I know it is only February, but this could very well be the movie of the year. Since Jim Henson died, The Muppets haven’t really had a place in popular culture apart from nostalgia. Muppets Christmas Carol was the last great piece of work, and was a fitting tribute to the great storyteller. The Muppets have drifted in recent years, not quite relevant enough to set the world alight with new product. Muppets From Space and Muppet Treasure Island were alright but not what you’d call classic Muppets. There were made for television, straight to DVD efforts in the form of a Wizard Of Oz remake, and two Christmas features; It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and Letters To Santa. The final indignity was being forced to duet with Olly ‘David Brent’ Murs on The X-Factor last year.

The Muppets however, was a return to form that Jim Henson himself would be proud of. Without wanting to ruin the story, it dealt very cleverly with exactly the problem I outlined in the last paragraph; that The Muppets are old news. With clever nods to the past, including Mad Man Moody’s car showroom with Sweetums working there. We also saw a return of characters that hadn’t featured heavily for a while, Link Hogthrob, Lew Zealand, and even Wayne and Wanda made appearances. The story of the theatre needing saving was the plot to It’s A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, so seeing the set from The Muppet Show recreated wasn’t the treat that it should have been. What they did seem to do though, to their advantage, was ignoring most of The Muppets output from the last few years. We were led to believe that the gang had lost touch with each other and hadn’t worked together for years, hence ignoring the recent output as they have sporadically worked together with varying degrees of success. I wondered what was going through the minds of the young children watching, as they all seemed to be accompanied by 30-something parents like myself. We 30-somethings were obviously the target, which is perhaps where Disney have been getting it wrong all this time, aiming at the usual Disney market when they should have been aiming older. Nostalgia is pretty big business, and it is something that by its very nature cannot go out of fashion.

The writers of this film were obviously fans, and cared deeply about the Muppets as a brand, and certainly made a film out of love and affection for a part of their, (and our) childhood. There were clever jokes and knowing references oozing from every pore of The Muppets that were put there for the 30something fan, not for the children in the audience who seemed to be getting a tad fidgety towards the end. Emily on the other hand, had the benefit of an education when it comes to Henson. From a very early age she was watching Sesame Street, before graduating to the Muppets, Fraggle Rock, and right up to date with Bear In The Big Blue House. She understood the references to the old films, although she wasn’t as emotionally attached to it as Mandi and I were.

As we edged towards the climax of the film, the entire Muppet cast performed the legendary song ‘The Rainbow Connection’, the song that began the first cinematic outing The Muppet Movie. This was the first ‘eye swell point’, in which the tear ducts began to do their work. It wasn’t the strongest point, that came immediately before the end as the gang left the theatre. I won’t give anything away, but Mandi and I had tears running down our faces at this scene. It was a beautiful moment of classic Muppets that no adult can ever watch without crying, guaranteed.