Meet the Feebles

This is one of the great early Peter Jackson movies, it's a sick Muppets, and a must see if you have a sick sense of humour.

Synopsis

A spluppet scandal from the maker of LORD OF THE RINGS.

An adult fantasy film, MEET THE FEEBLES relates the events that lead up to the infamous 'Feebles Variety Massacre' - the day that rocked the puppet world.

The film is set in a contemporary world like ours, with one major difference. There are no human beings. The Feebles world is populated entirely by puppets - living, breathing, eating puppets, with larger than life human characteristics and weaknesses. It takes the concept of the cute puppet show and turns it on its head. MEET THE FEEBLES is a darkly comic satire on greed, lust and jealousy. A rich variety of characters form the basis of the multi-layered plot - a frog with a drug addiction, a rat making promo films starring cows and cockroaches, a journalist fly and many others.

The story is set in a tired theatre in the sleaziest part of town. This is the home of the "Feebles Variety Show" - a second-rate show with a third-rate producer and no-rate performers. But the producer, a cigar chomping walrus called BLETCH, finall has a chance to crack the big-time. Tonight's performance is to be televised live, and if it rates well the Feebles will get their own syndicated series.

However, Bletch has his hands full with the ambitious, vindictive and stupid little characters that make up the "Feebles" company. When you've got an incompetent panic-strickn fox as your director, a junkie knife throwing frog, and a hare with as STD as MC, you know it ain't gonna be easy. But Bletch's biggest problem is with his star performer, HEIDI the hippo. Long-time lover of Bletch, Heidi suspects that hes is having an affair with a Siamese pussy called SAMANTHA and, with an hour before the big show, she throws a tantrum and refuses to perform.

Things go from bad to even badder when a drug deal, set up by Bletch with a psychotic boar named CEDRIC, turns nasty. Bletch gets caught up in a violent war with his deadly enemy - MR BIG the Whale, undisputed king of the underwaterworld.

Returning to the theatre just as the show begins, Bletch settles back in his dress box, his ambitions about to be fulfilled, completely unaware that Heidi - with two failed suicide attempts and her mental balance totally destroyed - is about to make an unannounced entrance centre-stage.

Hell hath no fury like a psycho hippo with a heavy machine-gun...

About Meet the Feebles

"Meet the Feebles" was Peter's second feature film. His first,, a splatter comedy "Bad Taste", was made over a four-year period with the help of friends and family. It has achieved cult movie status since being released in 1988. He is hapy with "Meet the Feebles" describing it as "a kind of Rodger Rabbit meets Brazil". I decided from the outset to make exactly the sort of puppet film that I would enjoy. It was a challenge to make myself laugh, and since I still chuckle whenever I see "Meet the Feebes", I guess I succeeded."

Meet the Feebles trailer

For more detailed information about this movie or any other New Zealand film please go to the New Zealand Film Commission