This year, Hollywood has produced two animated films destined to sit among the greats: Disney Animation’s Zootopia, about an unlikely duo solving a major political crime, and Pixar’s Finding Dory, a heartwarming sequel to the 2003 smash hit Finding Nemo. Combined, the two films have earned have $2 billion at the box office, delighting audiences with smart storytelling and outstanding humor.
But it might be Sausage Party, an R-rated animated flick about an anthropomorphic sausage having an existential crisis, that winds up being this year’s surprise standout. Not because it’ll bring in the most money, or because of its messages of hope and acceptance. Sausage Party’s August 12 debut could once and for all prove that mainstream animated movies don’t have to be kid-friendly.
For directing duo Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, two giants of animation, the prospect of doing an animated movie for adults has been an obsession. After years spent making content specifically for you children, the two wanted to try something new, to find a project where they could really let loose.
“When Sausage Party came along, it was a no-brainer because nobody had done an R-rated, CGI, mainstream movie before,” Tiernan told TechnoBuffalo. “I had always wanted to direct and have some sort of involvement in more adult-oriented animation in the same way they’ve done for years in Europe and Asia. In North America, animation has always been viewed as a kid’s entertainment medium, which we’ve always viewed as a myth.”
In the past few years alone, there’s been half a dozen big budget animated movies, but none have ventured higher than PG territory. Although many of these films tackle grown-up themes, their levels of crudeness averages about a negative 5 on a scale of Nun to Superbad. The directing duo saw this as an opportunity to turn expectations on their head.
“We’re hoping to show the world that animation as a storytelling and entertainment medium isn’t just for kids,” Tiernan said. “It was a long trip pitching it and selling it but we got it done. We always thought the envelope could be pushed a lot more than it’s being pushed and we thought now is a good time.”
The movie’s red band trailers perfectly illustrate just how far Tiernan and Vernon were willing to go. In one example, a sausage named Karl (Jonah Hill) talks about filling a pack of nearby buns with his meat. You can infer the heavy innuendo.
You’d expect nothing less from the same creative team—Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg—that brought us movies like This Is the End, Neighbors, and Pineapple Express. The only difference is the same level of crude humor is being applied to cutesy food in a supermarket, played by some of the biggest names in the biz, including Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Selma Hayek, Ed Norton and more.
See full gallery on TechnoBuffaloThe irony is both Tiernan and Vernon have contributed to some of the most kid-friendly projects ever created; the studio Tiernan owns makes Thomas & Friends, while Vernon has directed Shrek 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens, the latter of which Rogen did voice work for. Comparatively, Sausage Party is a wild, raunchy film that’s as vulgar as they come.
“When you’re in animation, 90 percent of your career is probably making content for families and children,” Vernon said. “As an adult, your brain wants to break out of that desperately. We always create more adult-themed content for ourselves but to actually put it on the big screen for the first time is pretty fantastic. It’s freeing.”
There’s a long history of animation made for grownups: 1988’s Akira, or 1995’s Ghost in the Shell, about a futuristic society where cyborg police officers keep orders. Decades before that, creators were fearlessly exploring ways to push the artform into provocative new territory. One of the earliest examples is a Walt Disney short called Alice Solves the Puzzle from 1925, which was censored here in the U.S. for showing a character, Pete, procuring a bottle of Whiskey.
Although it’s been an uphill battle, the perception of animation has shifted over the years. Today, there are dozens of animated shows aimed at more mature audiences: Bojack Horseman, South Park, American Dad, Bob’s Burgers, and even Cartoon Network’s lineup of weirdly wonderful toons, including Adventure Time and Regular Show.
The difference, however, is that none of these shows have the animated quality of a Pixar movie. The 3D animation market has been dominated by the Disney-owned studio for years, so it was key that Sausage Party matched that same level of detail.
“Achieving a certain level of quality was very important,” said Vernon. “Seth and everyone really wanted Sausage Party to look like a Pixar movie.”
They got their wish, but that in and of itself could be its most controversial quality. There is a concern an uninformed public might go see Sausage Party expecting something completely different. Earlier this year, a red band trailer for the movie was mistakenly played before a showing of Finding Dory, horrifying parents and their children.
Marketing for the movie has been explicit about the movie’s rating, plastering a large, obvious “Rated R” on posters and TV ads. Still, there will no doubt be a fair share of bewildered moviegoers when the theaters fill up this Friday.
Toy Story was a watershed moment for 3D animation when it was released in 1995. Who knew that Sausage Party, initially pitched by Rogen as a movie about hot dogs escaping their packages to have sex with buns, would also be just as important?
Sausage Party hits theaters Aug. 12.