Meet the Feebles

Meet the Feebles
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Jackson
Produced by	Jim Booth Stephen Sinclair (executive)
Written by	Peter Jackson Danny Mulheron Fran Walsh
Starring	Donna Akersten Stuart Devenie Mark Hadlow
Music by	Peter Dasent
Cinematography	Murray Milne
Editing by	Jamie Selkirk
Studio	Wingnut Films
Distributed by	Nerigan South Gate Entertainment
Release date(s)	December 8, 1989
Running time	94 minutes
Country	New Zealand United Steas
Language	English
Budget	$750,000

Meet the Feebles (sometimes mistakenly referred to as Just The Feebles) is a 1989 black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets (though some were people in suits) assembled together as members of a theatre troupe. However, whereas Henson's Muppets characterise the positivity, naïve folly, and innocence in humanity, the Feebles present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics.

The movie has become a cult classic, and has enjoyed great popularity since Jackson's success with the Lord of the Rings films. During his acceptance speech at the 2004 Academy Awards, Jackson mentioned the film, noting that it had been "wisely overlooked by the Academy."

Plot

The eponymous theatre troupe is rehearsing the Meet the Feebles song with hopes to become good enough to picked up for a syndicated network show and become rich and famous. Heidi, the star of the show, is insulted by Trevor (a pornograph director) and comes to complain to the man she loves, Bletch, who is actually in an adulterous relationship with Samantha. Bletch only wants to use Heidi to become successful. Meanwhile, Robert, the new member of the team, arrives at the theatre, is civilly received by the stage manager Arthur and quickly falls in love with Lucille, another newcomer. Samantha confronts Heidi, insults her and reveals her relationship with Bletch. During this time, Bletch and his bodyguard Barry are playing golf with Cedric while they arrange a drug-deal and talk about the late delivery, later in the same day. Robert confess his love to Lucille, and the two become engaged. Sidney, Arthur's friend and member of the team, receives the visit of his former wife Sandy with his alleged son Seymour (Seymour comically resembles Sidney very much). Sandy informs him she will be preparing a paternity case against him.

At the toilet, the second most important star of the show, Harry, is feeling ill and asks himself what is happening to his body when he hears a voice from the toilet asking him if he does not feel well: It is the paparazzi Fly-in-the-sky , who is bent on breaking Harry's career while becoming rich in the process. Meanwhile, Wynyard (the drug addicted knife thrower) tells Robert his story of Vietnam, and convinces Robert to give him $50 for buying drugs from Trevor. After seeing Trevor's latest porno film, Bletch decides they need a new pornstar, and Robert choose Lucille; he drugs her and tries to rape her as an audition but gets accidentally caught by Robert. When he walks in on the scene Robert thinks that Lucille was drinking and throwing herself at Trevor and tells her he never wants to see her again.

The last part of the film takes place during the prime-time show. After a good beginning (they sign with the TV chain), Bletch confess to Heidi that he actually hates her and wants to give the main role to Samantha. After trying unsuccessfully to attempt suicide, Heidi go on a shooting spree and kills all the characters of the movie except Sydney, Sebastian, Arthur, Seymour, Robert and Lucile.

There is a brief epilogue sequence in which the fates of the six only known survivors are shown: Sydney underwent surgery on his kneecap injuries and lives as a horticulturist with his son Seymour, Arthur received an OBE for lifelong service to the theatre and retired to the country, Sebastian wrote a book about the film's events and is currently negotiating the film rights. Robert and Lucile got married and started a family, and Robert became a professional photographer for a women's magazine. Heidi spent a decade in a female prison, was rehabilitated into the community and now works under a new identity at a large supermarket.

Sub-plots

Love Triangle

A distraught Heidi runs to Bletch after being insulted by Trevor. Bletch is having sex with Samantha, but hides the tryst. Although Bletch is physically disgusted with Heidi, he insincerely comforts her since he needs her talent on the show.

Later outside, Samantha insults Heidi, claiming Bletch really wants Samantha. Distraught, Heidi drowns her sorrows in an entire chocolate cake, as she reminisces about her past romance with Bletch in a black-and-white flashback to her days as a lounge singer. The flatulence from the cake causes Heidi to lay waste to the set during the rehearsal of a feature number. Sebastian lambastes her for overeating and thus destroying the set. Heidi again rushes to Bletch for emotional affirmation, but he is unable to spare her the sight of Samantha performing oral sex on him. Heidi locks herself in her room and refuses to perform, but relents after Bletch has make-up sex with her.

Heidi's performance secures the Feebles a syndicated series. Shortly afterwards, Heidi attempts to seduce Bletch in his office, but Bletch completely disowns her since Samantha can now be the star of the show. Unfortunately, Bletch is unaware of Heidi's extremely fragile mental state.

Robert and Lucile

Robert shows up for his first day as a cast member, and is accosted by the Fly, who tries to corrupt Robert into informing on the cast.

