Sausage Party

Sausage Party
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Conrad Vernon Greg Tiernan
Produced by	Megan Ellison Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Conrad Vernon
Screenplay by	Kyle Hunter Ariel Shaffir Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg
Story by	Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Jonah Hill
Starring	Michael Cera James Franco Salma Hayek Jonah Hill Danny McBride Edward Norton Seth Rogen Paul Rudd Kristen Wiig
Music by	Alan Menken Christopher Lennertz
Edited by	Kevin Pavlovic
Production companies	Annapurna Pictures Point Grey Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	March 14, 2016 (SXSW) August 12, 2016 (United States)
Running time	88 minutes[1]
Country	United States[2]
Language	English
Budget	$19 million[3][4]
Box office	$139.9 million[5]

Sausage Party is a 2016 American adult computer-animated comedy film directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon and written by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. It stars the voices of Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, and Salma Hayek. It is the first CGI-animated film to be rated R by the MPAA.^[6][7][8]

A spoof of Disney and Pixar films,^[9] it follows a sausage who tries to discover the truth about his existence and goes on a journey with his friends to escape their fate. The film's rough cut premiered on March 14, 2016 at South by Southwest and the film was theatrically released in the United States on August 12, 2016 by Columbia Pictures.^[10] The film received positive reviews and grossed more than $139 million.

Plot

In a supermarket called Shopwell's, it is filled with anthropomorphic grocery items and the human shoppers are worshipped as gods who take groceries to the "Great Beyond" when they are purchased. Among the groceries in the store is a sausage named Frank, who has dreams of living with his hot dog bun girlfriend, Brenda, in the Great Beyond, where they can finally consummate their relationship. Frank lives in a package and looks forward to life in the Great Beyond.

After Frank and Brenda's packages are chosen to leave Shopwell's, a returned jar of Honey Mustard informs the disbelieving groceries that the Great Beyond is a lie. Honey Mustard calls on Frank to seek out a bottle of liquor named Firewater before committing suicide. This creates an accidental cart collision that causes several groceries, including Frank, to fall out.

Seeking to verify Honey Mustard's warning, Frank leads Brenda and a group of other groceries to the store's liquor isle, pretending to take a shortcut to their proper isles. There, he smokes marijuana and learns from Firewater that he and other non-perishable foods invented the story of the Great Beyond as a noble lie to assuage past foods' fears of being eaten by shoppers. Frank, vowing to reveal the truth to the groceries, is encouraged to travel beyond the store's freezer section to find proof.

Meanwhile, the rest of the purchased groceries are horrified to watch foods being cooked and eaten. A deformed sausage named Barry escapes and stumbles across a human drug addict, who becomes able to communicate with his groceries after he injects himself with bath salts. After sobering up, the drug addict attempts to toss Barry into a pot of boiling water but misses, leading to an accident that results in his decapitation.

After Frank separates from his friends who disapprove of his skepticism of the Great Beyond, he discovers a cookbook behind the freezer section and reveals its contents to the rest of Shopwell's groceries. However, they choose not to believe him, lest they lose their sense of purpose. Barry returns to the store with the drug addict's severed head, revealing that the humans can be killed. The groceries are able to drug the humans shoppers using toothpicks laced with bath salts. The foods initially attempt to communicate with the shoppers, but their plan backfires and a store-wide battle ensues. Once all the shoppers are killed, all the foods in the store partake in a massive orgy in celebration.

Later, the groceries are informed by Firewater and Gum that they have discovered that they do not exist and are merely cartoon characters, manipulated by human animators and voiced by celebrities in another dimension. Gum reveals a portal that he made that will allow them to travel to this dimension and the foods decide to go there to meet their creators.

