10 Hilariously Meta Moments From The Muppets Franchise

The opening number of Muppets Most Wanted is quite similar to that of The Great Muppet Caper, another song that sets up the fact that you're about to watch a movie. The Great Muppet Caper is probably the most meta of all the Muppet films, and this song is packed to the brim with jokes that shatter the fourth wall. Hell, there's barely even any fourth wall left to shatter.

The whole song explains to the audience what they're about to watch, with Kermit singing that there will be spectacle, fantasy, etc. Some of what they're saying corresponds to what's happening in the background, as when Fozzie promises that there will be comedy and then a guy immediately falls off a balcony. They take it even further when Kermit actually lays out who everyone's going to be playing, beginning with, "You see, in this film..." and then noting, "I wish I was you people seeing this for the first time!" 

The opening song gets audiences into the feel of the movie, but it also parodies the storytelling structure of establishing the tone in the first few minutes. Usually a film does this with introductory scenes that get viewers settled in, but in The Great Muppet Caper, they just flat out tell you what the tone and plot is going to be. That's the Muppets for you.