Meet the Feebles

Meet the Feebles (also known as Frogs of War in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron (who also performed the body of lead character Heidi the Hippo). It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets (plus some in-suit performers) who are members of a stage troupe. However, whereas the Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence, the Feebles largely present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics. It is the first Jackson film that was co-written by his future partner Fran Walsh, who has gone on to act as co-writer for all his subsequent films.

Plot
The Feeble Variety Hour theatre troupe is rehearsing with hopes of finding success through being picked up for a syndicated television show. Star singer Heidi is insulted by pornographic director Trevor and complains to her boss and lover Bletch, who is having an affair with Samantha. Robert, the troupe's newest member, arrives at the theatre and immediately falls in love with newcomer Lucille. Arthur, the show's manager, helps Robert serenade Lucille, and the two become engaged. Samantha scornfully reveals to Heidi her relationship with Bletch. Animal tamer Sid is visited by his ex-girlfriend Sandy who reveals he has a son named Seymour and is preparing a paternity case. Bletch and his henchman Barry consummate a drug deal with dealer Cedric.

Star Harry is suffering from an unknown illness, diagnosed as terminal, and is harassed by reporter F.W. Fly, who ultimately reports his illness to the tabloids. Robert is reassigned to assist drug-addicted knife-thrower Wynyard, who reveals he is a Vietnam veteran and convinces Robert to give him money for drugs under the pretext of charity. Bletch expresses dissatisfaction with Trevor's latest porn film, and Trevor sets his sights on Lucille as his new porn star. Trevor drugs and tries to rape Lucille, but is caught by Robert; believing that Lucille had made a move on Trevor, Robert disowns her. After a poor rehearsal and lambasted by director Sebastian, Heidi rushes to Bletch for emotional affirmation, but walks in on him with Samantha. Heidi refuses to perform, but relents after Bletch feigns attraction to her.

Cedric's drugs are delivered but turn out to be borax. Travelling to the docks to retrieve the actual drugs, Bletch, Trevor, and Barry kill Cedric and his associates, but Barry is killed in the process. After seeing a newspaper article about Harry's illness, Bletch retaliates by killing Fly. Lucille tries to convince Robert of her love for him, but he tells her he never wants to see her again. Heidi's successful performance grants the Feebles approval for a syndicated television show. Heidi attempts to seduce Bletch, but Bletch confesses to Heidi that he hates her and wants to give her role to Samantha. Heidi mentally breaks down.

Things go awry during the performances. An ailing Harry vomits, Sid is accosted by Sandy with Seymour, and a high Wynyard accidentally kills himself with one of his knives. After a failed attempt at hanging herself, Heidi prepares to commit suicide with an M60 machine gun. Samantha walks in and taunts Heidi, causing Heidi to snap and shoot Samantha dead. In a desperate attempt to save the show, Sebastian puts on a failed musical number about sodomy.

Heidi goes on a shooting spree throughout the theater, killing many of the troupe. Harry is killed after finding out his illness is not terminal, Sid is shot in the kneecaps while saving Seymour after Sandy is killed, and Sebastian hides in Harry's giant carrot-rocket which crashes in the chaos. Robert rescues Lucille from being shot and professes that he still loves her as Lucille tells him the truth about Trevor. Bletch attempts to talk Heidi into surrendering, but she opens fire on him. An injured Bletch proclaims that he loves Heidi before Trevor incapacitates her with a shotgun. Bletch orders Trevor to kill Heidi, but Robert intervenes by colliding with Trevor, allowing Heidi to shoot him dead. Bletch lunges at Heidi, but is killed too. Arthur tells Heidi that he has regrettably informed the police. Heidi accepts this and makes a last request for her musical number to be played.

A photographic postscript reveals that Sid had surgery on his kneecaps and works in an orchard as a struggling horticulturist with his son Seymour. Arthur received an OBE for his lifelong service to theater and retired to the country. Sebastian achieved worldwide fame for his best-seller The Feeble Variety Massacre: One Man's Act of Heroism! and is currently negotiating the film rights. Robert and Lucille are married with two children, with Robert now an award-winning fashion photographer for a women's magazine. After serving 10 years in a female penitentiary, Heidi has been rehabilitated into the community and works under a new identity on the check-out of a supermarket.

