The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 British-American mystery musical comedy film directed by Jim Henson, marking his feature directorial debut. The film is about the Muppets who must travel to London to stop a jewel heist. It is the second of a series of live-action musical feature films, starring Jim Henson's Muppets. The film was a British-American venture produced by Henson Associates and ITC Entertainment, and originally released by Universal Pictures1 on 26 June 1981. It is also the only Muppet feature film directed by Henson. Shot in Great Britain in 1980, the film was released shortly after the final season of The Muppet Show.
Plot
Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo the Great are investigative reporters for the Daily Chronicle newspaper. Kermit and Fozzie, specifically, play identical twin reporters, which becomes the source of a running gagâ€"supposedly, nobody can tell they are twins when Fozzie removes his hat. One day, after the trio fail to report on a major jewel robbery, they ask their editor to allow them to travel to London to investigate the robbery and interview the victim, prominent fashion designer Lady Holiday.
With only $12 for the trip, they are forced to travel in an aeroplane's baggage hold and are thrown out of the plane as it passes over Britain. They stay at the dilapidated (but free) Happiness Hotel, which is populated by other Muppet characters such as Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, Sam Eagle, the Swedish Chef, and Rizzo the Rat. When Kermit seeks out Lady Holiday in her office, however, he instead finds her newly-hired receptionist, the alluring Miss Piggy, and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Piggy poses as Lady Holiday, and asks Kermit out for dinner; to keep up the pose, she allows Kermit to assume she lives at a "highbrow" address. She sneaks into a townhouse at 17 Highbrow Street to wait for him, much to the surprise of the actual upper-class British residents, and they go to dinner at a nightclub.
At the nightclub, Lady Holiday's necklace is stolen by her jealous brother Nicky and his accomplices Carla, Marla, and Darla, three of her put-upon fashion models, the very same thieves who robbed her before. After the robbery, Miss Piggy's charade is revealed and she flees, leaving Kermit behind, though they later reconcile in a park. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Miss Piggy, they frame her for the theft and plan to steal an even more valuable prize: Lady Holiday's largest and most valuable jewel, the fabulous Baseball Diamond, now on display at the local Mallory Gallery. Gonzo overhears their plot; and Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the other Muppets decide to intercept the thieves and catch them red-handed to exonerate Miss Piggy.
The Muppets sneak into the Mallory Gallery, and get to the Baseball Diamond at the same time as the thieves. They try to keep the diamond out of the thieves' hands via a game of keep away, which turns into baseball, but Nicky eventually catches the diamond and takes Kermit hostage. However, in the meantime, Piggy escapes from prison, and she races to the Mallory Gallery, crashing through the window on a motorcycle that serendipitously fell off a truck in front of her. She knocks Nicky out and dispatches Carla, Marla and Darla with a flurry of furious karate chops. As the police arrive, all charges against Piggy are dropped, Nicky and his fashion model-accomplices are arrested, and the Muppets get their deserved credit for foiling the heist.
The Muppets then return to the United States the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to the United States, over the end credits.
Cast
- Diana Rigg as Lady Holiday, a famous British fashion designer who has been the victim of a jewel heist.
- Charles Grodin as Nicky Holiday, Lady Holiday's brother. Although he falls in love with Miss Piggy, he commits jewel heists on his sister assisted by three of her fashion models, Carla, Darla, and Marla.
- Erica Creer as Marla
- Kate Howard as Carla
- Della Finch as Darla
Muppet performers
- Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, The Muppet Newsman
- Frank Oz as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam the Eagle, Cookie Monster
- Jerry Nelson as Floyd Pepper, Pops, Lew Zealand, Louis Kazagger
- Richard Hunt as Scooter, Statler, Sweetums, Janice, Beaker
- Dave Goelz as The Great Gonzo, Beauregard, Zoot, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew
- Steve Whitmire as Rizzo the Rat, Lips
- Caroll Spinney as Oscar the Grouch (cameo), Big Bird
- Kiran Shah as Miss Piggy (full-bodied stunt double)
- Hal Smith as Ernie
- Will Ryan as Bert
- John Landis as Grover
Cameo guest stars
- John Cleese as Neville, a somewhat indifferent but kind mannered middle-aged rich British homeowner who lives with his wife Dorcas at 17 Highbrow Street. Cleese had previously guest-starred in a second-season episode of The Muppet Show.
