Meet the Feebles (1989)
Meet the Feebles (1989)
Plot.
Where to Watch.
Cast & Crew.
Donna Akersten
Samantha the Cat / The Sheep (voice)
Stuart Devenie
Sebastian / Dr. Quack / Daisy the Cow / Sandy the Chicken (voice)
Mark Hadlow
Heidi / Robert / Barry the Bulldog (voice)
Brian Sergent
Wynyard the Frog / Trevor the Rat / The Fly (voice)
Ross Jolly
(voice) (uncredited)
Peter Vere-Jones
Bletch / Arfur the Worm (voice)
Mark Wright
Sid the Elephant / The Cockroach / Louie the Fish (voice)
Danny Mulheron
Heidi the Hippo (uncredited) / Screenplay
Media.
Details.
Release DateAugust 12, 1989
StatusReleased
Running Time1h 33m
Content RatingR
Budget$750,000
Filming LocationsNew Zealand
Genres
Last updated:
This Movie Is About.
Wiki.
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.
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.