Many people would be outright disgusted by this film, which in itself demonstrates its brilliance. I've not hear Peter Jackson discuss or admit responsibility for this film in ANY interview I've seen with him since he started making the Tolkien films. And frankly the murder, mayhem, violence and gore in this film makes the LOTR cycle seem perfectly cartoonish. And in this film there are cars, people don't have to walk for miles and miles and miles... when they could have just rode a giant eagle. But I digress.I first saw this film when I was back at Uni, when it was released. In all likelihood I would have been drunk, as must Peter Jackson when he wrote and directed the thing. Whatever he was on, it liberated his mind sufficiently to create art with the spirit and genius of Poe, Lovecraft, and Coleridge.OK not quite - but if there was any name you'd expect to be attached to a film like this it would be Tarantino, not Jackson.Overall I give this a 10 out of 10. Partly because it's genius and mostly because whatever star rating I give it makes no difference to the universe....And in parting, a tip: Enjoy life and live it to the full, because you never know when you might choke on a chocolate cherry cake in someone's cleavage. :)

After his bad taste début, er, Bad Taste (1987), the young Peter Jackson made the decision to take his filth-laden sense of humour to a new level and direct Meet the Feebles, the kind of film you would expect Jim Henson to make if his life had gone in an entirely different direction and had formed a psychedelic drug habit. He still had little budget to work with, as well as the (understandable) concerns from his funders, but this was the first time he would work with his future wife Fran Walsh, who would work with him on every film after this. Maybe it is her influence that makes Feebles a noticeable step up from his début, or maybe it's not, but the film works thanks to a director seemingly more comfortable in his role, but still renegade enough to inject his guerilla sensibilities into it.The basic 'plot' revolves around The Feebles variety show, of which the main attraction is singer Heidi the Hippo (voiced by Mark Hadlow, Dori in The Hobbit (2012)), a former big star who has formed an uncontrollable attraction to cakes. Amongst the various characters is newcomer Robert, a softly-spoken and naive hedgehog who goes to great lengths to attract a seductive poodle he has fallen for. It is mainly through his eyes that we witness the mayhem of the show, which is ran by Bletch the Walrus (Peter Vere-Jones). Bletch is involved with Heidi, but is secretly having sex with a slutty feline, and is always making money on the side through Trevor the Rat's (Brian Sergent) pornography films. The show comes under threat when sex-addicted Harry the Rabbit contracts an STD and is given a few hours to live, but is busted by the Fly, a pesky journalist.What Meet the Feebles lacks in taste and any sense of actual purpose, it makes up for in sheer invention and entertainment. It moves along furiously, never stopping to consider something as unnecessary as plot, drifting from one scene of complete debauchery to the next. If you would be offended by the sight of animal ejaculating through his elongated snout onto the the pierced udders of a dominatrix cow, then I would recommending passing on this one. The humour is almost akin to that of South Park, but doesn't bogged down with satire or observational gags, and instead seems to seek to disgust. It is juvenile, certainly, but it's undeniably funny, and is simply too twisted and disturbing to go about unnoticed. It is the anti-Muppets, representing depravity where Henson's creations were driven by naive optimism (although the puppets here are quite wonderfully designed).After the proceeding Braindead (1992), which employed a lawnmower as the answer to a house overrun by horny zombies, Jackson seemed to grow up and film the astonishingly dream-like Beautiful Creatures (1994). It is simply mind-boggling how the director of this, a film that has a contortionist get his head stuck up his own a**e, would go on to be the biggest director in Hollywood and create one of the finest achievements of modern mainstream film-making, The Lord of the Rings (2001-2003). Although he never won any Oscars for them, there is plenty to enjoy in early Jackson. You could even say that some of the hideous creations in Feebles were a pretext to some of the monsters seen in Rings and The Hobbit. Although I don't remember seeing Gollum eating s**t out of a toilet with a spoon.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

I remember at the ripe young age of six watching this film on thanksgiving with my two sisters, grandmother, aunt, mother and father, and ol' uncle Charlie, who brought it in from the mom & pop VHS rental store just down the street. we sat in a crowded living room and watched peter Jackson's family masterpiece illuminate the room on a 24 inch television set. everyone laughed, everyone cried, and at the end, we all hugged and parted ways, feeling bonded closer together. I grew up with this film always in my memory, flickers of soothing sounds of grandpa terry chuckling while his big belly shakes like a warm pot of jello, as a fox discusses the joy of his favorite activities with a crowd of hundreds in a musical sensation. I remember my sister Janet weeping during the breathtaking war scene, and i remember the hippo, oh how i remember the hippo. that was years ago, but i just recently got the exact VHS from my uncle for Christmas 2 years ago, and as if it were my own passing of the torch we both sat and watched it in my living room, as my wife and children played outside in the ever encompassing snow. now I show it every year to my children and friends during the holiday season. This film is not only art, its a journey, for young and old, and through this journey we are all connected. Go out and rent this immediately for your whole family to enjoy. 11/10.

