The Great Muppet Caper (1981) Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg, John Cleese, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov, Jack Warden, Peter Falk Movie Review

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)   4/54/54/54/54/5


Peter Falk and Kermit in The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

The Muppets Hit London

Twin reporters, Kermit and Fozzie, are dispatched to London to conduct an interview with celebrated fashion designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg) who has just fallen foul of thieves who have stolen a priceless necklace. But when Kermit attempts to meet her he meets and falls for her secretary, Miss Piggy, thinking that she is Lady Holiday. But the thieves are not finished with Lady Holiday yet and Miss Piggy finds herself thrown in the slammer when she is framed for another robbery. Now Kermit and the Muppets are going to have to save the day to make sure that not only is Miss Piggy proved innocent but the real criminals are caught.

To be honest I have a bit of a love hate relationship with the Muppet movies as whilst some have certainly entertained me to the point that I have gone out of my way to watch them more than once there are others which have simply bored. Fortunately "The Great Muppet Caper" is one of the better ones with a storyline which not only has a touch of 1940s crime caper about it but also a touch of the 1930s musical as well which combined makes it entertaining from start to finish. On top of that even now I find myself wondering how they did some of the puppet work with the Muppets doing things which just seem impossible.

Miss Piggy in The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

Now the storyline to "The Great Muppet Caper" is certainly entertaining as it almost takes bits of classic Hollywood and works them together. So for one we have some romantic confusion as Kermit falls for Miss Piggy who is pretending to be Lady Holiday. But then we also get a shady figure who Miss Holiday takes a shine to who is a no good double crosser and behind her being framed. Of course with the Muppets and the word "Caper" in the title there is a lot of comedy and chaos thrown into this but all the time the story is what drives "The Great Muppet Caper" forwards, well that and a lot of fun appearances from the likes of Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg and Peter Falk.

But the thing which stands out for me about "The Great Muppet Caper" is the art and creativity of the puppetry. From dance scenes to a big musical number involving a swimming Miss Piggy this movie goes above what you expect and it still leaves you wondering how they did some of the stuff. Take for an example a scene where Kermit and Miss Piggy go for a cycle through the park, you think you know how they are doing it with the Muppets fixed to bikes whilst being pulled along out of shot. But then you get both Kermit and Miss Piggy cycling around in circles and it is a clear shot leaving you wondering what sort of trickery they used to achieve that.

What this all boils down to is that "The Great Muppet Caper" is for me still one of the best Muppet movies because whilst you get the cameos and the expected Muppet antics it is driven by an old time storyline. On top of that the skill of the puppeteers in this is absolutely brilliant and still leaves you in awe as to how they achieved certain things.


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