Sausage Party

Sausage Party is a 2016 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.

A spoof of Disney and Pixar films, 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 and Canada on August 12, 2016 by Columbia Pictures. The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed more than $140 million.

Plot
A supermarket called Shopwell's is filled with anthropomorphic grocery items that worship the human shoppers 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.

After Frank and Brenda's packages are chosen by a woman named Camille Toh to leave Shopwell's, a returned jar of Bickle's honey mustard tries to warn the disbelieving groceries that the Great Beyond is a lie. Nobody listens except for Frank. 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 Frank, Brenda, and several groceries to fall out, including a douche who gets his nozzle bent, and plots revenge against Frank and Brenda.

Seeking to verify Honey Mustard's warning, Frank leads Brenda, Lavash named named Kareem Abdul Lavash and a bagel named Sammy Bagel Jr. to the store's liquor aisle under the guise of taking a shortcut to their proper aisles. There, he smokes weed 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 food's 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. While waiting for Frank, Brenda and the others are led into the Mexican aisle, where they meet Teresa, a taco who falls in love with Brenda on sight.

Meanwhile, Frank's friends Carl and Barry are horrified as they witness the other purchased foods being cooked and eaten by Camille, shown from the foods' perspective as brutal murder. Carl and Barry attempt to escape out a window, but Carl is killed when Camille slices him with a knife. Barry manages to escape and stumbles across a human druggie, who becomes able to communicate with his groceries after he injects himself with bath salts. After sobering up and attempting to cook Barry, the druggie is decapitated in a domestic accident.

Back at Shopwell's, Frank reunites with his friends and tries to get them to come with him into the dark aisle, but Brenda refuses, and she and Frank end up having an argument until she, Teresa, Sammy and Lavash head back to their aisles, leaving Frank to head into the dark aisle solo. After Frank reaches the dark aisle, he discovers a cookbook and finds pictures of humans eating food. Frank then rips out a few pages and sets out to reveal the truth to the groceries. Frank reveals the groceries pictures of humans eating food from the cookbook and they begin to panic. However, they choose not to believe him, fearing they lose their sense of purpose, prompting Frank to lash out at them for their blind belief. Frank then tries to rescue Brenda from being taken away but a women grabs her new package and Frank tries to find her, but loses track of her and gives up hope until Barry and other groceries from the druggie's home return to the store with the druggie's severed head, revealing that the humans can be killed. The groceries are able to drug the human shoppers and employees using toothpicks laced with bath salts. After saving Brenda from getting purchased, Frank apologizes to the foods for misjudging their beliefs and convinces them to fight against the shoppers when they start attacking them, and a store-wide battle ensues.

Douche, after absorbing the contents of liquor bottles, becomes a wild monster and takes control of the store manager named Darren by inserting himself into Darren's anus and yanking on his scrotum to puppeteer his actions. Once he and Darren catch Frank, Douche gets revenge by biting on Frank's torso. Barry and the other foods launch a rocket at Douche and Darren made from propane tanks and a garbage bin used to dispose of expired foods. Brenda rescues Frank from Douche and Darren just as the rocket hits them, sending them both through the store's ceiling and killing them in an explosion. With the battle over, the foods celebrate their victory in a massive orgy.

Afterwards, Frank, Brenda, Barry, Kareem, Sammy and Teresa meet with Firewater and Gum, who have had a psychedelic experience and discovered that their world is not real, and they are merely cartoons voiced by famous actors in another dimension. Gum has constructed a portal to this dimension, and the groceries decide to travel there to meet their creators.

