Meet the Feebles (1989) is a very dark comedy film by director Peter Jackson. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets assembled together as members of a theater troupe. However, whereas Henson's Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence in humanity, the Feebles present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics.

Plot Summary:

Meet the Feebles tells the story of the Feebles theatre troupe. They are a group of performers who, that night, are going on live network TV. If they're good enough, they'll get picked up for a syndicated network show and everyone will get rich. Scenes involving violence, sexually explicit images, drug dealing, back stabbing, date rape, and death (including a snuff film within the film) follow.

Character List

• Heidi (hippo) - The star of the show. Severely bipolar. When upset, she overeats.
• Bletch (walrus) - The boss. He runs the Feebles troupe, runs a porn business on the side and is mean as well. He's in a relationship with Heidi (this is never elaborated on), while in an adulterous relationship with Samatha.
• Samantha (cat) - Bletch's mistress.
• Harry (rabbit) - Satyristic narrator who contracts "the big one", a fatal STD. But later finds out it's just "bunny pox."
• Trevor (rat) - Bletch's enforcer. Directs pornography on the side.
• Arthur (worm) - Stage manager.
• Sid (elephant) - Animal trainer. Is married to Sandy.
• Sandy (chicken) - Has Sid's child out of wedlock. He denies it is his and for this, she is putting a paternity suit on him.
• Robert (hedgehog) - A new member of the troupe. He has no vices. He falls in love with Lucile.
• Fly-in-the-sky (fly) - Stereotypical paparazzo bent on breaking Harry's story.
• Sebastian (fox) - The Homosexual stage director with a penchant for sodomy - including an entire song about it.
• Wynyard (frog) - Addicted to "every barbituate known to man". He is a Vietnam veteran who gets flashbacks about the war and throws knives for the show.
• Lucile (poodle) - Singer in the feebles. Robert falls in love with her.
• Barry (bulldog) - Bletch's driver and enforcer.
• Sedric (hog) - Tries to double cross Bletch in a drug deal. He is also Scottish.
• Mr. Big (whale) - Sedric's boss.
• Madam Bovine (cow) - Heavily pierced cow who stars in Trevor's porn.
• "The Masked Masochist" (cockroach) - Actor in Trevor's porn. Dies after Madam Bovine unknowingly sits on his face and suffocates him.
• Dennis (anteater) - After the "masked masochist" dies, he is convinced by Trevor to take a part in the porn movie. It looks like semen drips from his nose and he has a penchant for sniffing panties. He dies after sniffing up bleach.
• Louie (dog) - Sedric's side-kick.

The ending sees Heidi go on a shooting spree with a machine gun and killing most of the troupe.

Cultural Impact

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

Trivia

Money ran out during production, so the flashback to Vietnam was quietly filmed separately (with a different budget) as The Frogs of War. This scene includings a game of Russian roulette as a parody of The Deer Hunter.

Sebastian's Sodomy Song

Near the end of the film, Sebastian the fox sings a song illustrating his love of the act of sodomy. Music and lyrics are written by Danny Mulheron .

See Also

• New Zealand humour