(thing) by madvid Sat Feb 23 2002 at 16:56:48

Meet the Feebles

New Zealand, 1989

Directed by: Peter Jackson
Written by: Peter Jackson, Danny Mulheron
Genre: Comedy
Running time: 97 minutes

Cast (voices):

Background

In the future, Peter Jackson will be known for two things; the director of The Lord of the Rings movies, and as the king of splatter movies such as Bad Taste and Braindead. The most hysterical of them all must be Meet the Feebles, though. To put it short, it's the Muppet Show on crack, and it is probably a bit much for even devoted puppet fans.

Peter Jackson conceived the idea for the movie while he was working with special effects maker Cameron Chittock on the set of Bad Taste. Their original plan was to make a TV-series for adults called Uncle Herman's Bedtime Whoppers. The idea caught on with a japanese investor, but on the condition that they made a motion picture instead. Jackson was given full freedom and financial backup. Meet the Feebles violates most taboos. The movies doesn't just parody the Muppet Show. Oh no, it visits the russian roulette scene in The Deerhunter, the massacre in The Wild Bunch, and A Chorus Line. And all this with just puppets.

Plot

Twelve hours remain before "The Feebles Variety Show" is being broadcast on live TV, and chaos reigns behind the scenes. Bletch the walrus, the feebles' leader, is trying his best to sort things out with his crew, among others Heidi the hippo, his girlfriend since he discovered her many years ago. However, Bletch is having an affair with one of the backup singers of the show, Samantha the cat, and is secretly planning to dump Heidi. The overweight and mentally unstable Heidi is already close to a nervous breakdown, and when she finds out about Bletch's plans, she gets the last push over the edge.

The other members of the crew have their own problems as well. Harry the rabbit thinks he's dying with AIDS, and is being chased by a pushy tabloid reporter in the body of a shit-eating fly. Wynyard the frog is the show's heroin addicted knife-thrower, and is struggling with flashbacks from his days in Vietnam. Trevor the rat is making porno movies in the basement (starring none other than a cow and a beetle!), while Abi the fakir has his head up his arse. Yes, literally.

And as if that wasn't enough, the show's director is a homosexual fox who's aching to perform his song Sodomy. And we shouldn't forget Sid the depressed elephant either, who's having problems with a pregnant chicken(!) who claims he's the father of her child.

Conclusions

All in all, Meet the Feebles is about gore, goo, drugs, feces, vomit, kinky sex, a hedgehog who's falling in love with a poodle... and much more. Needless to say, this is a puppet show far beyond the ordinary. With a running time of 97 minutes, though, it may be a bit long and tedious for some, but it's a geniune and unique pearl and a must-see for those of us who appreciate the crude humor of it all.

I like it! 2 C!s