Blu-ray

It’s been over a decade since Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear, Gonzo the Great and the rest of Jim Henson’s madcap puppets last appeared on the silver screen in the disappointing Muppets from Space. With their career in the doldrums, it looked like the franchise was done for and could only be saved by something truly amazing. Enter The Muppets, a heartfelt and extremely funny attempt to reintroduce the gang to kids of all ages. And you know what? It works. Welcome back!

Picture: Watching The Muppets on Blu-ray is akin to having somebody shoot rainbows directly into your eyes. The AVC 1.78:1 1080p image immediately dazzles with its extraordinarily bold colour saturation, before setting out to wow you even more with incredible detailing, picking out every textured fabric used to create the film’s fuzzy cast. Add to that the complete lack of any offensive digital anomalies and you have a flawless hi-def encode.
Picture rating: 5/5

Audio: Music has always played a key role in the history of the Muppets, and it remains a major part of the success of this Blu-ray’s all-singing, all-dancing DTS-HD MA 7.1 soundtrack. The tonality and range of the mix during the musical numbers (including the Oscar-winning Man or Muppet) is simply sublime, but even away from these moments it proves to be a rich and dynamic affair, with plenty of work for your subwoofer and surround speakers.
Audio rating: 5/5

Extras: Disney’s movie comes to Blu-ray with a reasonable assortment of bonus features – although anybody expecting an in-depth analysis of the enduring popularity of the Muppets, or the making of the film, are barking up the wrong tree.

Co-writer/actor Jason Segel, co-writer/producer Nicholas Stoller and director James Bobin kick things off with a slightly spotty commentary track that spends as much time doling out non sequiturs as it does details about the film’s production. Much more enjoyable is Scratching the Surface, a tongue-in-cheek Making of… featurette that manages to tell you more about the movie-making process in its 16-minute running time than the commentary manages in more than six times that length.

Also included are a nine-minute blooper reel, a spoof video following Kermit and the gang on the way to a script read-through, eight deleted scenes, the full-length version of Tex Richman’s song and (best of all) seven very funny spoof trailers made to promote the film – including two that, for some reason, were never released.
Extras rating: 3/5

We say: The most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, muppetational disc around!

Walt Disney, All-region BD, £25 Approx, On sale now
HCC VERDICT: 4/5