'The Muppets' Debuts on Blu-ray

Kermit and Miss Piggy make a Rainbow Connection.

Last night, I watched The Muppets on Blu-ray with the audio commentary on. When it was over, I did something I don't think I've ever done before with a  video. I left the commentary on and watched it again.

I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.

There are a number of reasons to pick up The Muppets on home video starting Tuesday this week, the most obvious being the movie itself, which captures all the giddy anarchy that made TV's original Muppet Show a cultural phenomenon. Another reason is that the bonus features on the Blu-ray edition are just about as entertaining, particularly the commentary by director James Bobin, co-writer Nick Stoller and co-writer/star Jason Segel.

It's not that the trio offers a huge amount of revealing "making of" tidbits. On the contrary, they spend as much time not talking about film as they do talking about it. What's great is they're having such a hilarious time, you immediately understand why everything is so right about The Muppets. It's the same loose, anything goes mentality permeating the film that spills right over into the commentary.

Jason Segel and the Muppets.

Segal, Stoller and Bobin riff about their favorite movies, their favorite cars and their favorite clothes. Segel makes sure to name as many of his costar's film credits as possible ("Amy Adams from Cruel Intention 2," "Jack Black from High Fidelity") and throws out every plug he can for the holdings of the Muppets' parent company (Downtown Disney, the Times Square Disney Store, Enchanted on DVD and Blu-ray). We do get some superficial Muppets insight, like how Chris Cooper ("Academy Award winner Chris Cooper," stresses Segal) was cast as wicked oil man Tex Richman and how Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) stumbled into the funniest cameo of the film. If you're looking for any in-depth analysis, however, you're not going to find it here. It's all good, though. What is discussed is a hoot.

If you can, make sure to get a Blu-ray version of The Muppets. The "Wocka Wocka Value Pack" is the best choice with all the Blu-ray features (the commentary, a "making-of" featurette and deleted scenes), an extra DVD and digital copy of the movie, and a code to download The Muppets soundtrack (with the Academy Award-winning song "Man or Muppet"). The DVD-only version has scant extras: only a surprisingly flat blooper reel.

The Mouse Castle is giving away a free copy of The Muppets. Click here to learn how you can win.

Related Stories:
'The Muppets': Most Sensational, Celebrational (original movie review)
Jason Segel, Muppet Freak

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