Meet the Feebles (1995)

Instant Favorite.

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

King Kong (2005), Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003); what do they all have in common? Well other than the fact that they are all high quality films, they all share a director with the little seen; little loved 1989 New Zealand film Meet the Feebles (1989). That's right; before Peter Jackson won critical acclaim for his magnificent spectacles and J.R.R. Tolkien adaptations he was the director of a twisted, tawdry parody of The Muppets (1976-1981), ranking up there with The Toxic Avenger (1984) in its level of vulgarity.The movie aptly juggles a multitude of stories surrounding the struggling variety show cast and crew. The main character of Meet the Feebles is an aging star, Heidi the Hippo (Danny Mulheron) who is struggling to keep her relationship with adulterous producer Bletch the Walrus (Peter Vere-Jones). That, in addition to a sugary sweet love story between a hedgehog and a poodle is about the tamest thing about Meet the Feebles. There are subplots involving drugs, STDs, Vietnam flashbacks, gun violence and plenty of puppet sex.The sheer ridiculousness of this nightmarish puppet show makes it too ghastly to look away. It appalls intrigues and impresses in equal measure. Everything from the camera-work to the puppeteering to the script are crude yet wildly effective. The size of each anamorphic puppet varies from elaborate sock puppet to a multi-crewed giant all requiring a certain level of skill which while not on par with Jim Henson, is fun to watch.This film, coupled with Peter Jackson's Dead Alive (1992) makes me wonder where the director would be if he had stayed on the path of grotesque horror and gallows humor. Give the man a humungous budget, award winning actors and the top technical talents of Hollywood, and he'll give you a triptych of timeless classics. Give him just $750,000 a hand-held camera and some felt and he'll give you a memorable marionette experience that won't be equaled until Team America: World Police (2004). One thing's for certain if he had stayed on the path we wouldn't have had to endure The Frighteners (1996).The script written by Jackson and three other New Zealanders is fresh and funny giving the audience everything from silly muppet-like puns to ribald musical numbers including "Sodomy" sung by Sebastian the Fox (Stuart Devenie). Much of the gross out humor is provided by a character simply known as The Fly (Brian Sergent) who buzzes around for tabloid gossip and develops his photos in a toilet.The rest of the film is filled to the brim with knife throwing, machine gun toting; cocaine sniffing mayhem intermingled with rabbit-HIV and sadomasochism for good measure. I'd recommend this film to anyone with a warped sense of humor over a certain age. Those who were endeared by Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo the…whatever, should probably avoid Meet the Feebles. Not because of its cynical treatment of hand puppets might ruin fond memories but because those same fond memories might be replaced by rude hilarity that ensues in Peter Jackson's 8th best film.http://www.theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com

Got to be one of the most infantile, ridiculous films ever made. Good puppets and some amusing voice acting aside, I see no reason to recommend this film to anybody, for any reason; any intention Jackson had in mind is completely lost. It may be easy for some to assume that disliking this film is just an indication you only know him as the LOTR director, but in fact I am a fan of some of Jackson's work, both the big budget stuff and the small, and I appreciate that he pushed the boundaries of taste; I have no issue with the tone, I just wonder what made a talented film maker spend so much time on something so putrid, aimless and dull.