Arthur rescues Robert and shows him around, where Robert sees Lucile for the first time. Although he is romantically terrified of her at first, he later summons up enough courage to ask her out and they fall in love. Later in the film, Trevor drugs Lucile (to manipulate her into performing in his pornography films). Robert walks in on the drugging, but misinterprets it as Lucile's decision, and disowns her for being a drunk. They make up later after Robert saves her from Heidi's crazed gun rampage, and eventually get married.

The Big One

Dennis is shown peeping on Harry in a threesome with two female rabbits. Harry feels physically ill after this episode and is accosted by the Fly, who assumes he has a sexually transmittable disease (STD) and wants to publish the scandal. Dr. Quack diagnoses Harry with "The Big One". The Fly publishes the scandal in a local tabloid - to the dismay of Bletch, who presumably wants to avoid negative press on the cast. Trevor lures the Fly into the bathroom, where Bletch tears his wings off and flushes the Fly down the toilet. After vomiting all over the stage in the live performance, he finally learns that he only has 'bunny pox'. Unfortunately, while rejoicing in the news that "The Big One" will not cause his death, Harry's head is blown apart by Heidi's gunshot rampage.

Sexcapades

Trevor is shooting a porn movie in the basement with the Masked Masochist and Madam Bovine. They are interrupted by Robert, who mistakes the scene for torture and tries to save the cow, who in turn accidentally crushes the Masked Masochist, suffocating him. Trevor later replaces him with Dennis (who has a snout resembling male genitalia) to perform 'nasal sex' on Madam Bovine.

Drug Running

Trevor is approached by a sniveling Wynyard looking for his fix, but the drugs have not yet been delivered. Bletch is later shown on a golf course consummating a deal with Cedric. However, after testing on Dennis, the drugs provided by Cedric turn out to be household borax, infuriating Bletch. Louie, Cedric's agent, is literally liquidated after being force-fed some of the borax by Bletch's henchmen.

Bletch and his cronies venture to the docklands to fight Cedric and his crab-crewmen. Bletch's side prevails after killing Cedric and the crabs, maneuvering past a huge spider, and driving through the insides of Cedric's boss Mr. Big. However, Barry's head is eaten by the spider.

When the drugs finally arrive at the theatre, Wynyard is finally able to get his fix, which puts him into a stupor.

The Show

While the cast performs an opera number, Sebastian lambastes Robert for not acting his part as an extra on the stage. As punishment, he assigns Robert the task of being Wynyard's assistant, who was just killed by Wynyard's drug-withdrawal knife throwing. He later reluctantly approaches Wynyard, who is still in the throes of withdrawal. Wynyard guilt-trips Robert into giving him money after telling him a horror story about his time in Vietnam (shown as a flashback parody of the movie The Deer Hunter). He eventually gets his fix from Trevor and injects himself into a deep slumber.

The acts gradually disintegrate - Heidi nearly destroys the set by botching a swing, the Indian mystic incapacitates himself by contorting his head into his rectum, and Sid's tribble-like pets are crushed by a barrel. Seeing his show in shambles, Sebastian tries to convince Bletch to feature his personal performance, the sexually explicit number 'Sodomy'. This is summarily rejected by Bletch, who physically throws Sebastian out of his office. Sebastian decides to use the number anyway and performs it in front of the live audience, to Bletch's horror.

The Elephant and the Chicken

Sandy accuses Sid of being the father of their chicken-elephant baby, to his dismay and denial. During the live show, Sandy again accosts Sid on stage with the paternity suit. During a later tragic crossfire scene, Sid braves the crazed Heidi's automatic fire to save his baby. His heroism costs the elephant two bloody knee wounds, and he accidentally crushes Sandy's shot-off head after it squawks out one final invective.

The Climax

While the live show is proceeding elsewhere, Heidi attempts suicide by hanging, but her weight breaks the chandelier from the ceiling and she falls through the floor. She makes her way to Bletch's machine gun and tries to kill herself, but at the last moment, Samantha shows up and taunts her. She responds by pumping Samantha full of lead, then rampages over the entire set. She finally finds Bletch and pumps many rounds into him as well - although she feels terribly guilty doing so. Bletch lies to Heidi about loving her and orders Trevor to kill her but Robert swings just in the nick of time to kick Trevor in order to save Heidi and Heidi literally blows Bletch's brain out. Realizing that she killed her love, she gives up her gun and sadly sings "Garden of Love", leading into the epilogue and the credits.