Puppeteers

 * Danny Mulheron as Heidi the Hippo (in-suit performer)
 * Jonathon Acorn - Supervising puppeteer
 * Ramon Aguilar - Supervising puppeteer
 * Eleanor Aitken
 * Terri Anderton
 * Sean Ashton-Peach
 * Carl Buckley
 * Sarah Glensor
 * George Port
 * Ian Williamson
 * Justine Wright

Voices

 * Donna Akersten as:
 * Lucille the Dog
 * Samantha the Cat
 * Dorothy the Sheep
 * Female Rabbit #1
 * Chorus Girl #2
 * Fitness Tape Voice
 * Stuart Devenie as:
 * Sebastian the Fox
 * Daisy the Cow (Madame Bovine)
 * Sandy the Chicken
 * Cedric the Warthog
 * Eight Ball the Frog
 * Seymour the Elechicken (elephant/chicken hybrid)
 * Female Rabbit #2
 * Chorus Girl #1
 * Mark Hadlow as:
 * Robert the Hedgehog
 * Heidi the Hippo
 * Barry the Bulldog
 * Chorus Girl #3
 * Ross Jolly as:
 * Harry the Rabbit (doing a Mel Blanc impression)
 * Dennis the Aardvark
 * Abi Bargwan the Contortionist
 * Mr. Big the Whale
 * Pekingese
 * Crab 2
 * Vietnamese Gophers 2
 * Brian Sergent as:
 * Wynyard the Frog (doing a Jim Ignatowski impression)
 * Trevor the Rat (doing a Peter Lorre impression)
 * F. W. Fly the Fly
 * Dr. Quack the Duck (doing a Paul Lynde impression)
 * Jim the Frog
 * Chuck the Frog
 * The Spider
 * Vietnamese Gophers
 * Peter Vere-Jones as:
 * Bletch the Walrus
 * Arthur the Worm
 * The Baker
 * Newspaper Mouse (Paperboy)
 * The Announcer
 * Mark Wright as:
 * Sid the Elephant
 * The Masked Masochist (The Weta)
 * Louie the Dog
 * Guppy the Fish
 * Poodle
 * Snake bartender
 * Crab 1
 * Chorus Girl #4
 * Fane Flaws as Musician Frog (uncredited)

Production
The film was originally conceived as part of a television series, and only belatedly became a feature after Japanese investors proposed expanding it; as such, the script was hastily re-written. The dialogue was recorded before shooting began. Made on an extremely low budget considering the time-consuming process of working with puppets, the film went over budget and schedule. The feature was filmed in Wellington, with the majority of the scenes being filmed on multiple constructed sets places, in an abandoned railway shed (Shed No. 12 to be exact) at the dockyards. Some scenes were filmed outside the goods shed, such as a few external and internal scenes that were filmed at The St. James Theatre. During filming, some scenes, including the Vietnam flashback, were funded by members of the film crew, and filmed secretly under the title Frogs of War. The Vietnam flashback includes a game of Russian roulette as a parody of The Deer Hunter. An initial application for Film Commission money was rejected by executive director Jim Booth, who a short time later became Jackson's producer. The Commission eventually granted 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.

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. Director Jackson has a cameo as an audience member dressed as an alien from Bad Taste. Every vehicle seen in the film is a variation on the Morris Minor, including a specially constructed limousine. Morris Minors also appear in Jackson's Bad Taste and Braindead. By presumed coincidence, one of the characters, Harry the Hare, shares a name with the title character of James B. Hemesath's short story "Harry the Hare" (himself a Bugs Bunny pastiche), written for Harlan Ellison's anthology Again, Dangerous Visions in 1972.

Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Peter Dasent. The soundtrack was released in 1991 by Q.D.K. Media.


 * Track listing

Release
The film was marketed in some countries with the tagline: "From the director of Bad Taste, comes a movie with no taste at all!"

Meet the Feebles was given its public premiere at a fantasy film festival in Hamburg, in April 1990.

From then on, the film was released theatrically in Japan (7 December 1990); Portugal (February 1991); Australia (March 1991); Sweden (April 1991); Germany (May 1991); France (July 1991); United Kingdom (April 1992); and the United States (February 1995 in New York and September 1995 nationwide).

The film was banned in Ireland and remains banned as of 2023.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 72% based on reviews from 25 critics, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The site's consensus reads "Dark and vulgar, Meet the Feebles is a backstage comedy featuring puppets that offers proof of Peter Jackson's taste for sheer outrageousness, even if it often lapses into pure juvenilia."

During a limited theatrical release in North America in 2002, critic James Berardinelli touched on aspects of the film which likely helped ensure it limited release in cinemas. "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." Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote that it was "Destined to stand as an unfortunate footnote to Mr. Jackson's career."

Legacy
Despite being a commercial failure on release (grossing only NZ$80,000), the film went on to win critical praise and a cult following plus won over new viewers following Jackson's success with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. During his acceptance speech at the 2004 Academy Awards, Jackson mentioned Meet the Feebles (along with Bad Taste), joking that it had been "wisely overlooked by the Academy." The film is mentioned by American singer-songwriter Jeffrey Lewis in his song 'Cult Boyfriend.

The titular Feebles are briefly mentioned as existing within Muppets canon in the seventh episode of the 2023 television series The Muppets Mayhem, in which Jackson has a cameo. In the episode, Jackson, whom Floyd Pepper says the Electric Mayhem hasn't caught up with "since that night in Wellington...when we met the Feebles," has remarks about the Feebles by stating "two are in witness protection. The rest are in prison".