I had heard a little about this mock of puppet TV shows and movies, mainly the knowledge that Peter Jackson (Braindead, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) was directing, so I tried it. Basically, in a world full of puppet characters, are the Feebles theatrical troupe of performers, with their Variety Hour drawing in the crowds. The star of the show is Heidi the Hippo (Mark Hadlow) is really upset when she catches boyfriend Bletch the Walrus (Peter Vere-Jones) having sex with Samantha the Cat (Donna Akersten), and she is doing her best to carry on with the show. New arrival Robert the Hedgehog (Hadlow) wants to become part of the stage act, with the permission of Arfur the Worm (Vere-Jones), who also introduces him to Robert's new love interest Lucille the Poddle. There is also Eyes in the Sky the Fly (Brian Sergent) is trying to scoop a big story involving Harry the Rabbit, and his sexual activities and illness could be the big one. Also, Trevor the Rat (Sergent) is trying to find the next big star for his porn movies, to join Madame Bovine aka Daisy the Cow (Devenie), and he is looking at Lucille. In front of the show audience, Sid the Elephant (Mark Wright) faces his baby responsibility, Robert can't face Lucille after finding out about her escapade with Trevor, and Harry is believes he is dying from a sexual transmitted disease, until Dr. Quack (Devenie) puts him straight. While all this happens at once, Heidi finally loses the plot and gets a M60 machine gun to shoot anyone and everyone in her way, killing Samantha, Harry, Sandy the Chicken (Devenie), Dorothy the Sheep (Akersten), Trevor, and of course Bletch. In the end the film reveals what all the living characters did after parting their ways from the Feebles fame. Also starring Hadlow as Barry the Bulldog, Sergent as Wynyard the Frog, Wright as The Cockroach and Louie the Fish, and Danny Mulheron as the singing voice of Heidi. If the Muppets were like us in a dark and screwed up world, this is what it would be like, full of swearing, sex, drugs, prostitution, rape, disease, Hippo's breasts and excrement. It is relatively amusing seeing cute and cuddly puppet characters behaving rude, sick and disgusting, Heidi is definitely the next Miss Piggy, but it one of those films that's maybe a little close to the mark in black comedy. Adequate!

A variety show starring a large group of puppet animals called "The Feebles" sets the stage for backstage mayhem involving bad drug deals, drug addiction, STDs, murder, and desperation. A hippo named Heidi is the star of the show, and her husband Bletch, who's a walrus, is cheating on her. Heidi grows depressed when she discovers him with a cat named Samantha. Meanwhile, a sexually active rabbit named Harry discovers that he has a deadly sexually transmitted disease, let's just say that it's AIDS, and only has a matter of hours before he dies. He doesn't want to disappoint his fans, however, and doesn't tell anybody, but a fly reporter knows his secret and is going to tell the press and destroy poor Harry. Meanwhile, a new cast member hedgehog named Robert has joined the Feebles and has fallen in love with a beautiful poodle singer. He is joined with a worm who helps him impress her and fall in love with him, but Trevor the Rat wants a new actress for his porno films and has set his sights on Robert's new lover. Meanwhile, a gay fox named Sebastien is nerve racked by the fact that he wants the show to go perfect and is determined to entertain people, even if that means making a stoned Vietnam war veteran throw knives on stage, and do a musical number that he created himself that apparently is not "family friendly" enough according to Bletch, the Head Master of the show. Out of all of Peter Jackson's pre-Lord of the Rings films,(This, BAD TASTE, BRAINDEAD, HEAVENLY CREATURES, FORGOTTEN SILVER, and THE FRIGHTENERS) This would have to be my favorite of his. Not that I don't love the rest of them, but this film has something very special. It has scenes of true human anguish and frustration. It is honest in it's plot lines. It is very funny, witty, and intelligent. And it has characters that you love and care about, despite all the nastiness. If I were to compare this film to another, I'd probably compare it to Paul Thomas Anderson brilliant film, MAGNOLIA, for it's intersecting story lines and stressed out characters. And yet this film offers so much else. This film shows us characters that, to their audience are fun and talented, but backstage are deeply flawed and very disturbed characters. All of the characters turmoils build up to a gore fest finale in which a character goes on a killing spree. The mass murder is an event that shook the puppet world, and yet the viewer won't be surprised by it since one of the characters had to lose it at some point. This film also gives us character development and key plot points that go past being comic events and somehow become all part of a payoff. The film, in actuality, is an emotional roller coaster ride, much like a lot of serious films. There are some Vietnam war flashbacks of the drug addicted frog character that are actually quite terrifying and intense when it stops being funny. The scenes with Heidi growing depressed are quite sad and moving. The scenes of the rabbit dying of AIDS are difficult to watch and give a more honest representation of that reality than most, if not all, movies would feel comfortable giving. It's a vile film is some respects, but I adored it and am proud to own it, even if the DVD has no special features on it whatsoever(unless you count a chapter menu, which I don't). I highly recommend it. It's a great film.