Cast

• Seth Rogen as Frank Wienerton, a sausage who is Brenda's boyfriend; Sgt. Pepper, a red pepper sergeant.^[9][11][12]
• Kristen Wiig as Brenda Bunson, a hot dog bun and Frank's girlfriend.^[12][13]
• Jonah Hill as Carl, a sausage who is friends with Frank and Barry.^[9][11][12]
• Bill Hader as Firewater, an old Native American bottle of liquor and the leader of the Non-Perishables; El Guaco, a guacamole gangster;^[12] and a drunk bottle of tequila.
• Michael Cera as Barry, a deformed sausage with dwarfism who is one of Frank's friends.^[9][12][13]
• James Franco as the Druggie who is the first known human to see the foods as sentient beings.
• Danny McBride as a jar of honey mustard who is returned to Shopwell's and tries to warn Frank of their fate.^[14]
• Craig Robinson as Mr. Grits, a box of grits who is one of the Non-Perishables and has a grudge against crackers.
• Paul Rudd as Darren, the manager of Shopwell's who is nicknamed the "Dark Lord" as he disposes of expired food.^[14]
• Nick Kroll as Douche, an evil feminine hygiene product seeking revenge on Frank for breaking his nozzle and preventing him from reaching the Great Beyond.^[12][13]
• David Krumholtz as Kareem Abdul Lavash, a Middle Eastern lavash who has an on and off rivalry with Sammy Bagel Jr.^[9][12][13]
• Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr., a Jewish Woody Allen-esque bagel who has an on and off rivalry with Kareem Abdul Lavash.^[9][12][13]
• Salma Hayek as Teresa del Taco, a lesbian taco shell who develops a lustful friendship with Brenda.^[12][15]
• Anders Holm as Troy, one of the sausages packed with Frank^[9][12] who picks on Barry for being deformed.
• Scott Underwood as Gum, a Stephen Hawking-esque bubble gum wad; Twink, a Twinkie who is one of the Non-Perishables; a half-eaten pizza; and a bag of Krinkler's Chips.^[16]
• Greg Tiernan as an Irish potato; and noodle soup^[17]
• Conrad Vernon as a roll of toilet paper, an Adolf Hitler-esque sauerkraut, a grape, a catcall sausage, a beer can and a soda pop bottle
• Harland Williams as a bottle of ketchup, a drug dealer, and a baba ganoush
• Alistair Abell as mariachi salsa and gefilte fish
• Iris Apatow as Berry Good Candies, another grape, and coconut milk
• Sugar Lyn Beard as a baby carrot and half-eaten cookies^[18]
• Ian James Corlett as an apple, a French bag of Ticklish Licorice, a jar of relish, and a bag of dog food^[19]
• Michael Daingerfield as a box of Chunk Munchers Cereal, an energy-efficient light bulb, and an Indian chutney
• Brian Dobson as an Italian tomato and a lettuce
• Michael Dobson as a queso
• Ian Hanlin as a beet
• Maryke Hendrikse as a cherry drink mixer; a plum; Loretta, a hot dog bun; and Frozen Fruitz
• Meat Loaf as a Meat Loaf-esque meatloaf in the "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" montage (uncredited)
• Lauren Miller as Camille Toh, a woman who purchases the food; and a tampon^[20]
• Nicole Oliver as Sally, a hot dog bun, an ice cream, a watermelon and a female shopper
• Kelly Sheridan as Roberta, a hot dog bun; a grape, and a female shopper
• Jason Simpson as a plum; a beer keg; a fat guy; and a fit man
• Vincent Tong as Pislitz Chips; a Juicius Maximus grape juice box; and a bottle of Jamaican rum^[21]
• Samuel Vincent as an old pork sausage, a can of refried beans, a half-eaten sandwich, a Pop Tart, and a licorice rope

Production

Rogen has stated that he worked for eight years to get the film made; however, the content worried most film studios and they thus did not pick it up.^[22] Noting that the film came from "an innocent place", Rogen stated "'What would it be like if our food had feelings?’ We very quickly realized that it would be fucked up.'"^[23] Goldberg revealed the project to Indiewire in July 2010, stating it was a "top secret super project". Initially, Indiewire was skeptical that the project was real and not a hoax on Goldberg's part, but after vetting, it did confirm that it was in the works.^[11] In November 2010, Hill independently confirmed to MTV News that he was working on an R-rated 3D animated film.^[24] The film was formally announced in September 2013 as a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment, Annapurna Pictures and Point Grey Pictures.^[25] On May 29, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on June 3, 2016,^[26] but in early 2016, the release date was revised to August 12, 2016. The film is rated R for strong crude sexual content, pervasive language and drug use. When Rogen submitted the film to the MPAA, they assigned it with an NC-17 rating due to the visibility of pubic hair on Lavash's scrotum. In order to be reassigned an R rating, the pubic hair was removed.^{[27][28][29][30]} In January 2014, Rogen, Hill, James Franco and Kristen Wiig were announced as the leads in the film. The other cast includes Edward Norton, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz and Nick Kroll.^[13] On April 9, 2014, Salma Hayek was set to lend her voice to the film as Teresa the Taco.^[15] It was also announced that Paul Rudd, Danny McBride and Anders Holm would voice characters in the film.^[14]

