none said:

The Making of Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace

pg. 96

"Neither Lucas nor McCallum had ever considered attempting to reintroduce the character of Yoda without Frank Oz as the man behind the puppet. "I'd been speaking to Frank about it off and on for two or three years before we did the movie," McCallum said. "There was just no way we were going to do it without him. We fit out schedule around his. He'd just finished a movie, and he fit us in for two days between t he completion of his movie and the start of his press conferences. Two days and he was gone. But it was essential to have him there. Yoda would not be Yoda without Frank Oz."

That doesn't necessarily contradict what he said. Either with puppet or digital Yoda, they were going to need Frank Oz.