Editing Miss Piggy (section)

==Characterization==
[[File:Jim Henson, creator, The Muppets -full.jpg|thumb|Jim Henson with a Miss Piggy puppet and Fozzie Bear puppet in 1979.]]

===Origins and description===
In a 1979 interview with ''[[The New York Times]]'', performer [[Frank Oz]] outlined Piggy's biography: "She grew up in a small town (most likely [[Keystone, Iowa]]); her father died when she was young and her mother wasn't that nice to her. She had to enter [[Beauty pageant|beauty contests]] to survive. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar".<ref>{{cite news|last=Culhane|first=John|author-link=John Culhane|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/10/archives/the-muppets-in-movieland-muppets-moving-muppets.html|title=The Muppets in Movieland|work=The New York Times|date=June 10, 1979|access-date=May 15, 2020}}</ref> During development of ''The Muppet Show'', Oz assigned a hook for each Muppet he performed; Miss Piggy's hook was a "truck driver wanting to be a woman". Oz has also stated that while [[Fozzie Bear]] is a two-dimensional character and [[Animal (Muppet)|Animal]] has no dimensions, Miss Piggy is one of the few Muppet characters to be fully realized in three dimensions.

Piggy, truly a diva in a class of her own, is convinced she is destined for stardom, and nothing will stand in her way. She has a capricious nature, at times determined to (and often succeeding in) conveying an image of feminine charm, but suddenly flying into a violent rage (accompanied by her trademark karate chop and "[[kiai|hi-yah]]!") whenever she thinks someone has insulted or thwarted her. [[Kermit the Frog]] has learned this all too well; when she is not smothering him in kisses, she is sending him flying through the air with a karate chop.

She loves wearing [[long gloves]]; [[Hildegarde]], who used to wear them, once said, "Miss Piggy stole the gloves idea from me”.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wwd.com/eye/people/disney-plus-muppets-now-miss-piggy-1203698258/|title=Miss Piggy Talks 'Muppets Now,' Pandemic Fashion and Giving Kermit a Makeover|first1=Booth|last1=Moore|date=August 13, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20050801/hildegardeobit01/cabaret-singer-hildegarde-is-dead-at-99 |title=Cabaret singer Hildegarde is dead at 99 |date=August 1, 2005 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=January 31, 2013}}</ref> Miss Piggy was also inspired by jazz singer [[Peggy Lee]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gupta |first1=Anika |title=The Woman Behind Miss Piggy |language=en |work=Smithsonian |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-woman-behind-miss-piggy-11290861/?no-ist}}</ref>

===Relationship with Kermit===
[[File:Miss Piggy in Wedding dress in 2010.jpg|thumb|Miss Piggy in the wedding dress from ''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]],'' 2010.]]
Since the debut of ''The Muppet Show'', the [[Romance (love)|romantic relationship]] between Miss Piggy and [[Kermit the Frog]] has been subject to substantial coverage and commentary by the media. Throughout ''The Muppet Show''<nowiki/>'s run, Miss Piggy's romantic pursuit for Kermit was consistently expressed. Kermit, however, constantly rebuffed Piggy's feelings. Eventually, in the films, Kermit began returning her affections and even (unwittingly) marries her in ''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]''. However, subsequent events suggest that the marriage was simply fictional. It is mentioned by Miss Piggy, however, in ''[[The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years]]'' (1986) that Kermit was a happily married frog. This marriage isn't referenced in ''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]''.

Miss Piggy and Kermit formally ended their romantic relationship on May 10, 1990.<ref name="FirstBreakup" /> The decision was made by [[Jim Henson Productions]] and a publicity campaign titled "The Pig of the Nineties" was scheduled to follow. An autobiography of Piggy was expected to be published as part of the effort.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Goldberg|first1=Lesley|title='The Muppets' Co-Creator on ABC's More Adult Series, Kermit and Piggy's Media Blitz|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/muppets-kermit-piggy-media-blitz-826303|access-date=October 1, 2015|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 22, 2015}}</ref> However, shortly after the announcement on May 16, [[Jim Henson]] died and the campaign was dropped altogether.<ref name="FirstBreakup">{{cite news|last1=Wagmeister|first1=Elizabeth|title=Jim Henson 'Would Have Been Thrilled to See The Muppets Getting So Much Attention'|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/the-muppets-backlash-miss-piggy-kermit-jim-henson-interview-1201600148/|access-date=September 28, 2015|work=Variety|date=September 22, 2015}}</ref> The two eventually resumed their relationship.

In 2015, Miss Piggy and Kermit ended their romantic relationship for a second time.<ref name="LATBreakup" /><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Snetiker|first1=Marc|title=Kermit and Piggy announce breakup at press conference|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/08/04/muppets-kermit-piggy-split-break-up-tca|access-date=August 4, 2015|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=August 4, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/realmisspiggy/status/628621787979489280|title=Miss Piggy on Twitter|work=Twitter}}</ref>

===Performers===
[[Frank Oz]] was Miss Piggy's principal performer from her early appearances on ''[[The Muppet Show]]'' until his departure from the cast in 2000;<ref name="VarMojo" /> his last known performance as Piggy was an appearance on ''[[The Today Show]]''. Oz's earliest known performance as Piggy was actually in a 1974 appearance on ''[[The Tonight Show]]''. [[Richard Hunt (puppeteer)|Richard Hunt]] occasionally performed Miss Piggy during the first season of ''[[The Muppet Show]]'', alternating with Oz. In 2002, [[Eric Jacobson]] was cast as the new performer of Miss Piggy, and his first public debut as the character was performed via satellite at the 2001 ''MuppetFest''. Jacobson has remained Piggy's principal performer since then, openly describing the role as "one of the most famous [[Drag queen|drag acts]] in the business."<ref name="VarMojo">{{cite news|last=Setoodeh|first=Ramin|title=How Kermit and the Muppets Got Their Mojo Back|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/the-muppets-talk-about-comebacks-and-their-relationship-with-disney-1201128921/|access-date=March 12, 2014|newspaper=Variety|date=March 11, 2014}}</ref>

During Oz's tenure as the character, other performers would step in. [[Jerry Nelson]] performed Piggy in 1974 for a brief appearance on ''[[Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass]]''. [[Fran Brill]] performed Piggy for ''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]'', a pilot for ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. [[Kevin Clash]] and [[Peter Linz]] puppeteered Piggy for most of the filming of ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'' and ''[[Muppets from Space]]'', respectively, with Oz [[Dubbing (filmmaking)|dubbing]] Piggy's voice in post-production. [[Victor Yerrid]] briefly performed Piggy in ''Muppets Ahoy!'', a 2006 stage show for the [[Disney Cruise Line]]. In ''[[Muppet Babies (1984 TV series)|Muppet Babies]]'', Piggy's voice was provided by voice actress [[Laurie O'Brien]]. Voice actor [[Hal Rayle]] provided her voice for a short-lived spin-off series, ''[[Little Muppet Monsters]]''. Melanie Harrison voices Baby Piggy on the 2018 reboot of ''[[Muppet Babies (2018 TV series)|Muppet Babies]]''.