Couldn't We Ride - The Great Muppet Caper

[infared88]

This is a beautiful song... Good old days with the Muppets

[tigerjackson77]

3:20 The one in the green shirt is Brian Henson. The over-sized tricycle he's riding is what's pulling the bikes.

[FFKonoko]

Those who do want to figure out how they did it, there's a clue around the 1:52 - 53 mark, Kermits front wheel.

[xCokePepsii]

@FFKonoko Right, the wheel floats up for a half second there LOL But II still wonder how.. HOW they did the circles.. the Rest I know..

[TheHoffman87]

0 dislikes? That's the magic of the Muppets for you!

Also apparently this was the most technically challenging scene the Henson production team ever had to do! Not surprising really! HOW DO THEY DO IT???? Simply amazing!

[Rubberman202]

The Statler and Waldorf part was the best!

[foxhound13]

If I had a time machine I would travel back to the day they filmed these two doing circles. Thats how curious I am wasting the power to time travel to only see see how two muppets rode bikes like a boss.

[mohinderbauer]

I still can't imagine how they did this scene, but I don't want to know how. I prefer the magic.

[bringerodoom]

1:48 Kermit almost fell over haha.

[Garfulon]

"oh kermie"

"oh piggy..." <3

[JTTCOLO]

This is pure artistry, at a time when moviemakers needed skill and creativity. May CGI burn in hell.

[elstado1]

no brakes? nice..

[buddy29943]

i bet that when the camera was far away they used a double in a life size costume

[Danny77uk]

How the heck did they do this?!

[andrewkful]

@Danny77uk In The JH Hour, Jim explained that each scene was a combination of regular hand puppetry for the close-ups, automatronic machines on a bike, and lots and lots of complex marrionetting with a rig system floating above them and outside the camera frame. When mentioning how they made Kermit and Piggy ride around in circles, Jim said, "but that one was so complicated, you'll have to guess how we did it for yourself."

[gheefreak]

I love Piggy's hair in this. Also, this is one hell of a technical feat. It's incredibly impressive.

[TheSoulflower]

This is one of the most sweet and romantic scenes of any movie. This song is absolutely hauntingly beautiful. I saw this movie years ago when I was about 8 or 9. Thank you so much for uploading/posting.

[MrWaeseL]

I love how Americans have no how cycling actually works. Look at the background, there's people riding on the grass

[nsantasier]

@MrWaeseL It was shot in UK

[BernardIsReal]

@MrWaeseL First of all, most of the people in the background are riding on another sidewalk, secondly, it is remarkably easy to ride on grass, especially when the grass is short, and thirdly, the people you see in the film riding on the grass are not computer-generated - they are actual people being filmed cycling on the grass, so it really makes no sense at all to say that couldn't be done.

And fourthly, I just love how Azerbaijanis leave out important words when writing sentences.

[truewanderer]

Childhood memories revisited. I'll always remember this. Magical

[jbeng001]

HOW DID THEY DO THAT??

[caramarie1918]

This is the very first movie that I saw in a theater! This is the only part my 5 years old brain remembered from it. Still my favorite scene in any Muppet movie.

[disneyanimationfan41]

well done!

[Studmeister17]

Why can't effects be like this nowadays? Now everything is CGI - which SUCKS!

[Pattonfrodo]

Yes how the heck where the far shots done?

[AuteurMotionPictures]

@Pattonfrodo From what I gathered this is how it was done. In wide shots, Kermit and Miss Piggy were marionettes.

For close ups, the characters are regular hand puppets riding "half" bikes with a puppeteer underneath on a low rolling dolly to make the bike move.

With all the characters, all the bikes are attached to a long rod or string being run by two oversized tricycles. The movements of the characters in the wide shot were radio controlled.

Hope this helps!

[Rtkat3]

@AuteurMotionPictures Jim Henson revealed that on the "Secret of the Muppets" episode of "The Jim Henson Hour."

[AuteurMotionPictures]

@Rtkat3 I know. I love when he reveals how the tricks of the Muppets were done.

[AuteurMotionPictures]

@Pattonfrodo Oh and just for more trivia, if look closely at the close up of the wheels on the bikes you can kind of see the rods that kept the bikes right side up as they're being marionetted.