Music

Soundtrack

Sausage Party
Film score by Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz
Released	August 5, 2016
Recorded	2016
Genre	Film score
Length	74:49
Label	Madison Gate Records Sony Music Masterworks
Producer	Alan Menken Christopher Lennertz
Alan Menken film scores chronology
Mirror Mirror (2012) Sausage Party (2016) Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Christopher Lennertz chronology
The Boss (2016) Sausage Party (2016) Baywatch (2017)

The film’s score was composed by Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz. The soundtrack was released on August 5, 2016 by Madison Gate Records and Sony Music Masterworks.

Track listing

All music composed by Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz, except as noted.

Track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Great Beyond" (performed by Sausage Party Cast)	3:13
2.	"Darren, the Dark Lord"	0:55
3.	"Chosen"	1:50
4.	"I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" (performed by Meat Loaf)	5:14
5.	"The Crash"	2:34
6.	"Douche Loses It"	2:16
7.	"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" (performed by Wham!)	3:50
8.	"Our Heroes"	2:31
9.	"He's Coming"	1:47
10.	"Food Massacre"	3:15
11.	"Hungry Eyes" (performed by Eric Carmen)	3:47
12.	"True" (performed by Spandau Ballet)	5:31
13.	"The Spooge"	3:46
14.	"Magical Sausage"	1:40
15.	"Gone" (performed by JR JR)	3:46
16.	"We're Home"	3:29
17.	"The Cookbook"	1:26
18.	"I Have Proof"	3:06
19.	"Big Speech"	3:04
20.	"The Big Fight"	2:37
21.	"Final Battle"	4:04
22.	"It's Your Thing" (performed by The Isley Brothers)	2:46
23.	"Finale"	2:24
24.	"Joy to the World" (performed by Three Dog Night)	3:14
25.	"The Great Beyond Around the World" (performed by Sausage Party Cast)	2:44
Total length:		74:49

Release

Premiere and theatrical release

A rough cut of the film was shown at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 14, 2016.^[10] The final cut of the film screened at Just for Laughs on July 30, 2016.^[31] The film was theatrically released in the United States and Canada on August 12, 2016.^[32] The film was released in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2016.^[33]

Home media

Sausage Party was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on November 8, 2016 (Election Day).^[34]

Reception

Box office

As of November 20, 2016, Sausage Party has grossed $97.7 million in North America and $42.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $139.9 million, against a budget of $19 million.^[5] The film is the most commercially successful R-rated animated film of all time.^[35]

In the United States and Canada, Sausage Party was released on August 12, 2016, alongside Pete's Dragon and Florence Foster Jenkins, and was initially projected to gross $15–20 million from 2,805 theaters in its opening weekend.^[3] However, after grossing $3.3 million from Thursday night previews (more than the $1.7 million made by Rogen's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising in May) and $13.5 million on its first day, weekend projections were increased to $30–35 million. The film ended up grossing $33.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office, behind Suicide Squad.^[36]

Outside North America, the biggest markets are the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, Germany, Russia, and Israel where the film grossed $10.2 million, $6.8 million, $4.1 million, $3.5 million $2.6 million and $2 million respectively.^[37]

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film had an approval rating of 83%, based on 169 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Sausage Party is definitely offensive, but backs up its enthusiastic profanity with an impressively high laugh-to-gag ratio – and a surprisingly thought-provoking storyline."^[38] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[39] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.^[40]

