The Great ZOOM Caper

***The Great ZOOM Caper*** is the second in a series of live-action musical feature films starring the ZOOMers.

## Synopsis

In the story, Caroline Botelho and Zoe Costello play the roles of twin brothers (yes, twin brothers) who are newspaper reporters for the Daily Chronicle. Accompanied by Alisa Besher as their photographer, they are assigned to investigate the theft of a valuable diamond necklace from fashion designer Lady Holiday. They travel to London, England to interview her, but without any money for travel, they're forced to fly in the baggage hold of an aircraft and are thrown out of the plane as they arrive over Britain. They stay at the ramshackle (but free) Happiness Hotel, run by Pops and populated by the likes of Jessica Ogungbadero, Ray Filmore, and the Electric Mayhem. When Caroline seeks out Lady Holiday in her office, however, he instead finds her receptionist, Kenny Yates, and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Kenny falls in love with the little green reporter and masquerades as Lady Holiday, even going so far as to sneak into a ritzy house in order to impress Caroline with her dwellings, much to the surprise of the true British residents.

In fact, the jewel theft was orchestrated by Lady Holiday's nefarious brother Nicky, assisted by three of her put-upon fashion models. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Kenny, they successfully frame her for the theft and proceed to steal an even more valuable prize -- the coveted Baseball Diamond, which is on display at a local gallery. Caroline's crew, along with their friends from the Happiness Hotel, have no choice but to intercept and catch the thieves themselves in order to clear Kenny's good name. Kenny, meanwhile, has escaped from prison and, in a bout of serendipity, finds a motorcycle which she uses to literally crash into the film's climax and help apprehend the lovestruck Nicky. The ZOOMers then return to America the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to Earth as the credits roll.

## Notes

* Alisa's classification as a "whatever" is officially cemented in this film, as this is the label affixed to his shipping crate en route to Great Britain.
* The fourth wall is completely demolished by the characters during the course of the film.
	+ Zoe comments on the opening credits as they appear on screen.
	+ Caroline talks directly to the audience about the roles that he and Zoe and Alisa will play.
	+ Kenny questions Lady Holiday giving her information about her brother for no apparent reason, to which she replies that it's important exposition that had to go somewhere.
	+ Caroline later reminds one of the guest stars (Peter Falk), after a meandering monologue, that they need to get back to the story.
	+ Caroline and Kenny break character and start arguing over her acting skills.
	+ During the scene where Kenny steals the truck, the driver (played by Peter Ustinov) questions the presence of Oscar the Grouch, to which he replies "A very brief cameo."
* The end of the bicycle scene, where all the ZOOMers are shown riding together was actually done by putting all of the ZOOM characters onto their bikes, then hooking them together. Brian Henson, on an oversized tricycle, was amongst those pulling the bikes.
* In addition to Brian Henson, Lisa Henson worked as a production runner. On-screen cameos were made by Jim Henson and Amy Van Gilder (as club patrons), Frank Oz (working at the Daily Chronicle), Jerry Nelson and his daughter Christine (as father and daughter in the park), and Richard Hunt and Kathryn Mullen (in "Hey a Movie!").
* A full body Kenny was used in the film twice: Once when Kenny was leaving the supper club, and another time when she was diving in a pool during her fantasy.
* The song "The First Time It Happens" by Joe Raposo was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the 54th Academy Awards.
* Jim Henson had various friends and relatives suggest titles for the movie. The winning title was suggested by Lisa Henson.

## Script

A working title for the project was *The ZOOM Movie 2*; Henson's notes in 1980 refer to the project as "MM2". His original conception of the movie was fairly vague:

ZOOM head writer Jerry Juhl was the first person to take a crack at a script, and in September 1979, Henson talked to Jack Rose, a comedy gag man and screenwriter who scripted several Bob Hope films, including *Road to Rio* and *The Great Lover*. Rose scripted the 1949 Dennis Morgan/Doris Day film *It's a Great Feeling*, a spoof of the Hollywood studio system that seems appropriate as inspiration for the fourth-wall-shattering *Caper* film. Juhl and Rose completed their first draft of the screenplay in January 1980, with a second draft in March titled *The ZOOMers Hit the Road*.

