The Muppets Mayhem Confirms An Unlikely Horror Film Exists In The Muppets Universe
The new ten-episode Disney+ series "The Muppets Mayhem" sees the return of the psychedelic Muppet band The Electric Mayhem as they embark on a rip-roaring adventure to record their debut album. Their fearless bandleader Dr. Teeth is still behind the keys and Animal is still beating his drum kit into submission, with all the rest of the band getting back together to make magic happen once again. The long history of Muppets movies has always been filled with pop culture references and glorified celebrity cameos, but aside from "Muppets Haunted Mansion," they've largely avoided any direct nods to the horror genre.
That all changed with the seventh episode of the series "Track 7: Eight Days a Week," where an uncredited appearance from director Peter Jackson confirmed one of the most unlikely puppet crossovers in film history. For the sake of your own sanity and to keep wholesome childhood memories intact, it's probably better if you don't automatically make the connection between the Oscar-winning "Lord of the Rings" director and his downright filthy 1989 puppet comedy "Meet the Feebles."
Developed by Adam F. Goldberg ("The Goldbergs"), Muppet veteran Bill Barretta and Jeff Yorkes, "The Muppets Mayhem" has made the raunchy, decidely R-rated characters of "Meet the Feebles" officially part of the Muppets universe. Granted, it's a quick exchange at the end of the episode that sneaks in the reference, which is probably why it managed to get past the censors over at Disney. Or, according to Goldberg over on Twitter, he believes that it's pretty likely no one on Disney's board has ever experienced the atrociousness of "Meet the Feebles" for themselves.
A wild night with The Feebles
The episode in question stays in the spirit of Jackson's exhaustive yet utterly addictive Disney+ Beatles documentary, "Get Back." With the help of Muppets' A&R rep Nora (Lilly Singh), The Electric Mayhem band attempts to make their own concert film. Kevin Smith is hired to direct, but Jackson comes in during the final moments to shoot his own documentary. Muppet Floyd Pepper (Matt Vogel) greets Jackson saying, "You know, we ain't seen you since that night in Wellington, when we met the Feebles." Jackson hilariously responds:
"Yeah it was a bad night. Two of them are in witness protection. The rest are in prison."
The Feebles reference is the kind of deep-cut Easter egg that will only hit for those that have seen Jackson's early splatter films, "Bad Taste" and "Braindead" aka "Dead Alive." Smack in the middle of two of the goriest movies ever made in New Zealand, "Meet the Feebles" uses a Variety show backdrop to feature puppets committing every sick and deplorable act imaginable. The film exists in my mind as a kind of stoner fever dream after tracking it down after witnessing "Dead Alive" for the first time. As a Jackson completist, "Meet the Feebles" is essential viewing, regardless of how traumatic the experience may be.
The entirety of "Meet the Feebles" plays almost like a puppet version of the lunacy and debauchery found in the first act of Ari Aster's "Beau is Afraid" where everyone is drugged out, destitute, and extremely dangerous. The main star is Heidi the Hippo and Robert the Hedgehog, who both try and navigate their way through a barrage of puppets doing heroin, making porn, having sex, committing murder and causing general chaos. It's a wonder that the Electric Mayhem band actually survived a night of partying with the Feebles at all.
The sordid past of the Muppets' house band
The closest The Muppets themselves ever came to matching the levels of excess seen in "Meet the Feebles" was in 1975's failed pilot "The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence," which also featured the very first appearance of the Electric Mayhem band. The more adult-oriented rebranding of the Muppets came after their stint on "Saturday Night Live," but proved a little too jarring for a seventies audience that wasn't quite as hip during primetime.
"The Muppets Mayhem" keeps the '70s spirit alive, however, staying true to the characters and the original artists that inspired them. Dr. Teeth is famously based on legendary New Orleans singer and keyboardist Dr. John, Muppet Janice was directly influenced by Janis Joplin, and most famously, Animal was based on the gifted but famously erratic drummer for The Who, Keith Moon. Floyd Pepper was inspired by John Lennon during the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, making it all the more apropos for Floyd to be the one who shares the scene with Jackson in the "Muppets Mayhem" episode.
Besides Jackson, the new Disney+ series also features a huge list of cameos from a wide range of musicians including Chris Stapleton, Lil Nas X, Billy Corgan, Ziggy Marley and, yes, even Tommy Lee showing off his "Mayhem" tattoo after appearing shirtless yet again.
Throughout the fifty-year history of The Muppets, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem have always been there as the backing band for Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fonzie, Scooter, Beaker and the lovable Rowlf the Dog. In a perfect world where lawsuits didn't exist, that night out in Wellington with the Feebles could be an incredible R-rated spinoff that Jackson would probably be up for directing.