This was one of those movies I could watch endlessly as a kid. My cousins and I would often watch it up at my aunt and uncle's house in Santa Barbara. They had it on VHS, and I think we watched it at nearly every holiday family gathering. It is a riot. One of the things I always love about all of the Muppet movies is how self aware they are. They always break down "the 4th wall", which means that the script is aware of the fact that a movie is being made, and the characters in the movie are able to wink at the audience (Blazing Saddles did this, as did Ferris Bueller). Also, the way that Jim Henson treats his Muppets gives a certain anarchy to the comedy. Take a look at how the Muppets are tossed from the passenger jet or how Gonzo hails a London cab, and you will see exactly what I am talking about. Like with cartoons, since the main characters are not real people, they can do things that no human can do, and the comedy becomes even more uproarious. Recently, I watched it with my kids for the first time, and then I asked them about it.
Joel: "We had a good movie night tonight...Wessie, come on over. Tonight, we watched a movie that Daddy first saw when he was Corrie or Jack's age, and that's 'The Great Muppet Caper'. Now, you've seen other Muppet movies, right? What was special about this one? What did you like about it that some of the other movies don't have?"
Corrie: "New friends."
Joel: "Like who?"
Corrie: "The head of the Happiness Hotel."
Jack: "I know a really good one."
Joel: "What?"
Jack: "That man who keeps driving...who didn't have a driver's license...the brown guy."
Joel: "His name is Bauregaard. What was the funniest part of the movie? Jack?"
Jack: "When I saw...I thought the police was taking Animal, but then I saw the robbers..."
Joel: "What about you Corrie?
Corrie: "There was a time when Kermit was going to see Miss Piggy, and he was dancing. But when he stopped, his shadow kept dancing! You were out of the room!"
Joel: "Oh I remember that part. You know the part I always really liked? I like when Gonzo throws himself in front of the taxi cab to stop it."
Wes: "I like how the bed just...ffffpth..."
Joel: "How the bed goes fffpth? What does it do, does it keep folding up Wes?"
Wes: "Yeah, it keeps folding up!"
Joel: "And what always happens right after the bed folds up to the light?"
Corrie and Wes make an exploding sound...
Jack: "The light bulb falls down when they leave the room, when they fold up in the bed..."
Joel: "The light bulb just keeps falling out, doesn't it?"
Corrie: "My other laugh is when the crates fell down in the pond, and the guy looks out and says (Corrie with a British accent) 'Oh...they said it was going to rain cats and dogs!"
Joel: "Yeah, that was funny...what did you think of the man who plays the brother...the jewel thief?"
Corrie: "Weirdo!"
Joel: "What did you think Jack?"
Jack: "I think that he's a bad guy and he's not very good at watching out for the Muppets."
Joel: "Another thing that I always really liked about the movie, is, how do they always get off the plane?"
Corrie: "He throws them off the plane! DAAAHHHHH!!!"
Joel: "There was also one kind of...do you kiddos know what the word cameo means?"
Corrie: "No."
Joel: "A cameo is something where a very famous person makes a short appearance in the movie. There were some cameos in this movie by some famous British actors that you don't know, but there was also a cameo by a very famous Muppet...that isn't usually in the Muppet movies, who was it?"
Corrie: "Oscar!?!"
Joel: "Oscar! That's what's called a cameo...when a person who is very famous is in a movie for a very very small amount of time. There are some other people in the movie who are very famous that you will find out about some other time...the man who is at dinner with his wife when Miss Piggy is trying to get into his house? Remember that guy? He's a very famous actor...a very famous funny man. I always loved how fast it was and how crazy it was when I was a kid. How does Bauregaard drop off Kermit, Fozzy and Gonzo at the hotel?"
Corrie: "He busts through the door with the car!"
Joel: "You guys have given me some fun things to talk about...is there anything else you want to say about the movie?"
Wes: "I like how the light bulbs keep falling out!"
Joel: "Yes Corrie?"
Corrie: "I like Miss Piggy's karate moves."
Joel: What about you Jack?"
Corrie: "HIYAH"
JACK: "You know what I really love?"
Joel: "What?"
Jack: "I really like how the light bulb keeps falling out every time they run out of the room."
Joel: "Alright...thanks kiddos!"
No comments:
Post a Comment