The Muppet Bohemian RhapsodyWhen Disney’s Muppets Studio released their own version of the classic Queen song “Bohemian Rhapsody” last November, many of us considered it an early Christmas present. In a single web video just under five minutes long, Muppet fans past and present clearly saw something they hadn’t seen in years. And we loved it so much, we watched it again and again, and told others to watch it, until it received nearly 10 million views in its first week.

The Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody’s rapid growth in popularity is the very definition of the word “viral”. Without a doubt it has been one of the best productions to come out of Disney’s Muppets Studio, and as such it has been nominated for two Webby Awards. It stands as the favorite to win in the “Music” category, as well as the “Viral” category. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences chooses the Webby winners, and they will announce the results on May 4, 2010.

What was it about this one silly music video that grabbed the fans’ attention after all these years? What was the magic ingredient? Perhaps it was the fact that, for the first time in a very long time, we saw the Muppets not pretending to be pirates, or scarecrows and tin men, or even “hip” Disney channel stars, but just being the Muppets, singing and dancing, making us laugh and blowing things up. And darn it, that’s how it should be.