Also, if you look down the path in the wide shot of the characters riding away from the camera, you see the oversized tricycles I was mentioning. One of those bikes was actually riden by Jim Henson's son, Brian.

[beasst94]

@TheGothicMaria u mean rather than all digital crap like now?

sorta wholesome to see it like this tho, actually done for real

[brymomjay]

r.i.p. jim henson

[mermaidamp]

@brymomjay We'll miss U! It hurts that he died.

[SweetJen2009]

Miss Piggy and Kermit the frog the most favorite hollywood couple in the world!!!

[SweetJen2009]

Miss Piggy and Kermit are sooo perfect together!!!

There relationship is soo sweet how they get along together and they don't at times and fight!!!

[Fieldsfangirl28]

i was always interested in how they got the Muppets to ride bikes as a child and still amazed even at 29 years old!!

[FletchySRF1988]

@brittneybritt948 He sure does! One of the best singers in the group I think

[bostonscholar]

Never remember watching this as a kid- Muppets take Manhatten was big to me when it came out...

[jdog34505]

OMG! i havent seen this in foreverr

[HazyChase20]

You know, if you look closely in 1:00, Kermit is not riding a bike.

Ah, good ol' 16:9.

[Fieldsfangirl28]

look Ma No Brains!!  lol love the old hecklers lol

[Ltron9]

"what color are their hands now?"

[flamingflannery]

romantic

[comgeek24]

A good scene out of a classic movie I saw countless times as a kid. I like Waldorf's line: "Hey, look, Ma! No brains!" I always wondered how they did the bike scene.

[mooky9669]

brings me back to my childhood. Makes me think of my Dad who passed away in May.

[ssfmen]

I LOVE this song and movie!

[jaswhite1]

which one is fat bastard?

[SoulThing1981]

this is a cute song and yes the bikes that the muppets are on were pulled and controlled by puppeteers on bikes... and one of the people on bikes were Jim Henson's son Brian pulling / controlling while riding. This  is a classic moment from this particular film. Next to Piggy's fantasy moment.

Brilliantly done with puppets on bicycles!!

[pytko3]

Jim says that the muppets are being pulled by 2 people on 2 big tricycles. And that when there were 2 or more riding, the bicycles were tied together. The only thing unexplained is the scene where you see Kermit and Piggy riding in circles. Jim said the rigging of that scene was so complicated, that you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

[lollerfly724]

for some of it jim henson and some other puppeteers are up in the trees or on cranes, but for some of it they have the puppets on bikes nad the puppeteers underneath, or on their own bicicles... at least thats what ive heard :)

[traboe]

Ive always LOVED this movie!!!!

[StefanoFan27]

god i love this part.

[perualonso]

L-O-V-E this song!

[ChrisEsperProduction]

I love this part so much, probably my favorite part of the film. It's just so sweet and fun to watch. As a filmmaker, it's also fun to watch in a technical stand point as to how they did that.

[bronxbebe]

Oh, THANK YOU for posting this!! I looked for this feverishly a couple of months ago with no success, but you've since posted it, so THANKS!! I love this scene. Always made me feel warm and fuzzy as a child :D

[jpbroadcast]

Awesome to see this posted.

[simmylo]

yes really awesome, thanks Zuzufitzwaller

[themodette]

How the hell did they do this scene? I've wondered since my first viewing! :D

[ChrisEsperProduction]

It was a combination of things. To make them ride bikes, they were controlled like marionettes in wide shots. In close up shorts, they were regular hand puppets, with the puppeteer underneath them. I believe they even radio controlled the mouths.

[PeeweeLamby]

wow, that's pretty impressive! i don't even know how they do these things.

[AlicePleasance09]

It was a real pleasure to grow up with this song and movie. It brought a much cherished drop of happiness to my childhood.

[LineSquall]

Agreed!!! :)

[pinkflower7783]

@AlicePleasance09 Forget Barbie and Ken it's Miss Piggy and Kermie all the way!!! :D

[pinkflower7783]

@AlicePleasance09 They don't make'em like this anymore. It's all stupid Dora, Spongebob. :P