- Joan Sanderson as Dorcas, Neville's apathetic and somewhat dull mannered wife. Sanderson previously appeared alongside Cleese in the Fawlty Towers episode "Communication Problems".
- Jack Warden as Mr. Mike Tarkenian, the editor-in-chief of The Daily Chronicle.
- Peter Falk as Tramp (uncredited)
- Robert Morley as a British Gentleman by Pond
- Peter Ustinov as a truck driver, who has his truck stolen by Miss Piggy when she gets indignant over his arrogant rudeness of refusing to give her an emergency ride. Ustinov had previously guest-starred in a first-season episode of The Muppet Show.
- Jim Henson as a table guest having a snapshot in a restaurant who Gonzo comes across when taking photos of tabled couples in attempts to raise some quick money for his group's meal.
- Michael Robbins as Henderson, the Mallory Gallery's security guard.
- Peter Hughes as Stanley, a Maitre D' at the Dubonnet Club and an old acquaintance and favoured patron of Lady Holiday.
- Peggy Aitchison as a guard at the prison where Miss Piggy is detained.
- Tommy Godfrey as a bus conductor.
- Richard Hunt as a cab driver.
- Jerry Nelson as a man in a park.
- Christine Nelson as the above's daughter, who mistakes Kermit for a bear, until her father corrects her saying he is a frog; bears wear hats.
Release
Box office
The film grossed $31.2 million domestically on a $14 million budget thus making it a box office success. It is the fifth-highest grossing Muppet film behind The Muppets (2011), The Muppet Movie (1979), Muppets Most Wanted (2014) and Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
Critical reception
The Great Muppet Caper has received generally positive reviews. The film holds a 79% approval rating based on 20 reviews on aggregate review site Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 6.5/10. The site's consensus says "The Great Muppet Caper is overplotted and uneven, but the appealing presence of Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang ensure that this heist flick is always breezily watchable." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a two star rating (out of four) and concluded his review by saying that "the lack of a cutting edge hurts this movie. It's too nice, too routine, too predictable, and too safe."
Home media
The Great Muppet Caper was first released on Betamax, VHS, and LaserDisc in 1982 by 20th Century Fox Video. Jim Henson Video through Buena Vista Home Video re-released the film on VHS and LaserDisc in 1993. The movie was reissued on VHS by Columbia Tristar Home Video and Jim Henson Home Entertainment in June, 1999. It was later released on DVD by Sony Pictures and Jim Henson Home Entertainment on 5 June 2001 and subsequently on 29 November 2005 by Walt Disney Home Entertainment as Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition.
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released The Great Muppet Caper on Blu-ray and DVD, alongside Muppet Treasure Island, on 10 December 2013.
Music
In 1982, Joe Raposo was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "The First Time It Happens" but lost to "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" by Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen from Arthur. This was the only one of the first three Muppet films not to be nominated for Best Music, Original Song Score.
In 1981, Miss Piggy won the Youth in Film Award for Best Young Musical Recording Artist for her performance of "The First Time It Happens", becoming the first, and only, non-human recipient in the history of the award.
Soundtrack
The Great Muppet Caper: The Original Soundtrack contains all of the songs from the film, as well as several portions of dialogue and background score. The album reached #66 on Billboard's Top LP's and Tapes chart in 1981.
- Track listing
All tracks written by Joe Raposo.
Footnotes
References
External links
- Official website
- The Great Muppet Caper on IMDb
- The Great Muppet Caper at the TCM Movie Database
- The Great Muppet Caper at Box Office Mojo
- The Great Muppet Caper at Rotten Tomatoes
- Muppet Movies Lyric Archive
- The Great Muppet Caper on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki