The Great Muppet Caper

It seems stupid to be a Muppet fan and not have seen all their movies. Now that I have seen “The Great Muppet Caper”, I am not longer ashamed. Unfortunately, I did not like it as much as the other films the Muppets have done. Still, it is not a terrible movie. It was funny and contained qualities that the Muppets are known for.

First of all, the Muppets always break the fourth wall and this happens right from the get-go. The Muppets are watching and pointing out the opening credits. Another example is the line “Your voice was dubbed!” Another characteristic of a Muppet movie is an attempt to make these puppets act as realistic as possible. Jim Henson always tries to do things that have not been done before with puppets and a great example of this among the many in “The Great Muppet Caper” is the cast members riding bicycles. At first the allusion seemed simple enough because we saw Kermit ride a bike on “The Muppet Movie” but then the characters began to sing when you can see their whole bodies. That is something I can’t figure out. A remote controlled robot would be too heavy in my opinion. Another example of the allusions in the film is when the characters are lying on cement. Finally, the ballroom dancing must have been very hard for Henson and Frank Oz to pull off as Kermit and Miss Piggy twirl quite fast. This leads me to yet another Muppet movie quality: the romantic plotline of Kermit and Piggy. This subplot sort of worked but not as well as in the first film or future films. One part that did work is when Miss Piggy is accused of stealing the necklace. Kermit believes Miss Piggy when she says that Nicky planted the necklace on her because Kermit knows the truth about Nicky. This sets up the climax pretty well. A very important part of “The Muppet Show” was the celebrity guests and this had to carry over into the feature films. I recognized Charles Grodin right away and thanks to the manner of his first appearance, the villain persona was applied quite well. John Cleese has such a unique voice that he was easily identifiable for me. I didn’t recognize Peter Falk however. One thing the Muppet films do very well is that the cameos seem to come out of nowhere. Jim Henson’s cameo was so awesome due to its surprise. The moment between Peter Ustinov and Oscar the Grouch was classic and pretty funny.

Other things about this movie should be pointed out such as Kermit in his trench coat. “Sesame Street News” was how I was first introduced to the frog as a kid and so Kermit wearing that outfit is sentimental. “The Great Muppet Caper” is not actually a sequel to “The Muppet Movie” because the Muppets in this film are not continuing the story from the first film. Kermit, Fozzie and Miss Piggy are playing themselves but in a different setting. This approach would be repeated in the next film and for “Muppets from Space” in later years. I always thought that Rizzo’s first appearance as a Muppet was on “The Muppets Take Manhattan”. As a rat from Jersey, it seemed like the logical intro. Apparently, he was on the last season of “The Muppet Show” and he is in this movie briefly. “The Great Muppet Caper” as mentioned has some great humor such as the first appearance of the Muppet Newsman and the folding bed running gag (especially the light bulb falling on the floor each time). Finally, Miss Piggy on the radio using the trucker lingo was pretty hilarious thanks to Oz’s performance. It is so good because when Frank Oz created Miss Piggy years earlier, he imagined her as a truck driver trying to be a woman. It is interesting how Fozzie is the one to get the Muppets to help catch the thieves and not Kermit. Story-wise, Kermit is the one who gets the great speeches. One mistake on this movie was the wide shots of Miss Piggy on the motorcycle. The motorcyclist wearing the Miss Piggy mask looks really weird.

Because of the problems of having an outside director make “The Muppet Movie”, Jim Henson directed this film and that makes it a little special. With Henson busy making “The Great Muppet Caper” and “The Muppet Show”, he could not accept George Lucas’ offer of performing Yoda in “Star Wars”. After finally seeing this show, it doesn’t feel as classical or heart-filled as “The Muppet Movie” did. Having said that, I enjoyed the humor and traditional characteristics that one might expect in this genre.

3.5 Stars