The Great Muppet Caper

Released	June 26, 1981
Duration	95 minutes
Director	Jim Henson
Written by	Jerry Juhl, Tom Patchett, Jack Rose and Jay Tarses
Music	Joe Raposo
Studio	Henson Associates and ITC Entertainment
Rated	G

Promotional photo

The Great Muppet Caper is the second in a series of live-action musical feature films starring the Muppets.

Synopsis

In the story, Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear play the roles of twin brothers (yes, twin brothers) who are newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle. Accompanied by Gonzo as their photographer, they are assigned to investigate the theft of a valuable diamond necklace from fashion designer Lady Holiday. They travel to London, England to interview her, but without any money for travel, they're forced to fly in the baggage hold of an aircraft and are thrown out of the plane as they arrive over Britain. They stay at the ramshackle (but free) Happiness Hotel, run by Pops and populated by the likes of Scooter, Rowlf, and the Electric Mayhem. When Kermit seeks out Lady Holiday in her office, however, he instead finds her receptionist, Miss Piggy, and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Piggy falls in love with the little green reporter and masquerades as Lady Holiday, even going so far as to sneak into a ritzy house in order to impress Kermit with her dwellings, much to the surprise of the true British residents.

In fact, the jewel theft was orchestrated by Lady Holiday's nefarious brother Nicky, assisted by three of her put-upon fashion models. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Miss Piggy, they successfully frame her for the theft and proceed to steal an even more valuable prize -- the coveted Baseball Diamond, which is on display at a local gallery. Kermit's crew, along with their friends from the Happiness Hotel, have no choice but to intercept and catch the thieves themselves in order to clear Miss Piggy's good name. Piggy, meanwhile, has escaped from prison and, in a bout of serendipity, finds a motorcycle which she uses to literally crash into the film's climax and help apprehend the lovestruck Nicky. The Muppets then return to America the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to Earth as the credits roll.

Notes

• Gonzo's classification as a "whatever" is officially cemented in this film, as this is the label affixed to his shipping crate en route to Great Britain.

• The fourth wall is completely demolished by the Muppets during the course of the film. Fozzie comments on the opening credits as they appear on screen; Kermit talks directly to the audience about the roles that he and Fozzie and Gonzo will play; Miss Piggy questions Lady Holiday giving her information about her brother for no apparent reason, to which she replies it is an important plotpoint that had to go somewhere; Kermit later reminds one of the guest stars (Peter Falk), after a meandering monologue, that they need to get back to the story; later Kermit and Miss Piggy break character and start arguing over her acting skills; and at one point a truck driver (played by Peter Ustinov) questions the presence of Oscar the Grouch, to which he replies "A very brief cameo."

• The end of the bicycle scene, where all the Muppets are shown riding together was actually done by putting all of the Muppet characters onto their bikes, then hooking them together. Brian Henson, on an oversized tricycle, was amongst those pulling the bikes.

• In addition to Brian Henson, Lisa Henson worked as a production runner. On-screen cameos were made by Jim Henson and Amy Van Gilder (as club patrons), Frank Oz (working at the Daily Chronicle), Jerry Nelson and his daughter Christine (as father and daughter in the park), and Richard Hunt and Kathryn Mullen (in "Hey a Movie!").
• A full body Miss Piggy was used in the film twice. Once when Miss Piggy was leaving the supper club, and another time when she was diving in a pool during her fantasy.
• The song "The First Time It Happens" by Joe Raposo was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song during the 54th Academy Awards.

• Jim Henson had various friends and relatives suggest titles for the movie. The winning title was suggested by Lisa Henson.

Production notes

A working title for the project was The Muppet Movie 2; the film was a composit of two scripts - The Muppets Hit the Road (written by Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses) and The Good, The Bad, and The Muppets (written by Jerry Juhl and Jack Rose).

The Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter (vol. 3, no. 2, 1981) had this description of the filming of The Great Muppet Caper:

"Watch for the shadow on the wall in Kermit's Fred Astaire dance number. It took 43 takes to get it right, the most takes needed for any shot in any movie.

"Miss Piggy's underwater musical number was the most difficult scene to shoot, mostly because of communication problems. Lights, cameramen, cameras, speakers, monitors and Miss Piggy were all underwater. There were also 18 professional swimmers who had to dive into the pool at the right moment. We tried to get a dolphin to direct this part, but only one goldfish answered the ad.

"So, the heat was on -- literally. We kept the water at 90 degrees Fahrenheit which made the air temperature a moist 95 degrees. The conditions were tropical! We then tried to get a director who also happened to be a monkey or a crocodile. One monkey applied, but he didn't like our terms (3 bananas/hour), and the crocodile ate his agent on the way to the studio.

"We did almost all of our location shooting in England, working in and around London for about a month. Except for one rainy night, we never had to postpone shooting because of the weather. Then we went to "sunny" Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had bad weather half of the time! It just goes to show that you can't trust a cloud.

