Directed by: Trey Parker
Written by: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Starring: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, and Mary Kay Bergman
Release date: June 30, 1999
Oh how I do love South Park. Earlier this year, I wrote a column about why the show is comedic genius and how influential it is to me and to our culture. This may be somewhat of a cliché, but I believe that its film adaptation truly is a work of art and it may just be one of the best animated films in history as well as one of the best musicals.
In the film, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny go see an R-rated movie starring their favorite Canadian duo: Terrence and Philip, and the film’s foul language has “warped their fragile little minds.” Soon, they and the rest of America’s youth start swearing like sailors and as usual, the people overreact to the situation. Within days, the parents of South Park, led by Kyle’s mom Sheila, start a war between the United States and Canada, which will shape the fate of history forever. In order to save the day, the boys form a resistance movement; La Resistance, in the hopes of showing their parents just how much trouble they have caused.
There are also two subplots in the film. One involves Stan trying to win Wendy’s heart over a young British genius named Gregory. The second involves Satan himself and his struggling relationship with his homosexual lover Saddam Hussein, in a very over-the-top portrayal.
The film’s concept is borrowed from a previous South Park episode Death in which the parents of South Park protest against the show Terrence and Philip. The film does satirize a lot of major issues with today’s society and the problems that people cause in an attempt to keep their children from watching anything that they find inappropriate. This obviously backfires when they realize the lengths that their actions have gone and how they have made things worse for their kids when they were initially trying to protect them.
The screenplay for this film is fantastic. It is extremely funny and it is philosophical at the same time. The characters are all great as usual, even if some just come and go, and others do not even get a line. This was released in the middle of South Park’s third season, which I believe is when the show was funnier, so it has a very different feel whenever people think of the South Park we know now. This was back in the time when the kids were in third grade and were much more naïve, and it acts more of a surreal comedy than a social satire.
The film is a musical. Trey Parker, who majored in music in college, writes the songs for this film which are parodies of classic musicals likeLes Miserables, Oklahoma, and the Disney Renaissance movies. There are classic songs like What Would Brian Boitano Do? Mountain Town, and the Academy Award nominated Blame Canada. All of them capture the mood of the film, whether it is supposed to be happy, motivating, or even sad, at least in a comedic way. The soundtrack is one of the best in film history.
Younger fans tend not to be as attracted to this film. They seem to be more into the more modern and satirical South Park than the more surreal classic South Park. Like I said before, this was when the show was much different and it really depends on your comedic taste to say if you will enjoy this movie. For me, it is a very funny movie with memorable songs and a great message and it is as funny now as it was 15 years ago. It works well as not only a good adaptation of a great show, but also of a great film on its own. It remains my favorite animated film.