The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

June 6, 2020 12:04 PM

Kermit the Frog, The Great Gonzo, and Fozzie Bear are reporters who travel to Britain to interview a rich victim of jewel thieves and help her along with her secretary, Miss Piggy.

The lack of a cutting edge hurts this movie. It's too nice, too routine, too predictable, and too safe. -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Here is a thoroughly genial movie, a combination of A.A. Milne, Busby Berkeley and a small bit of Blake Edwards... -- Vincent Canby, The New York Times

The usual pleasures are all here – meta winks, an absurd sense of logic, lots of felt –but director Jim Henson and his puppeteers seemed especially intent on giving themselves logistical challenges this time around. -- Josh Larsen, LarsenOnFilm

The Great Muppet Caper is streaming via Disney+ in the US.

posted by Etrigan (8 comments total)

We happened upon this on Disney+ last night during Family Movie Night with the teenagers, and they mostly liked it. I was surprised at how long some of the individual scenes were (the bit with Cleese in particular takes positively hours, and good lord Peter Falk's monologue), but on the whole, it really holds up. The effects (particularly the full-body Miss Piggy stunt scenes) were simply mind-boggling when you actually started thinking about them.
posted by Etrigan at 12:07 PM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

The fabulous baseball diamond!

This might not be the best Muppet movie, but it is my favorite. The opening number is great.
posted by the primroses were over at 12:36 PM on June 6, 2020

This is a childhood ultra fave of mine. Diana Rigg is such a queen.
posted by merriment at 12:49 PM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I think I remember seeing Charles Grodin promoting the movie on a talk show (Johnny Carson, I think) back when the movie came out, and doing a bit as if he'd really been in love with Piggy but refusing to discuss it, and being hostile towards Kermit; I remember it being hilarious. And I remember Frank Oz once talking about how after a take of a Grodin/Piggy scene, Grodin made a suggestion of something Piggy could try in the next take, but said it to Piggy not Oz, and Oz said it was the first time an actor had ever given notes to the puppet instead of the puppeteer.
posted by oh yeah! at 3:21 PM on June 6, 2020 [4 favorites]

The movie is uneven, but the "Fozzie and Kermit are identical twins" gag is one of my all-time favorites.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:13 PM on June 6, 2020 [1 favorite]

I loved this movie although I doubt it's aged that well. My wife and I still quote it though.

favorite bit:

"Look, Dad. There's a bear."

"No, Christine, that's a frog. Bears wear hats."
posted by mmoncur at 6:36 AM on June 7, 2020 [1 favorite]

and good lord Peter Falk's monologue...

My favorite scene in the movie!
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:28 PM on June 8, 2020

Saw this for the first time last night. It wasn't as good as The Muppet Movie, but it was still pretty fun and watchable.

I love how in the Muppet universe, they just co-exist with human beings and no one thinks anything of it. And how the Henson team did something fun and meta with the opening credits and kept the action going through the end credits.

Peter Ustinov/Truck Driver: What are you doing here?
Oscar the Grouch: A very brief cameo.
Peter Ustinov/Truck Driver: Me too.

Kermit: Quiet!
[all fall silent except Janice]
Janice: Look, Mother. It's my life, okay? So if I want to live on a beach and walk around naked... Oh.
posted by orange swan at 11:04 AM on December 4, 2020 [1 favorite]