Meet the Feebles (1989)

Country of Origin: New Zealand
Year of Production: 1989
Running Times: 94 mins
Format: colour     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: WingNut Films
Producers: Jim Booth, Peter Jackson
Production Manager: Angela Mills
Unit Manager: Martin Walsh

SCRIPT
Script: Peter Jackson, Danny Mulheron, Stephen Sinclair, Frances Walsh

DIRECTION
Director: Peter Jackson
1st Assistant Director: Chris Short

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: Murray Milne
Camera Operator: Peter Jackson
Focus Puller: Gerry Vasbenter
Gaffer: Gerald Morse
Best Boy: Alistair Broughton
Grip: Don Gerson
Stills: Murray Milne
Lab: Film Unit, Avalon, New Zealand

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Jamie Selkirk
Assistant Editor: Eric De Beus
Post-Production Supervisor: Jamie Selkirk

MUSIC
Music: Peter Dasent
Songs: Peter Dasent, Fane Flaws, Arthur Baysting (Meet The Feebles; Hot Potato); Peter Dasent, Garth Frost (One Leg Missing); Peter Dasent, Danny Mulheron, Frances Walsh (Robert's Serenade); Peter Dasent (Barry's Aria); Peter Dasent, Arthur Baysting, Fane Flaws (Garden Of Love); Danny Mulheron (Sodomy)
Song Performed By: Fane Flaws (One Leg Missing); Mark Hadlow (Robert's Serenade; Hot Potato; Barry's Aria; Garden Of Love); Stuart Devenie (Sodomy)
Music Recordist: Neil Maddever
Music Recording: Radio New Zealand

SOUND
Sound Mixer: Grant Taylor
Sound Mixing Studio: Village Sound Recording Ltd
Sound Editors: Eric De Beus, Jamie Selkirk
Dialogue Recordist: Neil Maddever
Dialogue: Radio New Zealand
Atmophere Editor: Chris Todd

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Puppet Hair: Shayne Radford, Melissa Snater
Costume Designer: Glenis Foster
Assistant Wardrobe: Zana Feuchs

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Steve Ingram
Puppet Coordinator: Tania Rodger
Puppet Designer: Cameron Chittock
Puppet Engineer: Steven Greenwood
Puppet Makers: Richard Taylor, Cameron Chittock, Peter Jackson, Tania Rodger
Supervising Puppeteers: Jonathon Acorn, Ramon Aguilar
Puppeteers: Carl Buckley, Danny Mulheron, Eleanor Aitken, George Port, Ian Williamson, Justine Wright, Sarah Glensor, Sean Ashton-Peach, Terri Anderton
Puppet Grip: Matt Noonan

VISUAL EFFECTS
Model Maker: Richard Taylor
Title Graphics Designer: Sue Rogers
Title Graphics: Graphitti

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Mike Kane
Property Buyer: York Sinclair
Stand-By Props: Johnny Morris
Construction Manager: Ed Mulholand
Constructors: Craig Hutchings, Joan Allan, Martin Beck, Matt Noonan
Stand-By Constructor: Richard Lane
Assistant Art Departments: Billy Stewart, Sally Shaw, Terri Anderton

MISCELLANEOUS
Continuity: Sarah Berryman
Caterer: Andrew Murdoch
Armourer: Steve Ingram
Production Runner: Ginny Grayson

LOCATIONS
Locations: Wellington, North Island, New Zealand
Location Manager: Martin Walsh

VOICES
Donna Akersten (Samantha the Cat / The Sheep)
Stuart Devenie (Sebastian / Dr Quack / Daisy the Cow / Sandy the Chicken)
Mark Hadlow (Heidi / Robert / Barry the Bulldog)
Ross Jolly
Brian Sergent (Wynyard the Frog / Trevor the Rat / The Fly)
Peter Vere-Jones (Bletch / Arfur the Worm)
Mark Wright (Sid the Elephant / The Cockroach / Louie the Fish)
Doug Wren (Bletch - uncredited)

PUPPET PERFORMERS
Danny Mulheron (Heidi the Hippo)

PLOT SUMMARY

Heidi The Hippo, star of the Meet The Feebles Variety Hour, learns to her dismay that her husband Bletch the Walrus is cheating on her. The rest of the cast are having problems of their own, what with their drug abuse, AIDS, financial difficulties and Vietnam flashbacks.

CAPSULE REVIEW

Long before The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson announced himself as something of a wayward genius with this insanely brilliant puppets-and-sex saga. Provocative, tasteless and hilarious, it's like the private film collection you always hoped that the Muppet creators had stashed away somewhere. Wonderful, but not for everyone.

Canada
Theatrical Distributors: Creative Exposure

Germany
Theatrical Distributor: VPS Film-Entertainment GmbH
Laserdisc Distributor: Dragon Film

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Dead Alive Productions; Greycat Films (1995)
Video Distributor: Substance Video
DVD Distributor: Spectrum Ent Product (DA3129)

Argentina
Rating: 16

Australia
Rating: M

Finland
Rating: K-16

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: unrated

West Germany
Rating: 18

1990
New Zealand Film and TV Awards, New Zealand
Best Contribution to Design (Cameron Chittock) - winner

1991
Fantafestival
Best Actress ("Heidy") - winner
Best Direction (Peter Jackson) - winner
Best Special Effects - winner

Fantasporto, Portugal
International Fantasy Film Award Best Film (Peter Jackson) - nominated

TIMELINE

1990
September
13: Canada – shown at the Toronto Film Festival

1991
February
Day Unknown: Portugal – shown at the Fantasporto Film Festival

April
19: Sweden – theatrical release

1995
February
22: USA – theatrical release in New York City, New York

September
1: USA – theatrical release

1999
November
24: Argentina – shown at the Mar del Plata Film Festival

2002
March
26: USA - DVD release (Spectrum Ent Product (DA3129))

POSTER TAGS

Hell hath no fury like a hippo with a machine gun.

Sex, drugs and soft toys.

Welcome To The Jungle

Puppet spunk hits the fan!

From the creator of "Bad Taste", comes a movie with no taste at all!

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

El delirante mundo de los Feebles - Spanish title
Frogs of War - working title
Just the Feebles - US title
El mundo de los Feebles - Argentinian title
Det sjuka gänget - Swedish title
Vilka svin! – Swedish video title

LINKS

SEE ALSO
The Muppet Show (1976)
The Terminator (1984)

REFERENCES

NEWSPAPERS

Svenska Dagbladet 19 April 1991 (Sweden)
review (by Sövande parody by Jeanette Gentele)

KEYWORDS

addiction, aids, animals, anthropomorphism, coprophagia, drugs, flashbacks, homosexuality, insanity, insects, journalists, mutilation, pornography, puppets, revenge, russian roulette, satire, scatology, sodomy, splatter, theatres, vietnam, vietnam flashbacks, vomiting

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009