"In Albuquerque, we shot the hot air balloon sequence which comes at the beginning of the film. It wasn't easy because there were so many variables. Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo went up in a genuine hot air balloon. If the wind blew, the balloon wouldn't go up. when the balloon did go up, a helicopter, with a cameraman suspended underneath it, followed it around. (We tried to find a bird to work the camera, but the chickens didn't like the idea and threatened to strike.) Occasionally, the helicopter would go above the balloon, forcing the hot air out and the balloon down, CRASH! An even more uncomfortable problem was filling the balloon with hot air. A burner was pushed up inside, and one time Kermit and Fozzie got singed! Gonzo, of course, loved it."

Frank Oz commented on the effects in an interview for Dynamite magazine:

"The water ballet scene with Miss Piggy was really wonderful. I was under the water for a week. I had three days of scuba training and then down I went. Having them swim for the first time really was exciting!

"It's amazing, though, you work and work on the most difficult things and people say, 'That's nice.' then something easy will occur and it will be all anyone talks about! In the first movie it was Kermit riding a bike. It was very easy to do that. It was just a simple marionette with strings. In the same film there was that whole complicated sequence with Gonzo in the balloon, crashing into the sign and landing in the car. It took forever to film that -- and all the talk was about the bike! That's why we have a whole bicycle parade in this film."

A script re-write by Jay Tarses, Tom Patchett, and Jim Henson began on April 25, 1980.

Edits

• When this movie aired on the Odyssey Network, the entire bicycle sequence was cut.

Cast

Jim Henson's cameo in the film.

• Muppet Performers

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, Kathryn Mullen, Bob Payne, Brian Muehl, Mike Quinn, Robbie Barnett, Hugh Spight, Brian Henson, and Kiran Shah

• Human Cast

Charles Grodin as Nicky Holiday

Diana Rigg as Lady Holiday

Erica Creer as Marla

Kate Howard as Carla

Della Finch as Darla

Michael Robbins as Guard

Joan Sanderson as Dorcas

Peter Hughes as Stanley the Maitre D'

Peggy Aitchison as Prison Guard

Tommy Godfrey as Bus Conductor

Katia Bong as 1st Model

Valli Kemp as 2nd Model

Michele Ivan-Zadeh as 3rd Model

Chai Lee as 4th Model

Christine Nelson as Girl in Park

• Charkey's Water Ballet:

Cynthia Ashley, Susan Backlinie, Sherrill Cannon, Christine Cullen, Susie Guest, Wendy Holker, Linda Horn, Lee Kenan, Darine Klega, Lynn Latham, Cynthia Leake, Kahren Lohren, Tricia McFarlin, Denise McKenna, Melina Lee Phelps, Denise Potter, Ann Rynne, Roberta Ward

• Cameo Guest Stars

John Cleese as Neville

Robert Morley as Man by Pond

Peter Ustinov as Truck Driver

Jack Warden as Mike Tarkanian

Peter Falk (uncredited) as Disheveled Gentleman

Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney) as himself

Muppet Cast

File:GMC-ElectrocutedBeaker.jpg

• Muppet Characters

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Rowlf, Scooter, Rizzo the Rat, Sweetums, Pops, Lew Zealand, Lips, The Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Beauregard, The Newsman, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler and Waldorf, Louis Kazagger

• Background Characters

Annie Sue, Crazy Harry, Gaffer, The Mutations, Droop, Timmy Monster, Frackles, Luncheon Counter Monster, Flower-Eating Monster, Miss Kitty, Lubbock Lou, Bubba, Gramps, Lou, Slim Wilson, Zeke, The Singing Food

• Animated Characters

Bluebirds

Additional Credits

• Executive Producer: Martin Starger
• Producers: David Lazer and Frank Oz
• Associate Producer: Bruce Sharman
• Director of Photography: Oswald Morris
• Film Editor: Ralph Kemplen
• Choreographer: Anita Mann
• Muppet Designers and Builders: Caroly Wilcox, Tim Miller, Leslee Asch, Nomi Frederick, Ann Keeba-Tannenbaum, Janet Kuhl, Kathy Lazar, Joan Garrick, Tom Newby, Tom McLaughlin, Perry McLamb, Lyle Conway, Maria McNamara, Ed Christie, Connie Peterson, Jane Gootnick
• Muppet Technical Designers: Faz Fazakas, Tim Rose, Tad Krzanowski, Larry Jameson
• Muppet Costumes: Calista Hendrickson, Mary Strieff, Joanne Green, Carol Spier, Danielle Obinger
• Workshop Supervisor: Robert McCormack
• Muppet Doctor: Amy Van Gilder
• Special Assistant to Miss Piggy: Barbara Davis
• Design Consultant: Michael K. Frith
• New York Workshop Coordinator: Will Morrison
• Miss Piggy's Hairstyles: Christine Cooper
• Miss Piggy's Portfolio: John E. Barrett

Template:Muppet-Movies

Gallery

See also

• The Great Muppet Caper (video)
• The Great Muppet Caper (soundtrack)
• The Muppets Go to the Movies (promotional special)

External links

• IMDb
• Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition DVD review at UltimateDisney.com
• Jim Henson's Red Book entries: Parachute sequence, "Piggy's Fantasy", "Couldn't We Ride"