Vince Mancini of Uproxx wrote "Sausage Party's most charming quality is that it feels exactly like a group of 13-year-olds trying to entertain themselves, with excessive C-bombs and constant groan-worthy food puns."^[41] Richard Roeper gave the film three out of four stars, saying, "Despite all the cursing and envelope-pushing and bat-bleep crazy sexual stuff, Sausage Party isn't mean-spirited. It's just … stupid. But also pretty smart. And funny as hell."^[42] Lindsey Bahr of Associated Press gave the film a positive review and wrote: "There is no one out there making comedies quite like Rogen and Goldberg. They are putting their definitive stamp on the modern American comedy one decency-smashing double entendre at a time."^[43]

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref(s)
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Best Original Song – Animated Film	"The Great Beyond" – Alan Menken, Glenn Slater, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg	Nominated	[44][45]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award	Best Animated Feature	Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon	Pending	[46]
Annie Awards	Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated Feature Production	Kevin Pavlovic	Pending	[47]

Controversy

Work conditions

After release, some controversy emerged after anonymous comments attributed to the animators on a Cartoon Brew article suggested that the animators at Nitrogen Studios worked under poor conditions and were forced by director Greg Tiernan to work overtime without pay.^[48] A total of 36 of the 83 animators were blacklisted and went uncredited in the film, believed to be due to their complaints; comments made in anonymous interviews of some of the animators involved in the project by Variety, The Washington Post, and The Hollywood Reporter alleged that the comments were accurate. All the animators in the film were reportedly told outright that they would be blacklisted if they did not work overtime without pay.^[48][49][50]

Future

Rogen has expressed interest in making a Sausage Party 2 and more animated films aimed for adults. When asked about a sequel, Rogen stated: "It's something we talk about, yeah. That's one of the reasons why we took away the [original] ending because we thought, well, if that was the first scene of the next movie it's probably not what you would want it to be, with them just seeing us and finding us basically. But the idea of a live-action/animated movie, like a Who Framed Roger Rabbit?-style hybrid, is also very exciting, mostly because Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is one of my favorite movies of all time."^[51]

