The only movie title to rival the length of Star Wars' in 1999, this film's raw crudeness and near brilliance in its dead-on parody of American small towns (and small-town thinking), war, the MPAA, parent-child relations, and two little lovebirds named Satan and Saddam Hussein shocked the sh*t out of the movie-going public. And it was an R-rated cartoon musical to boot! The music itself was so successful, one of its songs, "Blame Canada," was nominated for an Academy Award - with no less than Robin Williams singing it live during the ceremony. Fifteen years and over 100 South Park episodes later, the movie is still somewhat shocking (in a good way), despite the fact that we now know Saddam Hussein was killed by hanging, not mauled by a pack of wild boars, as the movie so vividly reports. Sad to say Simpsons fans, but South Park fared better on the big screen than your beloved yellow family. I know, I know: blasphemy! Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would go on to write the equally blasphemous Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, which won nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Is a South Park musical bound for the boards as well? Only time will tell, but we sure do hope so.
Michael Perone has written for The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Paper, The Island Ear (now titled Long Island Press), and The Long Island Voice, a short-lived spinoff of The Village Voice. He currently works as an Editor in Manhattan. And he still thinks Michael Keaton was the best Batman.