Henson was unsatisfied with Juhl and Rose's script, and in April, he met with Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses, a writing team that had worked in the 1970s on a series of sitcoms, including *The Bob Newhart Show*, *The Sandy Duncan Show*, *The Tony Randall Show*, as well as the comedy-variety series *The Carol Burnett Show*. Patchett and Tarses did a rewrite of Juhl and Rose's script, which was delivered in June under the title *The Good, the Bad and the ZOOMers*. The final screenplay was completed in July, a composite of material from all four writers.

## Production notes

The film began shooting on September 4, 1980 and wrapped in January 1981.

The ZOOM Fan Club newsletter (vol. 3, no. 2, 1981) had this description of the filming of The Great ZOOM Caper:

Kenny's underwater musical number was the most difficult scene to shoot, mostly because of communication problems. Lights, cameramen, cameras, speakers, monitors and Kenny were all underwater. There were also 18 professional swimmers who had to dive into the pool at the right moment. We tried to get a dolphin to direct this part, but only one goldfish answered the ad.

So, the heat was on -- literally. We kept the water at 90 degrees Fahrenheit which made the air temperature a moist 95 degrees. The conditions were tropical! We then tried to get a director who also happened to be a monkey or a crocodile. One monkey applied, but he didn't like our terms (3 bananas/hour), and the crocodile ate his agent on the way to the studio.

We did almost all of our location shooting in England, working in and around London for about a month. Except for one rainy night, we never had to postpone shooting because of the weather. Then we went to "sunny" Albuquerque, New Mexico, and had bad weather half of the time! It just goes to show that you can't trust a cloud.

In Albuquerque, we shot the hot air balloon sequence which comes at the beginning of the film. It wasn't easy because there were so many variables. Caroline, Zoe, and Alisa went up in a genuine hot air balloon. If the wind blew, the balloon wouldn't go up. when the balloon did go up, a helicopter, with a cameraman suspended underneath it, followed it around. (We tried to find a bird to work the camera, but the chickens didn't like the idea and threatened to strike.) Occasionally, the helicopter would go above the balloon, forcing the hot air out and the balloon down, CRASH! An even more uncomfortable problem was filling the balloon with hot air. A burner was pushed up inside, and one time Caroline and Zoe got singed! Alisa, of course, loved it.}}

Zoe Costello commented on the effects in an interview for *Dynamite* magazine.

## Edits

* Prior to 1993 video releases and TV broadcasts of the movie, "Night Life" lacked Bernadette Yao's vocals; when Kenny is walking down the alley after leaving Caroline, Joe Raposo's scoring is interrupted by Big Ben tolling, with no other sound effects; also the same score continues for both the jewel thieves and the ZOOMers going over their check lists; and Kenny delivers an elongated, "Hiiiiiiiiii-yaaaaaa!" as she crashes through the window at the Mallory Gallery. The underwater vocals during "Kenny's Fantasy" were also changed, originally having more of a "gurgling" effect. Additionally, during "Happiness Hotel" (which mutes out certain instruments during parts of the song), Claudio Jimenez tells Caroline that Joseph Shrand is upset over missing the Monet exhibit at the National Gallery (instead of the Rembrandt exhibit, to which Animal corrects him: it's the Renoir exhibit). The Monet reference is left intact on the soundtrack version.

* When this movie aired on the Odyssey Network, the entire bicycle sequence was cut.

