The Great Muppet Caper

The Great Muppet Caper (1981)

The Muppets... Scotland Yard... jewel thieves... lead to high adventure in London.

Kermit and Fozzie are newspaper reporters sent to London to interview Lady Holiday, a wealthy fashion designer whose priceless diamond necklace is stolen. Kermit meets and falls in love with her secretary, Miss Piggy. The jewel thieves strike again, and this time frame Miss Piggy. It's up to Kermit and the rest of the Muppets to bring the real culprits to justice.

Date of release
1981-06-26
TMDB
6.9 / 10 (362)
Runtime
1h 37m
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Family, Mystery, Romance
Director
Jim Henson

Casting

  • Jim Henson — Kermit the Frog / Rowlf the Dog / Dr. Teeth / Waldorf / Swedish Chef / The Muppet Newsman / Zeke / Man in Dubonnet Club
  • Frank Oz — Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Animal / Sam the Eagle / Gramps / Swedish Chef (voice)
  • Dave Goelz — The Great Gonzo / Beauregard / Zoot / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Lobbuck Lou / Singing Food (voice)
  • Jerry Nelson — Sergeant Floyd Pepper / Pops / Lew Zealand / Louis Kazagger / Bellhop Rat / Slim Wilson / "Dirty Bird" / Man in Park
  • Richard Hunt — Scooter / Statler / Sweetums / Janice / Beaker / Bellhop Rat / Bubba / Gramps / Monster / Singing Food / Cab Driver
  • Charles Grodin — Nicky Holiday
  • Diana Rigg — Lady Holiday
  • John Cleese — Neville
  • Robert Morley — British Gentleman by Pond
  • Peter Ustinov — Truck Driver
  • Jack Warden — Mike Tarkenian
  • Steve Whitmire — Rizzo the Rat / Lips / Bellhop Rat / Monster / Singing Food / Zeke (voice)

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: London

The Great Muppet Caper is a 1981 musical heist comedy film directed by Jim Henson. It is the second theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Muppet performers Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and Steve Whitmire, as well as Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg, with special cameo appearances by John Cleese, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov, Peter Falk, and Jack Warden. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. In the plot, the Muppets are caught up in a jewel heist while investigating a robbery in London.

Production

Development on the script for a second Muppets film began during the production of the fifth season of The Muppet Show. Henson wanted the film to be an homage to movie musicals of the past, "to have the fun and joy of those earlier films"; he also wanted Kermit in the role of a reporter-turned-detective, with a rival vying for the affections of Miss Piggy.

Filming began in the autumn of 1980 and ended in the early winter of 1981, over a period of twenty weeks.

The scene in which the cast of Muppets ride bicycles through Battersea Park, an evolution of the special effect of Kermit riding a bicycle from 1979's The Muppet Movie, was accomplished by puppeteer Faz Fazakas and Henson's son Brian through a combination of radio-controlled bicycles (some of which were attached to each other with rods), and marionette rigging.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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