Credit: Far Out / Alamy

Peter Jackson closes the book on a secret of New Zealand cinema

Tue 30 May 2023 9:13, UK

The acclaimed director Peter Jackson has finally closed the book on an agonising mystery for Kiwi cinema fans.

After a welcome surprise appearance on the seventh episode of Disney+’s The Muppets Mayhem Series, in which the New Zealand national treasure sat down with The Muppets’ band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Jackson finally gave fans closure on what happened to the surviving characters of his second ever feature Meet The Feebles, released in 1989.

After St. Pepper Floyd, the bassist for Electric Mayhem welcomes the director and explains how they haven’t seen each other “since that night in Wellington, when we met the Feebles,” Jackson replies: “You know, two of the Feebles are in witness protection and the rest are in prison.”

Who are the Feebles?

Before he was famous for dabbling in epic battles, Hobbits and orcs, Jackson’s first cinematic outputs were firmly routed in the world of black comedy. His first movie, Bad Taste, was a gory horror comedy, whilst his follow-up Meet The Feebles was a satirical musical comedy.

The Feebles in question were a group of badly behaved Jim Henson-esque puppets, completely inspired by The Muppets themselves, that succumb to the temptations of drugs, crime and prostitution in the nervous wait ahead of a massive, career-defining performance. The Feeble Variety Hour boasted such delightful characters as a porno director Rat, an adulterous Walrus and a drug-addict, knife-wielding Frog.

With a particularly dark ending involving Heidi the Hippo tipping over the edge and conducting a mass shooting, it seemed like only seven surviving members of the Feeble Variety Hour were left alive.

Since his puppet days, Jackson has gone on to create The Lord of the Rings trilogy, winning the Academy Award for Return of the King in 2003, and most recently brought his epic Beatles documentary Get Back to the same streaming platform as The Muppets Mayhem.

It appeared that Jackson was ready to delve into the world of puppets once again, telling the Muppets: “All you guys need to do is be natural, don’t look in the camera, and give me your talent!”