Tomorrow The Muppets is available on DVD/Blu-Ray. If you missed it in theaters, now is the time to get things started. Click here to buy the The Muppets (Wocka Wocka value pack).

While the last few Muppet installments to hit theaters felt like kids movies that had adult appeal, this movie is clearly aimed to the adults that grew up with the Muppets, but it’s great fun for younger kids. My four year old loves the original Muppet Movie and Fraggle Rock, and he was right there with me watching The Muppets with glee. Click below to see my whole review.

I loved all the inside jokes and little details that aren’t necesarrily inappropriate for kids, they’re just not something they’re going to get unless they grew up watching the Muppet Show on TV. My favorite moment was Kermit taking a pause before opening the small circle door on the giant marquee and popping out like he did at the beginning of every episode. I love behind-the-scenes scenes (sorry) of historic television shows in movies. Like the Gong Show in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. Anyway, the nostalgia is high, but the jokes are plenty in this installment.

Though I love the original The Muppet Movie, it does get a little touchy-feely in regards to following your dreams, letting people down, and facing your opposition head-on. This one had some moments in it, but a lesson-of-the-day was not near the forefront.

This movie is a lot of fun, there’s plenty of sight gags, well timed puns and random cameos. Though Henson and Oz were not involved with the project, it felt like it was definitely part of the Muppet canon.

The The Muppets (Wocka Wocka value pack) comes with the Blu-Ray with tons of features, such as commentary, out takes and a making of, a DVD for your car, and a digital copy for your portable device. There’s also a code to download the entire soundtrack, including Oscar® winning tune Man or Muppet.

The real centerpiece of the circus this year for me was the tigers. They were leaping and growling and doing tricks, it was quite impressive. Tabayara the tiger wrangler had a great demeanor. He was in charge, but he played with the audience as much as the cats, everything felt under control, but not tame and rehearsed.

My four year old son liked the clowns the most. I always thought clowns were a bit off-putting and scary, but absolutely everything they did ended up delighting my son. He particularly liked the pratfalls and slapstick. I think he knows they are grown-ups, but they’re doing silly things, and he really liked that aspect. The Looney Tunes inspired sound effects helped too. One of the things I liked was the miniature version of the major acts that the clowns re-enacted near the end. It was self satire, and I dug that.

I also liked this monster truck style bike. The clowns did all kinds of tricks trying to get and stay on, but the cool part was that they’d bellyflop onto the back tire, and it had enough traction to zip them up to the seat. Reverse water-fall style. It was pretty cool. Its amazing all this stuff the circus has custom made for them.

My son also was astounded by the trapeze stunts way in the air. These graceful dancers are 50 ft in the air, posing and bending and moving with the greatest of ease. I love taking pictures of them way up high, but my son was so concerned about how they’d get down. It was definitely a highlight.

I should also mention the Strongmen. They came out and did some basic stunts demonstrating their strength. At first we thought their “big heavy beam” was a foam prop, but when they tossed it you could see it was just like a solid telephone pole. Then the put the pole over their shoulders and supported two clowns, yolk style. Then they got even crazier and put two poles together, and the two strongmen supported five clowns and started spinning around. I liked how the strongman competition harkened back to the circus days of old, but still managed to amaze and surprise the audience. No blacklights, pyrotechnics or slight of hand, it was genuine human feat on display.

We had an amazing time at the circus. I’m not going to spoil the gran finale with the crossbow, because the whole time you’re questioning if they really are going to do what you think they’re going to do. If you have a child between the ages of 2 and 12, they’d certainly love the opportunity to go, but we saw several kids much older than that (and some adult couples) in the audience as well. You’re never too old to get wrapped up in the spectacle and just let yourself get amazed. The show starts right on time and then goes just about two and a half hours with an intermission. If you have younger children, you may want to schedule an afternoon matinee to visit. And if you can, definitely hit the Clown Party, free to ticket holders, right before the show. Check your ticket for details.

We did have PETA protestors outside of the arena and we were pretty successful avoiding them on our way out. I’m all for my son doing his own critical thinking when he’s older. It appeared to us the animals were all well fed and cared for. I’m not going to use this blog to preach one way or the other. PETA has said their piece about how they think Ringling Bros treats their animals, and Ringling Bros have responded to those allegations.

We loved the circus and we’d love to go the next time they’re in town. Currently Ringling Bros has 3 different shows in rotation. Last year we got to see Barnum’s Funundrum but this year there’s Fully Charged (the one we just saw), Dragons and Barnum Bash. This makes sure you get to see something all new and fresh each year. Fully Charged was certainly a different show than Funundrum. Swing by Ringling.com to see when they’re coming to your town and to pick up tickets.

Two more videos are coming, Stuff for Collectors and Stuff for Kids. Stay tuned! In the meantime, check out all of our 2012 Toy Fair coverage with tons of pics!

Stay tuned for our Cool Stuff 2012 Toy Fair video coming shortly as there is more Uncle Milton in there as well. Here are the rest of the pics from their booth, and swing by UncleMilton.com for more pics and info.

Everything from Pinocchio to Finding Nemo and Incredibles got a spot in the show. Some films got just a song, or appearance during a medley, and others got two or three numbers. (I personally would have traded some Mulan time for more songs from Little Mermaid, but these are not words that a dude utters aloud). Most importantly it was fun, it was quick moving. I’m always impressed that these Feld managed events (Ringling Bros and Monster Jam as well) start right on time, have a good intermission, and then end when they’re supposed to. Everything feels like the perfect length. I’m left wanting more (in a good way) but also feeling quite fulfilled.

We brought my four year old and a friends’ almost two year old to get a good cross section of reactions. My son was on the edge of his seat the whole time, pointing and “Mommy look at this!” and “Daddy, look who it is!” He was also on the edge the whole time because he insisted on wearing his Buzz Lightyear backpack with the wings extended (until we could convince him to pack them up). And even though it was later in the evening, our two year old guest was awake and wide eyed the whole time. Lot’s of “wow!”s and “yay!”s when people clapped. There were some light pyrotechnics, but they were not very loud at all and few and far between. From what I could tell, nobody got scared.

I liked the wide range of the artistic direction. Overall it had a cohesive feel, being Disney, and taking place on ice… but some portions featured full mascot costumes, other featured actors with just accessories. The important thing was everything seemed like the right decision. For the Nemo number, Dory and Marlin were represented by dancers with large flat backpack tails, with the actors’ faces visible. However Bruce the shark was a large puppet with two sets of legs coming out of the bottom. Rafiki from Lion King was a full on mascot puppet, but Simba and Nala looked like something out of the musical CATS. The music aside, I really enjoyed the It’s a Small World portion. The hula dancer (above) was fantastic, obviously, but seeing a very quick and energized rundown of different cultures and dances was pretty cool.

I love the feeling I get coming out of a Feld show. Something like “Wow, that was a lot of fun, and the perfect length” I never find myself glancing at my watch wishing it was done, or thinking I got pushed out the door early. It’s always a great balance. The audience was encouraged to sing along with the characters as much as they wanted, and I found myself ready to do it all again sometime.

Please swing by Disney on Ice to get tickets, and see when they’re coming to your town, and check out our reviews of the Dare to Dream (Disney Princesses), Monster Jam, and Nuclear Cowboys events.

Check out my pics

Tons more LEGO pics are below, click to view