25 years in the past, South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut was unleashed to the lots throughout the early phases and peak of the TV collection’ reputation. The film took the TV collection’ bawdy satirical humor and amplified it to 100 because it tackled censorship, the MPAA, scapegoating, and lots of different themes that might turn into South Park‘s bread and butter. The film handled its share of points throughout manufacturing, principally with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s fights with the MPAA over its content material, however when it was all stated and carried out, the South Park film turned a important and monetary success, even occurring to earn an Academy Award nomination.
That was in 1999, and because it stands in 2024, followers of the collection have not gotten a theatrical sequel to the movie, and one has to surprise, given South Park’s continued attraction, why have not Parker and Stone ushered in a follow-up to their R-rated animated basic?
The South Park Film Pushed Boundaries
4.5/5
South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut
- Launch Date
- June 30, 1999
- Runtime
- 1h 21m
- Studio(s)
- Comedy Central Movies , Scott Rudin Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Paramount Footage
South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut was developed throughout the manufacturing of the TV collection’ first season due to the deal that Parker and Stone signed with Comedy Central. One used to surprise why The Simpsons, which had been on for about 10 years, hadn’t acquired a movie but, however South Park received one so early in its run, and that is as a result of Comedy Central’s take care of the duo specified that they needed to produce episodes of the present no less than by way of 1999 and in addition an unspecified quantity that may very well be produced into a movie based mostly on the collection.
The situations for Parker and Stone have been easy: They needed to push the bounds of their creation by making it R-rated and extra in step with the animated shorts that put them within the sights of Comedy Central to start with. Paramount Footage, like all studio, had considerations in regards to the R-rating and pushing issues too far. They even tried to clarify why a PG-13 ranking could be extra profitable, however, ultimately, creativity received the battle, and Paramount Footage went all in on Parker and Stone’s imaginative and prescient.
South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut Was Profitable Sufficient to Warrant a Sequel
The movie took what made the present nice and utilized it to a extra elaborate theatrical expertise by satirizing Disney and including well-produced musical numbers that served the aim of promoting the movie’s message. Within the film, Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick set issues in movement after they sneak right into a screening of an R-rated movie starring the favored Canadian duo Terrence and Phillip.
The movie causes the children to start swearing, which units off panic of their quiet mountain city among the many adults and different authority figures. The issue turns into so excessive that america declares struggle on Canada, and it is as much as Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny to avoid wasting Terrence and Phillip from potential execution. Oh yeah, there’s additionally the small problem of Devil and Saddam Hussein making an attempt to take over the world. Lots is occurring, but it surely’s all dealt with with hysterical precision because it tackles many points and succeeds at turning a lot of them on their heads.
South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut was launched on June 30, 1999, to glowing critiques and spectacular field workplace numbers. The movie presently carries an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, with most critics appreciating its daring, crude, but clever humorousness. Not like the Terrence and Phillip film, which takes place inside the movie, the world did not come down exhausting on the film. In truth, it was principally embraced, though some household teams did take problem with the movie’s humor, which seemingly would nonetheless have occurred if the movie rocked the PG-13 ranking that Paramount hoped for.
Associated
The South Park Film Is Nonetheless Vital 25 Years Later and Will get a New Launch
South Park: Larger Longer, and Uncut and Workforce America: World Police each have nice new releases.
Budgeted at $21 million, the film went on to gross $83.1 million worldwide and held the title of the highest-grossing R-rated animated movie till the discharge of Sausage Celebration in 2016. For its highest honor, the movie earned an Academy Award nomination for Greatest Unique Track for “Blame Canada,” with Robin Williams famously performing the quantity on the ceremony. So, given all of this success, you’ll assume a sequel would’ve been greenlit at lightning pace, and but, the followers by no means received one other one. What has held it up or prevented Parker and Stone from producing one?
Among the causes may very well be that South Park, in some ways, started to mature and shift tones following its third season and the discharge of the movie in 1999. By Season 4, South Park turned a really well timed satire of present occasions, just about in real-time, due to the character of the way it’s animated. The benefit of the collection is that it might crank out episodes a lot quicker than its competitors, like The Simpsons or Household Man.
