Story of movie Meet The Feebles :
Meet the Feebles is a 1989 New Zealand musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire.
| Meet the Feebles | |
|---|---|
Region 2 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Peter Jackson |
| Produced by | Jim Booth |
| Written by | Peter Jackson Danny Mulheron Fran Walsh Stephen Sinclair |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Peter Dasent |
| Cinematography | Murray Milne |
| Edited by | Jamie Selkirk |
Production company | OPEIU WingNut Films |
| Distributed by | South Gate Entertainment Intervision Picture Corp. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $750,000 (est) |
Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets (plus some suited 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 wife Fran Walsh, who has gone on to act as co-writer for all his subsequent films.
A commercial failure on release, the film went on to win a cult following, and 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."
Screenplay
The eponymous theatre troupe is rehearsing the title song with hopes of finding success through being picked up for a syndicated television show. Heidi (a hippopotamus), the star of the show, is insulted by pornographic director Trevor (a rat) and complains to her boss and lover, Bletch (a walrus), who is actually in an adulterous relationship with Samantha (a cat). Meanwhile, Robert (a hedgehog), the newest member of the team, arrives at the theatre and immediately falls in love with another newcomer, Lucille (a poodle). Samantha confronts Heidi, insults her, and reveals her relationship with Bletch. Robert confesses his love to Lucille, and the two become engaged. Sid (an elephant) receives a visit from his ex-girlfriend Sandy (a chicken) with his alleged son Seymour (an improbable-looking elephant/chicken hybrid). Sandy informs him she will be preparing a paternity case against him.
At the toilet, the second most important star of the show, Harry (a hare), is suffering from a mystery disease, given only twelve hours to live. Meanwhile, drug-addicted knife thrower Wynyard (a frog) tells Robert his story of Vietnam, and convinces Robert to give him $50 to buy drugs from Trevor. After seeing Trevor's latest porno film, Bletch decides they need a new porn star, and Trevor chooses Lucille; he drugs her and tries to rape her as an audition but is 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.
After a good beginning – the Feebles sign with a TV chain to appear in a prime-time television show – Bletch confesses to Heidi that he actually hates her and wants to give the main role to Samantha. After trying unsuccessfully to commit suicide, Heidi goes on a shooting spree and kills many of the cast, including Harry who was told by his doctor that he was indeed going to recover.
The epilogue reveals the fates of only six survivors: Sid gets extensive repair on his kneecaps after being shot by Heidi and works in an orchard as a struggling horticulturist with Seymour. Arthur received an OBE for his lifelong service at the theater and retires to the country. Sebastian recovers from his injuries and achieved worldwide fame for his best seller The Feeble Variety Massacre: One Man's Act of Heroism! and is negotiating film rights. Robert, now an award-winning fashion photographer for a women's magazine, and Lucille are married with two children. Finally, Heidi, whose killing spree resulted in her imprisonment in a women's penitentiary for ten years (implying that, although released in 1989, the film's events occurred in the 1970s), has been rehabilitated under the community and now works under a new identity on the check-out counter of a large supermarket.
- Mark Hadlow as:
- Robert the Hedgehog
- Heidi the Hippo (voice)
- Barry the Bulldog
- Chorus Girl #3
- Peter Vere-Jones as:
- Bletch the Walrus
- Arthur the Worm
- The Baker
- Newspaper Mouse (Paperboy)
- The Announcer
- Donna Akersten as:
- Lucille the Poodle
- Samantha the Cat
- Dorothy the Sheep
- Female Rabbit #1
- Chorus Girl #2
- Fitness Tape Voice
- Stuart Devenie as:
- Sebastian the Fox
- Dr. Quack the Duck (doing a Paul Lynde impression)
- Daisy the Cow (Madame Bovine)
- Sandy the Chicken
- Cedric the Warthog
- Seymour the Elechicken
- Mr. Big the Whale
- Female Rabbit #2
- Chorus Girl #1
- Brian Sergent as:
- Wynyard the Frog (doing a Jim Ignatowski impression)
- Trevor the Rat (doing a Peter Lorre impression)
- F. W. Fly
- Jim the Frog
- Chuck the Frog
- The Spider
- Vietnamese Gophers
- Ross Jolly as:
- Harry the Hare
- Dennis the Aardvark
- Abi the Contortionist
- Pekingese
- Vietnamese Gophers
- Mark Wright as:
- Sid the Elephant
- The Masked Masochist
- Louie the Dog
- Guppy the Fish
- Poodle
- Bartender
- Crab
- Chorus Girl #4
- Fane Flaws as Musician Frog
- Danny Mulheron as Heidi the Hippo (body)
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. Some scenes, including the Vietnam flashback, were funded by members of the film crew, and filmed secretly under the title The 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.
| Meet The Feebles (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album | |
| Released | 1991 |
| Genre | Electronic Classical Stage & Screen |
| Length | 2:33 |
| Label | Q.D.K. Media |
The film's music was composed by Peter Dasent. The soundtrack was released in 1991 by Q.D.K. Media.
- Track listing
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