| Meet the Feebles | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Peter Jackson |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Murray Milne |
| Edited by | Jamie Selkirk |
| Music by | Peter Dasent |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Kerridge Odeon |
Release date |
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Running time | 97 minutes[1] |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $750,000[2] |
| Box office | $80,000 (New Zealand)[3] |
Meet the Feebles (also known as Frogs of War in New Zealand as the film's English fake working title) is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron (who also performed the body of lead character Heidi the Hippo). It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire.[4][5] Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets (plus some in-suit performers) who are members of a stage troupe. However, whereas the Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence, the Feebles largely present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics.
It is the first Jackson film that was co-written by his future partner Fran Walsh, who has gone on to act as co-writer for all his subsequent films. It was also the first Jackson film with effects from Richard Taylor, who was a puppet maker for his first film credit; Wētā Workshop, as created by Taylor and Tania Rodger, have worked on every subsequent Jackson film.[6]
- ^ "MEET THE FEEBLES (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 7 October 1991. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ Brzeski, Patrick (10 December 2018). "Peter Jackson Returns to His "Naughty Years" With Restoration of Gory Early Films". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
- ^ "Meet the Feebles – Background". NZ On Screen. 31 August 2008. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
- ^ "MEET THE FEEBLES (Peter Jackson, 1989) on Vimeo". Archived from the original on 13 September 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
- ^ The 50 Greatest Midnight Movies of All Time - Flavorwire
- ^ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/happytime-murders-how-peter-jackson-meet-feebles-inspired-it-1135381/