Cast

• Robert (Wobert) (hedgehog) (Mark Hadlow) - A new member of the troupe who has no vices. He has a speech disorder, causing rhotacism.
• Bletch (walrus) (Peter Vere-Jones/Doug Wren) - He acts as producer for the Feebles troupe, runs porn and drug businesses on the side, and is mean as well. He is in a long-term relationship with Heidi while in an adulterous relationship with Samantha.
• Heidi (hippo) (Mark Hadlow) - The big star of the show. She is in a relationship with Bletch. She has bipolar tendencies and when upset, she overeacts.
• Lucille (poodle) - a chorus girl and love interest for Robert.
• Trevor (rat) (Brian Sergent) - Bletch's enforcer and henchmen. Directs pornography and manages the drug business on the side.
• Arthur (worm) (Peter Vere-Jones) - The friendly stage manager. His appearance resembles a book worm. Is an avid cigar smoker.
• Sebastian (fox) (Stuart Devenie) - The gay stage director with a penchant for sodomy.
• Wynyard (frog) (Brian Sergent) - Addicted to "every barbiturate known to man". He is a Vietnam veteran who gets flashbacks about the war and throws knives for the show.
• Samantha (cat) (Donna Akersten) - A promiscuous showgirl and Bletch's mistress.
• Harry (rabbit) - Satyristic MC who contracts "the big one", a fatal STD.
• Fly-in-the-sky (fly) (Brian Sergent) - Stereotypical paparazzo bent on breaking Harry's story.
• Sidney (Sid) (elephant) (Mark Wright) - Animal trainer who thinks that he has terrible luck.
• Sandy (chicken) (Stuart Devenie) - Has Sid's child out of wedlock.
• Seymour (hybrid) - Sidney's and Sandy's baby. He is an elephant and chicken hybrid.
• Barry (bulldog) (Mark Hadlow) - Bletch's driver and enforcer.
• Giant spider (spider) - A sentry for shed 11 warehouse.
• Dennis (aardvark) - He has a penchant for sniffing panties.
• Abi (human) - The only human character, an Indian snake-charmer and contortionist.
• Cedric (warthog) - A Scottish warthog who is part of a large gang.
• Louie (dog) (Mark Wright) - Cedric's sidekick and a stereotypical "mangy mutt".
• Mr. Big (whale) - Cedric and Louie's boss.
• Madam Bovine (cow) (Stuart Devenie) - Heavily pierced and large-uddered cow who stars in Trevor's porn.
• "The Masked Masochist" (weta) (Mark Wright) - Actor in Trevor's porn.
• Dorothy (sheep) - One of the few minor characters of the theater troupe that is given a name.
• Dr. Quack (duck) (Stuart Devenie) - Harry's doctor.

Production

The film was originally conceived for Japanese television and only belatedly became a feature; as such, the script was hastily re-written to be longer.^{[citation needed]} It is often mistakenly stated that there are no human characters in the film; the character Abi is a human. However, there are no real-life human characters in the film. Peter Jackson has a cameo as an audience member dressed as an alien from "Bad Taste". The dialogue was recorded before shooting began. Money ran out during production, so one scene featuring a flashback to Vietnam was filmed separately (with a different budget) as The Frogs of War. This scene includes a game of Russian roulette as a parody of The Deer Hunter.

An initial application for Film Commission money was rejected, ironically by Executive Director Jim Booth, who a short time later became Jackson's producer. The Commission did eventually grant the production two-thirds of its $750,000 budget, though relationships between the funders and the production soured and the Film Commission removed its credit from the film.^[1]

Every vehicle seen in the movie is a variation on the Morris Minor, including a specially constructed limousine. Morris Minors also appear in Jackson's other movies Bad Taste and Braindead. According to the Internet Movie Database, the production team could not get hold of blank rounds for the M60 machine gun used in the movie, and therefore the gun was firing live ammunition.^{[citation needed]}

The film was marketed with the tagline: "From the creators of Bad Taste, comes a film with no taste at all!"

Release

Meet the Feebles premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 1990.^[2]

From then on, the film was released among many countries:

• Portugal - February 1991
• Australia - March 1991
• Sweden - April 1991
• Germany - May 1991
• France - July 1991
• United Kingdom - April 1992
• United States - February 1995 (New York), September 1995
• Argentina - November 1999

Critical reception

During its North American limited theatrical release in 2002, the critic James Berardinelli wrote, "The stories of these ... characters are told in a disgustingly graphic, obscenely offbeat, and caustically funny manner. Meet the Feebles is for those with a strong stomach and a seriously warped sense of humor. The film is so off the beaten track that it makes Monty Python seem mainstream."^[3] Rachel Sanders called it alternatively repulsive and magnificent.^[4] Rotten Tomatoes gives it a Fresh rating of 75%, based on 20 reviews (as of November 2010).^[5]

See also

• New Zealand humour
• Adult puppeteering

References

1. ^ http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/meet-the-feebles-1990/background#critique_0
2. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097858/releaseinfo
3. ^ James Berardinelli review at Reelviews
4. ^ Rachel Sanders, Criminal Cinema: Stale Spunk and Tears Can't Save B-Movie Scheme, Broken Pencil 19
5. ^ Rotten Tomatoes

External links

• Meet the Feebles fan site
• Meet the Feebles at the Internet Movie Database
• Meet the Feebles at AllRovi
• Meet the Feebles at Rotten Tomatoes