1989's Meet The Feebles is Peter Jackson's second film after the delectable wreck that was Bad Taste (the low budget creature feature) in 1987. Feebles is complete departure from that one as far as subject matter is concerned, but it keeps the tone and sluggish aesthetic. This is an important work in Jackson's portfolio because it provided the respect that would skyrocket him to make 1992's Dead Alive (before going on to adapt the Lord of the Rings series).
So what is Meet The Feebles? Would you believe it's a puppet movie that showcases puppet sex over a decade before Team America? Imagine a large cast of gross puppet characters working on a large musical for an insane audience. You have the main character of Robert the Hedgehog who has just joined the production and, in his clumsy and cute way, has a huge crush on the troupe's number one showgirl, Lucille (the poodle).
While that story is going on you are introduced to a large cast of disgusting characters included a drug-addicted alligator, a seedy reporter fly who loves to eat fecal matter (shown in graphic detail), the walrus boss of the production currently cheating on Heidi the Hippo (the overweight star of the show), and a rat named Trevor who helps with the walrus' drug and porn distribution (long story) and who participates in a rape scene later in the film.
There are many other secondary characters, but the overall plot of the film is about these characters trying to work together on their show in between various conflicts like the Hippo/Walrus situation and the shy hedgehog trying to fit in. At the same time, the movie doesn't really have an endearing story that makes you cling to it with interest--it's all just a vehicle to get these puppets to be nasty.
These puppets are nasty. There's sex, drugs, violence, and some graphic gross-out parts that reminded me of Dead Alive. In between obviously bad puppeteering with strings evident and even a few characters with people in costumes running around I was surprised at how well put together the film was. By no means are the special effects very good, but for the micro-budget they were working on and the lack of true experience by Jackson and his crew it was surprising to see how well it turned out.
I would probably classify this movie as a comedy musical because there are songs interspersed throughout, but I wouldn't say they stand out in my mind as anything good. This has some crime elements to it, but it doesn't try and be serious by any degree--this is a balls-out rump fest that is so comically inclined and dependant on shock value that you'll null yourself to its lesser-defined features. The script, of course, is pretty bad with yucky New Zealander drawl and the film stock Jackson worked with was grossly cheap so that the visual quality of the entire film is blurred and unrefined.
With that said, Meet The Feebles is definitely for a select audience. I'm sure other movies are more disturbing and gross, but this one takes the cake with some truly uncomfortable scenes to make you look at puppets (and the sick minds of the people behind them) differently. I can't say that I will ever watch this again, but I'd recommend it for the balls of it--it mirror image's Jim Henson's Muppets (Heidi the Hippo = Ms. Piggy, etc.) to an outrageous degree and pushes boundaries you never would have imagined would be pushed. At the same time, the movie is weird and had my girlfriend and I looking at each other with quizzical looks in our eyes wondering the same thing: are we seriously watching this?
© Jason Haskins, 2010
3.5 out of 5 Stars
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