YMMV / The Great Muppet Caper

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • This article suggests that instead of being a Card-Carrying Villain, Nicky Holiday is actually a complex character who is Driven by Envy of his sister's success and is also an Attention Whore who steals from his own sister not just because of those traits but also specifically to hurt her.
  • It also suggests that he's drawn to Miss Piggy not just because of the Fridge Brilliance mentioned below but also because other relations haven't been fulfilling and that she was captivating in personality rather than appearance while also being something that he could take away from his sister.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Peter Falk's cameo was presumably an intentional one as the story he gives to Kermit has little to do with his problems.
• Broken Base: Though you can hardly call the film itself divisive since it’s a generally well-regarded film, there is a divide between Muppet fans regarding the tone of the film. Some fans enjoy the Medium Awareness of the film and the highly comical approach, but others felt it went a bit too far and prefer a more nuanced, grounded story. A more meager box office performance of this film led to the following film being Darker and Edgier without any fourth wall-breaking, leading fans to discuss which of the two sequels is the better one.
• Common Knowledge: Fans love to point out the "mistake" of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment wherein Miss Piggy is shown singing with the other residents of the Happiness Hotel in their introductory song, with some rumors even suggesting that the shot implied an earlier cut of the film where she lives there. This is no mistake; that's not Miss Piggy but Annie Sue, a much less popular pig character, whose chief difference from Miss Piggy is her blonde, curly hair. However, Miss Piggy, who has sported multiple hairstyles over the years, wore her hair this way in the very next film, so it's an easy mistake to make.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • It makes sense that Nicky would be tired of conventionally attractive women, since being the brother of a fashion designer, he naturally sees a lot of them.
  • The Obvious Stunt Double for the scenes where Miss Piggy is taking a dive, and later riding a motorcycle make more sense when you remember when Miss Piggy is scaling the ritzy English house, and she complains, “Next time they want stunts, they get a double!”
• Fridge Horror: Lady Holiday was hesitant to wear her priceless diamond necklace while having dinner with Nicky (due to having her jewels stolen before), but Nicky insisted that she wear it. Earlier in the movie, her models made plans to steal it. Nicky set Lady Holiday up to have her necklace stolen! In fact, his whole asking her out to dinner was probably part of the scheme. While Lady Holiday was oblivious to her brother's involvement in the crime, she had a good reason to be worried about what might happen to her jewels.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Lady Holliday's first scene viciously disparaging a trio of dress designs now comes off as a preview of Diana Rigg's role in Game of Thrones.
  • John Cleese referring to Kermit as "a lizard" is particularly funny after the "tea lizard" meme featuring Kermit.
• Magnificent Bastard: Nicky Holiday, masquerading as an irresponsible, parasitic playboy by day, is actually a sneaky, devious master thief. Nicky makes off with the jewels of his own sister Lady Holiday, pinning the deed on Miss Piggy to walk off scot-free. Later, he stages an elaborate, near-successful robbery to steal the Baseball Diamond, an effort only thwarted by the Muppets catching onto his schemes. Despite being a total Card-Carrying Villain, Nicky sincerely falls for Miss Piggy, takes his defeat with grace and ends the film with an apology to her.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Did you leave them in your other pants?" "I don't have no other pants!"
  • "You know, it's amazing, you're 100% wrong. I mean, nothing you've said has been right!"
  • "You are all weirdos!"
  • "Shaaaaame on you!"
• Tear Jerker: The "That's a frog, bears wear hats" scene, while funny on the surface, becomes incredibly bittersweet if you know the story behind it.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Kermit comments that the roast beef at the supper club costs the same as an Oldsmobile. The automaker went defunct in 2004.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley:
  • After a Blinding Camera Flash gag that gives the Happiness Hotel crew exaggeratedly dilated pupils, characters who typically have Eyes Always Shut or Eyeless Faces like the Swedish Chef, Janice, Zoot, Lips and Bunsen Honeydew now suddenly have visible eyes as a result of the gag. It's a bit unsettling to see these characters who typically don't have eyes suddenly have them, especially given this is the only time that's happened for most of them.
  • In Miss Piggy's daydream, there's a shot where she dives into a pool, which couldn't be achieved very vividly using a muppet, and instead is a diver in a Miss Piggy suit. Seeing Miss Piggy, normally a puppet and moving with the limitations of such, move in an exact, human fashion is a little bit weird. The costume would return later in the film when Miss Piggy's on the motorcycle. But see Fridge Brilliance, above.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: This film outdoes The Muppet Movie's famous bike-riding scene by featuring Kermit and Miss Piggy sing a duet while riding bikes, going in circles and performing tricks in the process. And then it finishes off with an entire parade of Muppets on bicycles, which was a much easier visual trick: the bicycles are simply sharing axles which means they easily stand upright.

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