"Meet The Feebles" is the very sick and twisted take on the Muppets by (now Oscar-winning) writer and director Peter Jackson. Filmed in New Zealand, it was released there in 1990 and, according to this website, didn't make it to the U.S. until 1995. It may explain why, upon my own research, there's no journalistic evidence of any kind to suggest Jim Henson saw the film. It would be very interesting to know what he thought about it; whether he would have laughed at it, be touched by the twisted tribute, or would have found it so incredibly offensive. Now it's hard to say.If you were to tell me (at any point in the '90's) that the director of this film would go on to not only create one of the greatest movie trilogies of all time, but win an Oscar for it, I would have laughed at you. That's not to say this movie is bad. It's not perfect, but what it lacks in budget it makes up for in ambition and having a sense of humor about itself."Meet The Feebles" is a movie about puppets (both hand puppets and people in suits) who, like the Muppets, are not assumed to be puppets in their universe. Also like the Muppets, the Feebles host a weekly variety show whose audience is also comprised of puppets, and no humans whatsoever. The Feebles are all different animals who have all different personalities. Sounds like a kids movie? Keep reading.Among these characters, there is only one who could easily fit into the real Muppet Show. That character is a hedgehog (or a porcupine. It's hard to tell) named Robert, around whom the movie centers. Robert is the newest cast member on the "Meet The Feebles Variety Hour". He is naive but good-natured, and develops an innocent crush on a poodle named Lucile (who actually looks like a bear, but that's just my opinion). Other than the worm stage manager Arthur, these are the only good-natured creatures in the movie. The rest are out of a parents' nightmare, which is why kids under the age of 15 should stay away from this movie.There's the host of the show, Harry the Rabbit, whose health is degenerating because of a supposed STD. The star of the show, Heidi The Hippo, has an overeating problem and is correctly concerned that her husband, Bletch the Walrus, is cheating on her. Meanwhile, Bletch is involved in a shady drug deal with Barry the Bulldog. A frog named Wynyard is a drug-addicted Vietnam veteran who has flashbacks. A gay stagehand fox named Sebastian has a penchant for sodomy, and performs a song about it despite warnings from the crew. And then there's a rat named Trevor who makes hardcore porn films in the studio basement, and is easily the creepiest, and ugliest, creature in the movie. These are just a few of the characters in, I repeat, a movie that's not for kids. The situations make for hilarity in the film, but this film could traumatize children. It really could.It's refreshing that Jackson created his own characters, rather than making parodies of each individual Muppet. While Heidi the Hippo is clearly influenced by Miss Piggy, the rest of the characters are original and therefore often funny the times you can tell what they're saying. The sound on this film is fuzzy, even on the independently-released DVD, and you have to turn your TV up to understand some of the dialogue in these characters.The lighting also could have been better. To the filmmaker's credit, the lack of lighting gave this film a dark and unfriendly ambiance which is well deserved. However, the light could have been brighter on the good characters (such as Robert and Lucille) and darker on the bad characters (like Bletch) to show obvious contrast between the characters. Instead, it looked as though the filmmakers used one light to film the entire production, and instead of making the film look intentionally creepy, it looks unintentionally crappy.Although Peter Jackson is now a major name in Hollywood, you're still hard-pressed to find this movie on DVD. It has been released on two different DVDs in the U.S., but both of them are a.) hard to find, b.) of low quality, and c.) released by an independent studio who included no special features of any kind. Now that it's 20 years since the movie has been made, it's high time they release a 20th Anniversary DVD of the film.Although "Meet The Feebles" is far from perfect, it's a great parody of not only the Muppets, but other puppet productions that contain wall-to-wall cuteness. What Ralph Bakshi did for family-friendly cartoons which would otherwise seem cute and cuddly in "Fritz The Cat", Jackson does for these kids puppets who would otherwise have family appeal in "Meet The Feebles". It's demented and funny, but hasn't gotten the release or restoration it deserves. Hopefully that will change in the near future.