See also

• List of adult animated films

References

1. "Sausage Party (15)". British Board of Film Classification. July 12, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2016.
2. "Sausage Party (2016)". AllMovie. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
3. "'Suicide Squad' Secures Record Monday Haul For August, Eyes $51M-$54M In 2nd Weekend – B.O. Preview". deadline.com.
4. McNarry, Dave (August 9, 2016). "Box Office: 'Suicide Squad' to Easily Keep Top Spot Over 'Pete's Dragon,' 'Sausage Party'". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
5. "Sausage Party (2016)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
6. Hooton, Christopher (March 15, 2016). "Sausage Party trailer: First R-rated Pixar-esque animation involves swearing bagel voiced by Edward Norton". The Independent. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
7. Dimoff, Anna (August 13, 2016). "Sausage Party, Hollywood's first CG-animated cartoon rated R, created in Vancouver". CBC News. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
8. Alexander, Bryan (August 11, 2016). "How animated food movie 'Sausage Party' got an 'R' rating". USA Today. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
9. Goldberg, Matt (May 6, 2014). "Writer Evan Goldberg and Executive Producer James Weaver Talk R-Rated Animated Film SAUSAGE PARTY; Pixar Movies Will Get "Ripped Apart"". Collider.com. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
10. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 1, 2016). "Sony Is Throwing A 'Sausage Party' At SXSW; Seth Rogen-Evan Goldberg Toon Will Screen As Work-In-Progress". Deadline.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
11. "Evan Goldberg Announces 'Sausage Party' Starring Seth Rogen & Jonah Hill". indiewire.com. July 23, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
12. Wintraub, Steve (May 7, 2014). "Seth Rogen Talks NEIGHBORS, Expanding Rose Byrne's Role, the R-Rated Animated Comedy SAUSAGE PARTY, THE INTERVIEW, PREACHER, and More". Collider.com=May 8, 2014.
13. Sneider, Jeff (January 28, 2014). "Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig Lead 'Sausage Party' Voice Cast". thewrap.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
14. Sneider, Jeff (May 29, 2014). "Paul Rudd, Danny McBride, Anders Holm Join 'Sausage Party' Voice Cast". The Wrap. Retrieved May 30, 2014.
15. Yamato, Jen (April 9, 2014). "Salma Hayek Invited To Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg's 'Sausage Party'". deadline.com. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
16. Busis, Hillary. "The Cast of Sausage Party Is Ready for Its Edible Close-Up".
17. "Sausage Paty (@sausagepartymovie): "Happy Birthday #GregTiernan, from everyone at #SausagePartyMovie!"". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
18. "Sugar Lyn on Twitter".
19. "Ian James Corlett on Twitter".
20. "EXCLUSIVE: Seth Rogen Enjoys Disregarding the Laws of Physics With New R-Rated, Animated Comedy 'Sausage Party'". Entertainment Tonight. Retrieved August 10, 2016.
21. Tong, Vincent (March 16, 2016). "So Excited to see this! You may hear a voice you recognize! ;)". Twitter.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
22. Sttoodeh, Ramin. "SXSW: Seth Rogen's 'Sausage Party' Is the R-Rated 'Inside Out'". Variety. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
23. Smith, Nigel M. "Seth Rogen's animated film Sausage Party is provocative food for thought". The Guardian. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
24. "Jonah Hill Says '21 Jump Street' Will Be His Next Movie". MTV. November 2, 2010. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
25. "Sony Pictures Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures will partner on animated film titled Sausage Party". sonypictures.com. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
26. "Sony & Annapurna Set Summer 2016 Date For Animated 'Sausage Party'". Deadline.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
27. "What Got Cut From 'Sausage Party' to Avoid an NC-17 MPAA Rating".
28. "MPAA made Seth Rogen shave the pita bread's "ballsack" to avoid NC-17 rating for Sausage Party". August 9, 2016.
29. The Howard Stern Show (August 8, 2016). "Seth Rogen Reveals "Sausage Party" Detail MPAA Wanted Cut" – via YouTube.
30. "'Sausage Party' Directors Conrad Vernon & Greg Tiernan On Making 2016's Most Outlandish Animated Film". August 13, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
31. "Sasuage Party". Just for Laughs. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
32. Desowitz, Bill (August 4, 2016). "Seth Rogen's R-Rated 'Sausage Party' Tries to Break Through the Family-Friendly Animation Glass Ceiling". Indiewire.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
33. "SAUSAGE PARTY". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
34. "Sausage Party (2016)". DVDs Release Dates. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
35. "Oscars: Raunchy 'Sausage Party' to Get Serious Awards Push (Exclusive)". Retrieved November 5, 2016.
36. "'Sausage Party' Raises Its Heat To $33.6M In 2nd, Burning 'Suicide Squad'". deadline.com.
37. "Sausage Party International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
38. "Sausage Party (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
39. "Sausage Party reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
40. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
41. Mancini, Vince (August 11, 2016). "'Sausage Party' Is A Delightful Fart-Joke Sandwich With An Undercooked Religious Filling". Uproxx. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
42. "The food's rude and crude in hilarious 'Sausage Party'". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
43. "Review: Audacious 'Sausage Party' is a delicious feast".
44. "Justin Timberlake & Alexandre Desplat Among Winners At Hollywood Music In Media Awards". Deadline. November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
45. McNary, Dave (November 2, 2016). "'La La Land' Scores Three Hollywood Music in Media Nominations". Variety. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
46. "The 2016 WAFCA Awards Nominations". December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 4, 2016.
47. "44th Annie Award Nominees". International Animated Film Society. November 28, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
48. Burns, Elias; Vlessing, Etan (August 16, 2016). "'Sausage Party' Animators' Pay Dispute Surfaces After Big Opening". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
49. Rainey, James; Lang, Brent (August 16, 2016). "'Sausage Party' Animators Allege Studio Used Unpaid Overtime". Variety. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
50. Merry, Stephanie (August 17, 2016). "The working conditions for some 'Sausage Party' animators were pretty terrible". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
51. "Seth Rogen Wants to Do Sausage Party 2 & More R-Rated Animated Movies". August 14, 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Sausage Party at Box Office Mojo
• Sausage Party at Rotten Tomatoes
• Sausage Party at the Internet Movie Database