I did notice the reference, but forgot about it. I wonder what Jim Henson would have felt about Hellboy. I think there are a lot of areas of the film, characters and mythology he would like. The idea of a demon that escaped from a portal from the netherworld during WWII who loves kittens and grinds away his horns to appear normal is something that I think would have made Jim smile.
For those that don't know Hellboy, that's pretty much it - a character working against his imposed destiny and trying to forge a new one. And all this while saving the world and fighting the things that "go bump in the night." It’s funny that the initial studios interested in the comic book property wanted to do everything from change his name from Hellboy, rewrite his origins and even asked if the character had to be red! Ugh…the stupid side of corporate Hollywood. Well with an impressive opening weekend Universal and the cast are reportedly willing to do a third and final installment with Del Toro once he finishes up the two Hobbit films. 2012 will be around the target date for Hellboy’s return.