times required up to 40 puppeteers to operate.
Usually helming comedies, Oz went on to direct Dirty Rotten Scoundrels in 1988, starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine, What About Bob? in 1991, starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss, and HouseSitter in 1992 (all of which were scored by Miles Goodman). Later films include The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), In & Out (1997), Bowfinger (1999), The Score (2001), the 2004 re-make of The Stepford Wives, and Death at a Funeral (2007).
It was rumored that during the filming of The Score, Marlon Brando refused to take direction from Oz, causing Robert De Niro to act as an intermediary to relay instructions. Brando is reported to have called Oz "Miss Piggy", and to have once said to Oz, "I bet you wish I was a puppet so you could stick your hand up my ass and make me do whatever you want". Oz has, however, said that such claims are exaggerations.
Monster In The Mirror
Frank Oz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A monster in my mirror but I did not run away
I did not shed a tear or hide beneath my bed
Though the monster looked at me and this is what he said:
He said "Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
He sang "Wubba wubba wubba" so I sang it too
Do not wubba me or I will wubba you
Told the monster in the mirror, "No, I am not scared"
Then I smiled at him and thanked him for the song that we had shared
Well, the monster thanked me too, he smiled right back and then
The monster in the sang his song again
He said "Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
He went "Wubba wubba wubba" so I sang along
Yes, wubba wubba wubba is a monster song
Wubba wubba wubba is a monster song
Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
He went "Wubba wubba wubba" and I sang along
Wubba wubba wubba wubba wubba wubba
Yes, wubba wubba wubba is a monster song
Wubba wubba wubba is a monster song
If your mirror has a monster in it, do not shout
This kind of situation does not call for freaking out
And do nothing that you would not like to see him do
'Cause that monster in the mirror he just might be you
Singing "Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
Wubba wubba wubba you can join in too
Wubba wubba wubba wubba wubba wubba
Yes, if you wubba me then I will wubba you
If you wubba me then I will wubba you
Going wubba wubba wubba is the thing to do
Everytime you wubba us we'll wubba you
The lyrics of Frank Oz's song "Monster in the Mirror" could be interpreted as a metaphor for confronting one's fears. The lyrics suggest that the monster in the mirror could represent an individual's internal struggles or fears. When the singer sees the monster in the mirror, instead of running away or hiding, he confronts the monster and engages with him. The monster represents the fears and doubts that often hold people back from living their lives to the fullest. The song encourages listeners to face their fears and confront them head-on.
The lyrics are presented in a humorous and playful way, with the monster in the mirror singing "Wubba wubba wubba" as a way to engage with the singer. The playful tone of the song encourages listeners to approach their fears with levity and a sense of humor. The use of repetition in the chorus reinforces the idea that confronting one's fears can be an ongoing process, and that it's important to keep engaged with the process over time.
The song was written by Christopher Cerf and Norman Stiles for Sesame Street and was first performed by Grover in 1989. It was later performed by Oz himself, who also performed the voice of Grover. The song has become a classic Sesame Street tune, with its catchy melody and playful lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Saw a monster in the mirror when I woke up today
I woke up and noticed that there was something scary in the mirror
A monster in my mirror but I did not run away
Even though I saw something scary in the mirror, I didn't panic and leave the room
I did not shed a tear or hide beneath my bed
I didn't cry or try to hide from the monster under the bed
Though the monster looked at me and this is what he said:
Despite the monster staring at me, he spoke and said something
He said "Wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
The monster made a strange noise that sounded like "wubba wubba wubba wubba woo woo woo"
Wubba wubba wubba and a doodly do
The monster continued to make the weird noise, adding a "doodly do" at the end
He sang "Wubba wubba wubba" so I sang it too
The monster sang the strange noise again and I joined in and also made the sound
Do not wubba me or I will wubba you
The monster warned me not to mess with him, or he would retaliate with the same strange noise
Told the monster in the mirror, "No, I am not scared"
I bravely told the monster that I wasn't afraid of him
Then I smiled at him and thanked him for the song that we had shared
I smiled at the monster and thanked him for the weird noise that we had made together
Well, the monster thanked me too, he smiled right back and then
The monster smiled back at me and thanked me as well
The monster in the sang his song again
The monster sang the strange noise again
If your mirror has a monster in it, do not shout
If you see something scary in the mirror, don't scream or shout
This kind of situation does not call for freaking out
There's no need to get overly scared in these situations
And do nothing that you would not like to see him do
Don't do anything that you wouldn't want the monster to do to you
'Cause that monster in the mirror he just might be you
Because that monster in the mirror could just be a reflection of your own fears and insecurities
Going wubba wubba wubba is the thing to do
Making the strange noise "wubba wubba wubba" is just what we do in this situation
Everytime you wubba us we'll wubba you
If you make the noise, we'll make it back at you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind