‘Meet the Feebles’
Wingnut Films, 1989

starring the voices of: Peter Vere-Jones, Danny Mulheron, Brian Sergent and Mark Hadlaw
written and directed by: Peter Jackson

the plot: The Feebles are a misfit crew of anthropomorphic animal performers in one of the country’s most popular variety shows. But on the night of their first live television special, the cast and crew must deal with all sorts of mishaps, mix-ups and murder. Heidi the Hippo, the show’s star, refuses to go on the air after discovering that her husband Bletch the Walrus, the show’s producer, is cheating on her. Meanwhile, Harry the Rabbit has come down with a nasty sexually transmitted disease that might very well be fatal, while Trevor the Rat desperately searches for a new star for the stag films he directs backstage. And, as Bletch tries to console Heidi, he’s also got to straighten out a drug deal that’s gone terribly wrong. Amidst all the chaos is Robert the Hedgehog, a wide-eyed, innocent chap who recently joined the cast. The drinking, drugs and debauchery don’t sit well with Robert, but as he quickly discovers, it takes a mean streak and a thick skin to make it in Feeble-town.

why it’s good: “Meet the Feebles” is a movie about cute (and not-so-cute) animal puppets doing rotten, horrible, nasty things. This alone makes it a prime piece of cinematic gold, but under Peter Jackson’s direction, the film has a wickedly dark sense of humor that keeps the momentum up long after the shock value has worn off. And what shocks there are! In the first 10 minutes, a sleazy rat makes a series of lewd comments, a walrus has sex with a cat and a junkie frog begs for a fix. It only gets worse from there. Jackson includes everything from Vietnam flashbacks (featuring little chipmunks standing in for the Viet Cong) to some exceedingly foul stuff that can only be found in the darker corners of the Internet. There’s not much in the way of plot or characterizations to gush about—we’re talking puppets here, people—but “Feebles” is a lot of fun to watch and should satisfy anyone’s craving for over-the-top offensiveness.

why you should own it: If you liked Jackson’s earlier efforts, including “Dead Alive” and “Bad Taste,” then “Feebles” is essential to own. Unfortunately, Spectrum Entertainment’s DVD is decidedly lackluster, with no extras and a poor transfer of the film.