Sausage Party

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 an ensemble voice cast that includes 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.

The film is a parody of Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks Animation films, 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. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $97 million on a $138 million budget becoming the highest grossing R-rated animated film of all time.

Plot
In a supermarket called Shopwell's, the foods and other grocery items see the human shoppers as gods who take them to "the great beyond" when they are purchased. A sausage named Frank has dreams of living in the great beyond with his hot dog bun girlfriend, Brenda. Frank and Brenda's packages are chosen by a human to leave Shopwell's, but en route they are warned by a returned jar of honey mustard that the great beyond is not what they have been led to believe. After an accidental collision during their trip to the registers, Frank, Brenda, a lavash named Kareem, a bagel named Sammy, and an aggressive douche named Douche fall out of the shopping cart. Douche's nozzle is damaged, for which he blames Frank. When he is discarded by a store employee named Darren, he swears revenge.

With the rest of the groceries purchased and taken to the great beyond, Frank, Brenda, and the others decide to journey back to their aisles, but in an attempt to verify the honey mustard's warning, Frank leads them to the liquor aisle to meet Firewater, who is purportedly knowledgeable about the great beyond. While the others meet a lesbian taco named Teresa, who expresses a lustful passion for Brenda, Frank learns from Firewater that in the great beyond, the "gods" actually eat the foods that are chosen. Firewater reveals that he invented the story of the great beyond to assuage the fears of the foods who once knew their fate when being purchased, and a Twinkie encourages Frank to visit the store's freezer section to find proof.

Douche escapes from the store's backroom dumpster. Meanwhile, the rest of the groceries who were purchased discover the truth about the great beyond when many of them are killed, cooked, and eaten. A sausage named Barry escapes and wanders into the outside world alone. He stumbles across a human junkie with a Shopwell's bag. In hope of returning to Shopwell's, Barry stows away with the other groceries and is taken to his house. After injecting himself with bath salts, the junkie becomes intoxicated. He finds himself able to see Barry and the other groceries in his home as "alive" and descends into a panic. The items realize they can communicate with the humans while the humans are under the influence of bath salts. After sobering up, the junkie believes this experience to have been a dream. He attempts to toss Barry into a pot of boiling water but misses, and Barry falls to the floor. An accident then results in the junkie being decapitated, and the groceries are free to leave.

Frank reunites with his friends and tells them he intends to travel to the freezer to learn more about the humans and the great beyond. Brenda questions his motives and heads back to her aisle, while rejecting Teresa's advances due to the "rules" that require her to only be with a hot dog. After reading a cookbook behind the freezer, Frank discovers the truth. He reveals the cookbook to the rest of Shopwell's, but everyone ignores him, fearing they will lose their sense of purpose. In rescuing Brenda from being purchased again, Frank is reunited with Barry who has returned to Shopwell's with his new friends. Barry reveals that the humans can be killed and that they can be communicated with when they are high on bath salts. Frank gives an inspiring speech to the store and apologizes for not respecting the others' beliefs, giving them a sense of hope.

The foods devise a plan to shoot the human shoppers with toothpicks laced with the bath salts so the humans will be able to see the foods for what they are. When the humans become high, a store-wide battle ensues. A vengeful Douche arrives and attacks Darren, taking control of him by inserting his nozzle into Darren's anus. The foods overpower him and kill all the humans. Finally free, all the foods in the store partake in a massive orgy in celebration.

Later, they are informed by Gum, a Stephen Hawking-esque wad of chewing gum, that he and Firewater 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.

Cast

 * Seth Rogen as Frank, a sausage and Brenda's boyfriend.
 * Rogen also voices Sergeant Pepper.
 * Kristen Wiig as Brenda Bunson, a hot dog bun and Frank's girlfriend.
 * Jonah Hill as Carl, a sausage who was packed with Frank and Barry.
 * Bill Hader as Firewater, an old Native American bottle of liquor and the leader of the non-perishables.
 * Hader also voices a 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, a junkie drug addict who is the first known human to see the foods as sentient beings.
 * Danny McBride as Honey Mustard, a grocery who was returned to Shopwell's and tries to warn Frank of their fate.
 * Craig Robinson as Mr. Grits, a box of Grits who is one of the non-perishables. He has a grudge against crackers.
 * Paul Rudd as Darren, the manager of Shopwell's.
 * Nick Kroll as Douche, a 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 and off rivalry with Sammy Bagel.
 * Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr., a Jewish bagel who has an on and off rivalry with Kareem Abdul Lavash.
 * Salma Hayek as Teresa del Taco, a lesbian taco shell who develops a lustful friendship with Brenda.
 * Anders Holm as Troy, one of the sausages packed with Frank who picks on Barry for being deformed
 * Sugar Lyn Beard as the Baby Carrots and the half eaten Cookies
 * Lauren Miller as Camille Toh, a woman who purchases the food and a tampon
 * Harland Williams as a bottle of Ketchup, a Drug Dealer, and a Baba Ganoush
 * Conrad Vernon as a roll of toilet paper, a Sauerkraut, a Grape, a Catcall Sausage, a Beer Can, and a Pop Bottle
 * Greg Tiernan as an Irish Potato and Noodle Soup
 * Scott Underwood as Twink, a twinkie who is one of the non-perishables, a half-eaten Pizza, a bag of Krinkler's Chips, and Gum, a Stephen Hawking-esque bubble gum wad
 * Alistair Abell as Mariachi Salsa and Gefilte Fish
 * Iris Apatow as Berry Good Candies, another Grape and Coconut milk
 * Ian James Corlett as an Apple, a French Tickilish licorice, a jar of Relish, and a Bag of Dog food
 * Michael Daingerfield as a box of Chunk Munchers Cereal, a 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 Popped Cherry Mixer, a Plum, Loretta and Frozen Fruitz
 * Nicole Oliver as Roberta, a Female Hot Dog Bun, an Ice Cream, a Watermelon and a Female Shopper
 * Kelly Sheridan as Sally, a Female Hot Dog Bun, another Grape and another Female Shopper
 * Jason Simpson as a Plum, a Beer Keg, a Fat Guy and a Fit Man
 * Vincent Tong as Pislitz Chips, a Juice Box, and a bottle of Jamaican Rum
 * Sam 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. 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. When Rogen submitted the film to the MPAA, they assigned it with an NC-17 rating due to pubic hair on a food item's scrotum being visible. In order to be reassigned an R rating, the pubic hair was digitally removed. 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.

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.

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.

Trailer
A red-band trailer for the film was accidentally played before a showing of the PG-rated Finding Dory, at a Concord, California multiplex in mid-June 2016, which forgot to switch out an adult-audience trailer roll for one meant for G and PG-rated films, when adding additional screens to carry Finding Dory to meet audience demand. The incident occurred only once, and the theater apologized, with Rogen tweeting that the story "made his day".

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. Thirty-six 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 told outright that they would be blacklisted if they did not work overtime without pay.

Box office
As of September 5, 2016, Sausage Party has grossed $88.4 million in North America and $8.7 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $97.1 million, against a budget of $19 million.

In the United States, 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.

Critical response
Sausage Party has received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 82%, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Sausage Party is definitely offensive, but backs up its enthusiastic profanity with an impressively high gag-to-laugh ratio – and a surprisingly thought-provoking storyline." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 38 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."

Possible sequel
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."