Whereas followers love the primary three seasons of the present, a few of these episodes are extra random and goofy and a bit much less satirical in comparison with Season 4 and past. So, since South Park tackles present occasions inside per week of the occasions being topical, it makes it doubtlessly tougher to seek out an angle for a theatrical movie that is not already being addressed on the TV present. In its infancy, this was simpler to do, however with a present in its twenty eighth season that has produced almost 330 episodes, making a theatrical movie that may obtain the identical quantity of fast-paced reactions to the occasions of the world proves tougher.
The South Park Function-Size Specials
One more reason a theatrical sequel could not have been explored is as a result of South Park has begun to supply feature-length specials for the Paramount+ streaming service. Between Seasons 23 and 24, Parker and Stone signed a deal to supply 14 specials of the collection for streaming. The upside to streaming specials is that they are not held to the identical censorship requirements of Comedy Central, which implies they will go all out by way of language and content material, very similar to a theatrical movie would, they usually’re usually longer than a median episode of the present (between 40–60 minutes).
They do not have the theatrical polish of the 1999 film, however by way of content material, they serve the identical function. The model can inform extra contained tales, equivalent to “The Streaming Wars,” which took on cryptocurrency and ads in its sequel particular, with out having to take the required period of time it could take to supply a characteristic movie. Even with the collection’ animation type, a theatrical South Park movie takes extra time from manufacturing to Parker and Stone’s want to raise the fabric past tv.
Parker and Stone’s struggles with the MPAA (Movement Image Affiliation of America) is also one other problem. Throughout manufacturing of the South Park film, the duo always battled with the group over the movie’s language and content material, with the MPAA desirous to slap the movie with an NC-17 ranking, a monetary loss of life curse for many movies (except you are the not too long ago launched unrated Terrifier 3). The film was screened by the MPAA six occasions, with 5 of those screenings incomes it an NC-17 ranking.
Associated
7 South Park Jokes From the ‘90s That Make No Sense As we speak
South Park is understood for making its audiences snicker, however a few of these ’90s jokes left us scratching our heads as an alternative.
The final screening for the movie, which earned it an R-rating, was two weeks earlier than the film was launched, a headache for any inventive behind-the-scenes, in addition to its studio. The inventive pair additionally went by way of points with the MPAA on 2004’s Workforce America: World Police, which additionally went by way of a number of screenings, getting the dreaded NC-17 earlier than it lastly was granted an R-rating after cuts have been made. Parker and Stone have expressed on many events how tedious this course of was, rising extra annoyed as a result of the MPAA appeared to not perceive the satire of each tasks and took issues very actually when making their ranking choices.
Among the causes is also timing or not having the required time to make a characteristic movie that might get up towards the unique. When the “Imaginationland” trilogy was in improvement for the TV collection, plans have been explored to supply it as a movie, however that got here to an finish as a result of manufacturing schedule of the present, which proved to be demanding due to how present the episodes should be for manufacturing. There have been additionally points relating to the rights of the IP. Over time, Warner Bros. and Paramount have retained rights to the IP, and it has been acknowledged that Paramount has a sure period of time to supply a movie, or Warner Bros. will regain the rights to the IP. The longer term movies by no means occurred, and, as of now, Warner Bros. nonetheless shares the rights to the IP with Paramount.
Maybe South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut represents a second when the creators struck whereas the iron was scorching and created one thing particular that does not want a sequel. Again in 2011, when it was requested on the official South Park web site FAQ if a sequel would ever occur, a reply was written that acknowledged, partly, “The primary South Park film was so potent, we’re all nonetheless recovering from the blow.”
The movie hit so many marks on the time that have been topical and crucial, as artwork was in fixed hazard of being censored and blamed for the atrocities of the world. Instances like this aren’t as unhealthy now, so a sequel would wish to discover a special approach, however with South Park nonetheless going sturdy and cranking out episodes that talk in regards to the occasions of the world, possibly that is sufficient. South Park: Larger, Longer & Uncut is streaming on Paramount+ and Prime Video.