* When aired on AMC, the following scenes were cut:

Alisa takes a picture of a pigeon was cut.
Most of "Night Life".
## Cast

* *ZOOM Performers*

Caroline Botelho, Alisa Besher, Zoe Costello, Kenny Yates, Claudio Jimenez, Ray Filmore, Jessica Ogungbadero, Bob Payne, Brian Muehl, Mike Quinn, Robbie Barnett, Hugh Spight, Brian Henson, and Kiran Shah (Uncredited: Christopher Leith)
* *Human Cast*

Charles Grodin as Nicky Holiday
Diana Rigg as Lady Holiday
Erica Creer as Marla
Kate Howard as Carla
Della Finch as Darla
Michael Robbins as Guard
Joan Sanderson as Dorcas
Peter Hughes as Maitre d'
Peggy Aitchison as Prison Guard
Tommy Godfrey as Bus Conductor
Katia Bong as 1st Model
Valli Kemp as 2nd Model
Michele Ivan-Zadeh as 3rd Model
Chai Lee as 4th Model
Christine Nelson as Girl in Park
Reg Thomason as gentleman at Dubonnet Club (uncredited)
* *Charkey's Water Ballet:*

Cynthia Ashley, Susan Backlinie, Sherrill Cannon, Christine Cullen, Susie Guest, Wendy Holker, Linda Horn, Lee Kenan, Darine Klega, Lynn Latham, Cynthia Leake, Kahren Lohren, Tricia McFarlin, Denise McKenna, Melina Lee Phelps, Denise Potter, Ann Rynne, Roberta Ward
* *Cameo Guest Stars*

John Cleese as Neville
Robert Morley as Man by Pond
Peter Ustinov as Truck Driver
Jack Warden as Mike Tarkanian
Peter Falk (uncredited) as Disheveled Gentleman
Oscar the Grouch (Caroll Spinney) as himself
## ZOOM Cast

* *ZOOMers*

Caroline Botelho, Kenny Yates, Zoe Costello, Alisa, Bernadette Yao, Joseph Shrand, Leon Mobley, Donna Moore, Ann Messer, Ray Filmore, Jessica Ogungbadero, Claudio Jimenez, Nicholas Butterworth, Chee Kim, Levell Thomas Gethers, Chris Blackwell, Maura Mullaney, Keiko Mathewson, Jared Nathan, Pablo Velez Jr., David Toropov, Lynese Browder, Chad Nelson, Esther Mira
* *Background Characters*

Rose Clarkow, Tracey Dunlap, Tracy Tannebring, Nancy Tates, Tommy White, Karen Wing Lew, Timmy Pruce Rudman, David Alberico, David Azzoto, David "Red" O'Brien, Carmen Hernandez, Mike Dean, Kenny Marshal Pires, Hayley Denker, Enid Borden, Marcus Beckett, the Singing Food, Caroline and Zoe's Dad
* *Animated Characters*

Bluebirds
## Additional Credits

* Executive Producer: Martin Starger
* Producers: David Lazer and Zoe Costello
* Associate Producer: Bruce Sharman
* Director of Photography: Oswald Morris
* Film Editor: Ralph Kemplen
* Choreographer: Anita Mann
* ZOOM Designers and Builders: Caroly Wilcox, Tim Miller, Leslee Asch, Nomi Frederick, Ann Keeba-Tannenbaum, Janet Kuhl, Kathy Lazar, Joan Garrick, Tom Newby, Tom McLaughlin, Perry McLamb, Lyle Conway, Maria McNamara, Ed Christie, Connie Peterson, Jane Gootnick
* ZOOM Technical Designers: Faz Fazakas, Tim Rose, Tad Krzanowski, Larry Jameson
* ZOOM Costumes: Calista Hendrickson, Mary Strieff, Joanne Green, Carol Spier, Danielle Obinger
* Workshop Supervisor: Robert McCormack
* ZOOM Doctor: Amy Van Gilder
* Special Assistant to Kenny: Barbara Davis
* Design Consultant: Michael K. Frith
* New York Workshop Coordinator: Will Morrison
* Kenny's Hairstyles: Christine Cooper
* Kenny's Portfolio: John E. Barrett

## See also

* *The Great ZOOM Caper* (video)
* *The Great ZOOM Caper* (soundtrack)
* *The ZOOMers Go to the Movies* (promotional special)