Mamma Mia: The Happiest Movie Of All Time

09 December 2009

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Last year Mamma Mia!– The Movie became the fastest selling UK DVD of all time, and now it returns in 2009 with new, never-before-seen bonus features.

The runaway success of Mamma Mia!– The Movie over the past 12 months has coincided with a period of extreme financial uncertainty.  As the world has sunk deeper into recession, everyone has started to feel the pinch and much of the UK public has generally been feeling rather fed up.

To investigate the links between the two, Universal Pictures (UK) commissioned groundbreaking research, carried out by Professor Geoff Beattie and Manchester University **, into the effects of watching feel-good films such as Mamma Mia!– The Movie on people’s moods. 

The investigation has scientifically proven that watching these movies makes people feel happier, less tense, and calmer, explaining why Mamma Mia!– The Movie has been such a modern-day phenomenon. 

In the first study of its kind, Professor Beattie worked with a group of volunteers and studied their reactions to clips of well-known feel-good films. Participant’s reactions were monitored for genuine or ‘Duchenne’ smiles***, laughter and how the participants felt after watching each film****. The ultimate happy big hitters used included Mamma Mia!– The Movie, Love Actually, Dirty Dancing and Grease.

The research revealed that Mamma Mia!– The Movie is the ultimate feel-good film. Not only did watching Mamma Mia!– The Movie achieve the greatest proportion of genuine ‘Duchenne’ smiles (average of 51), but also it made people smile and laugh a total of 104 times during the 6 minute viewing of the clip – in other words it had the most feel-good effect on our mood and emotional state.

Genuine smiles are the best indicator of true happiness. The research indicated that from watching pleasant films, people produced more genuine Duchenne smiles, the signal that a person is experiencing positive emotions such as happiness.

Key findings:

- During Mamma Mia! participants displayed 104 Duchenne smiles
- During Love Actually participants displayed 95 Duchenne smiles
- During Dirty Dancing participants displayed 61 Duchenne smiles
- During Grease participants displayed 49 Duchenne smiles
- Mamma Mia! left participants with a better sense of overall wellbeing – generating 23% of all Duchenne smiles from those recalling the film
 
When discussing the films, compared to the others, Mamma Mia! – THE MOVIE saw one of the biggest number of sustained genuine smiles; nearly a quarter of all the Duchenne smiles were generated when participants were merely talking about Mamma Mia!– The Movie. 

This result suggests that Mamma Mia!– The Movie has the most lasting effect in terms of elevating mood, whilst helping people to experience positive emotions by merely talking about the film and re-living their favourite parts.

Professor Geoff Beattie said, “Compared with some of the greatest iconic feel-good films from the past three decades, Mamma Mia!– The Movie had the most consistent range of positive effects on mood state - it will make you feel less sad, less tense and calmer.

Everyone needs to feel good during these times of financial difficulty and Mamma Mia!– The Movie is a perfect outlet at Christmas to deliver this.”

Mamma Mia!– The Movie is out to own on two disc special edition DVD this week.

Accompanying the feel good film of all time are lots of fabulous new extras, meaning there is something for everyone, whether you’re a first time viewer or Mamma Mia!– The Movie aficionado.

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