Meet the Feebles
How is it that, after multiple Oscars and billions of dollars for his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and further success with “King Kong,” “Heavenly Creatures,” and other films, that Peter Jackson’s “Meet the Feebles” still hasn’t been released on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US? I have a feeling it’s because they’d sell it as “From the director of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy,” and have the film’s felt stars on the cover, and people might be tempted to buy it for their children. Trust me, ladies and gentlemen, this is NOT for kids. Hell, I’m not even sure that I’m old enough to see it, and I’ve seen it before.
Before he was Oscar winner Peter Jackson, the New Zealand filmmaker was known for his low-budget horror movies like “Bad Taste” and “Dead Alive.” In between those films came “Feebles,” which is his, and WETA workshop’s deranged riff on Jim Henson’s wholesome “The Muppet Show.” Like Henson’s iconic variety show, “Feebles” looks at the backstage craziness at a variety show with bizarre acts, but the peek behind the scenes Jackson and Fran Walsh gives us is decidedly NOT family friendly. We get a drug-using knifethrower, traumatized by his time in ‘Nam. We get a Walrus producer who’s married to the star (a Hippo named Heidi), but banging a feline chorus girl on the side. The host is a charismatic rabbit with a penchant for threesomes. And a paternity battle ensues between an elephant and a chicken; I don’t know, but the chicken might have a point. Don’t forget the rat that makes adult movies. It’s a shame this didn’t find much of an audience when it came out in theatres. I wonder what “The Feebles Take Manhattan” would have looked like.
Even though Jackson has become known as a major filmmaker, whose work is enjoyed by critics and audiences alike (for the most part), his early work in horror, or dark comedy like this,