Voice cast

 * Seth Rogen as Frank Wienerton, a sausage who is Brenda's boyfriend; Sgt. Pepper, a red pepper sergeant.
 * Kristen Wiig as Brenda Bunson, a hot dog bun and Frank's girlfriend.
 * Jonah Hill as Carl, a sausage who is friends with Frank and Barry.
 * Bill Hader as Firewater, an old Native American bottle of liquor and the leader of the Non-Perishables; Jośe, a bottle of Tequila; and El Guaco, a guacamole gangster.
 * Michael Cera as Barry, a deformed sausage who is one of Frank's friends.
 * James Franco as the Druggie who is the first known human to see the foods as sentient beings.
 * Danny McBride as a jar of Bickle's Honey Mustard who returned to Shopwell's and tries to warn Frank of their fate after a shopper mistook him for regular mustard.
 * Craig Robinson as Mr. Grits, a box of grits who is one of the Non-Perishables and hates crackers.
 * Paul Rudd as Darren, the manager of Shopwell's who is nicknamed the "Dark Lord" as he disposes of expired food and spilled items.
 * Nick Kroll as Douche, an evil murderous feminine hygiene product seeking revenge on Frank for breaking his nozzle and preventing him from reaching the Great Beyond.
 * David Krumholtz as Kareem Abdul Lavash, a Middle Eastern lavash who has an on-off rivalry with Sammy Bagel Jr..
 * Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr., a Jewish Woody Allen-esque bagel who has an on and off rivalry with Lavash.
 * Salma Hayek as Teresa del Taco, a Mexican lesbian taco shell who has a crush on Brenda.


 * Alistair Abell as Mariachi Salsa, Gefilte fish
 * Iris Apatow as Berry Good Candies, Grape #3, Coconut milk
 * Sugar Lyn Beard as Baby Carrot, Cookies
 * Ian James Corlett as Apple, Tickllish Licorice, Relish, Bag of Dog Food
 * Michael Daingerfield as Chunk Munchers Cereal, Light bulb, Indian Chutney
 * Brian Dobson as Italian Tomato, Lettuce
 * Michael Dobson as Queso
 * Ian Hanlin as Beet
 * Maryke Hendrikse as Popped Cherry Mixer, Plum #1, Loretta Bun, Frozen Fruitz
 * Anders Holm as Troy, one of the sausages who picks on Barry.
 * Lauren Miller-Rogen as Camille Toh, a women who purchases Frank & Brenda's packages; a tampon who absorbs Darren's blood when the battle is over.
 * Nicole Oliver as Sally Bun, Ice Cream, Watermelon, Female Shopper #1
 * Kelly Sheridan as Roberta Bun, Grape #2, Female Shopper #2
 * Jason Simpson as Plum #2, Beer Keg, Fat Guy, Fit Man
 * Greg Tiernan as Potato, Noodle Soup
 * Vincent Tong as Pislitz Chips, Juice Box, Jamaican Rum
 * Scott Diggs Underwood as Gum, a Stephen Hawking-esque gum; Twink, a Twinkie that is a member of the Non-Perishables; Krinkler's Chips, Pizza
 * Conrad Vernon as an Ed Wynn-esque Toilet Paper, Sauerkraut, Catcall Sausage, Grape #1, Beer Can, Pop Bottle
 * Sam Vincent as Old Pork Sausage, Refried Beans, Sandwich, Pop Tart, Licorice Rope
 * Harland Williams as Ketchup, Drug Dealer, Baba Ganoush

Both Rogen and Norton also appear as the live-action faces of themselves that Frank and Sammy were voiced by at the end of the film.

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. 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." 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. In November 2010, Hill independently confirmed to MTV News that he was working on an R-rated 3D animated film.

The film was formally announced in September 2013 as a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment, Annapurna Pictures and Point Grey Pictures. On May 29, 2014, it was announced that the film would be released on June 3, 2016, but in early 2016, the release date was revised to August 12, 2016. 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. On April 9, 2014, Salma Hayek was set to lend her voice to the film as Teresa the Taco. It was also announced that Paul Rudd, Danny McBride and Anders Holm would voice characters in the film.

The film received an R rating for strong crude sexual content, pervasive language and drug use. When Rogen initially submitted the film to the MPAA, however, they assigned it with an NC-17 rating due to the visibility of pubic hair on Lavash's scrotum. In order to be assigned an R rating, the pubic hair was removed.

Soundtrack
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.

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

Home media
Sausage Party was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download on November 8, 2016.

Box office
Sausage Party grossed $97.7 million in North America and $42.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $140.4 million, against a budget of $19 million. The film is the most commercially successful R-rated animated film of all time, replacing South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (which held the record for 17 years), and made a net profit of $47.06 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.

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. 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.

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.

Critical response
On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 83%, based on 188 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "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." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

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." 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." 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."

Work conditions
After release, 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. 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 by 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.  

Rating in France
The film was granted a −12 certificate by France’s classification commission. Jean-Frédéric Poisson, the President of the Christian Democratic Party, said about the film "An orgy scene for 12-year-olds! Everything remains to be done to combat early exposure to pornography".

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."