Is this the greatest ‘grown ups only’ animated feature ever made?
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
"We have got to see this movie dude!" -Clyde Donovan
It was an hour and a half of my life that I never got back.
Because I had decided to sit through the entirety of the South Park movie from 1999, in high definition.
And it (to quote Eric Cartman), "Kicks ass!"
(Spoiler: In the movie, he gets a little shock collar-like device called the V-Chip,* that zaps him every time he cusses).
Where to start with this movie?
Well first, the songs are well-written and utterly hilarious to listen to.
The film opens with Stan Marsh singing a cheerful opening song about his hometown, before inviting his three best friends Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick to go watch a movie at the cinema.
It turns out that Stan and his three friends wanted to go and watch a crude Canadian comedy film entitled Asses of Fire (and guess what the title's supposed to be a pun on!). They pay a homeless man to sneak them into the cinema (as the movie was R-rated) but are caught, due to the hobo bailing out of the cinema, along with the other adults who (ironically) paid to see the film! The boys are fascinated by their idols, the Canadian comedians Terrence and Phillip, performing an incredibly foul-mouthed song whilst laughing hysterically and farting in each other's faces!
The main quartet later invites all their classmates (except Wendy and Gregory) to see the movie, which leads to South Park's third graders using age-inappropriate language and singing the movie's No. 1 hit song, Uncle F***er. (Which also happens to be the movie's only known song, try watching this scene without sound and you'll be spared from having to listen to those Canadians sing the same swear word over and over again!). A TV news report later reveals that children all over the United States have seen the movie and have become incredibly foul mouthed. The news report was accompanied by a clip of a child spelling out the vulgar phrase "Suck my ass!" rather than the given word "forensics" during a spelling bee in Washington State. This is followed by a clip of Terrence and Phillip rapping along to a hip rendition of their film's theme song and an interview where Kyle's angry mother blames Canada for producing Asses of Fire, much to the Canadians' protests.
To try and get South Park Elementary School's third graders (ironically including Wendy and Gregory, both of whom have never watched the movie) to stop swearing, the school counsellor sings a euphemism-filled song (where he claims that the f-word is off limits, even though there are several euphemisms for this profanity), only for the rest of the third graders to watch Asses of Fire with the main quartet instead. The ending scene where Terrence ignites his fart and self-immolates inspires Cartman to bet Kenny to set his farts on fire too, only for Kenny to get burnt alive and knocked over by a truck filled with salt, which is poured onto Kenny and extinguishes the flames. Kenny is quickly rushed to the hospital, where the incompetent doctors accidentally place a baked potato into his body, which explodes and kills Kenny!
"Great. Son, we accidentally replaced your heart with a baked potato. You have about three seconds to live."
"What?!!" [BANG!]
"Aw, f***ing weak dude!"
"Oh my God, they killed Kenny!"
"You bastards!"
"Dammit! It never... gets... any... easier!!!" [walks away whistling Mountain Town]
Kenny becomes a ghost and is transported to Hell during a trippy 3D animated sequence and a balled-turned heavy metal song (featuring nude female angels and creepily 3D animated ghosts of historical figures) while Mrs. Broflovski's delusional actions and excessive activism results in a surreal war between the United States and Canada. Meanwhile, Kenny overhears about a prophecy from Satan and his new boyfriend Saddam Hussein where they take over the world upon Terrence and Phillip's deaths in the hands of the Americans.
This film is full of catchy songs intended to parody late 20th century pop music and the popular American Broadway and film musicals (especially Disney's musical cartoons) of the time. Aside from the incredibly foul-mouthed song performed by Terrence and Phillip in Asses of Fire, all the songs are completely related to the plot and show what's happening onscreen. The opening song perfectly sums up how the film begins with Stan treating a Sunday morning like a peppy musical opening with only a handful of the characters playing along whilst he and his best friends sing about going to the movies. It's cliched I know, but it's a hilariously catchy song you'll probably find yourself singing in public once you watch this movie.
This was my most favourite song from the movie...
"Weeeelllllllll..."
"Don't do it Cartman, I'm warning you!"
"Weeeelllllll.. Kyle's mum is a big fat bitch, she's the biggest bitch in the whole wide world, she's a stupid bitch and if there ever was a bitch, then she's a bitch to all the boys and girls!"
"Shut your f***ing mouth Cartman!"
Even though this song is just Cartman calling Kyle's mother Mrs. Broflovski a "big fat BITCH" (and over sings the b-word over gaggles of over-stereotyped foreign children singing quickly whilst wearing blackface makeup, which is outrageously outdated, especially by 1999 standards), it's a hilariously catchy song which will get you humming along!
In fact, all the songs are well written and well sung. From Mrs. Broflovski's angry campaign song against Canada to the famous "inspirational" song What Would Brian Boitano Do?, it's guaranteed that you'll be singing along with the film's characters. Speaking of which, why isn't there a "Sing-Along" version of this movie? I mean, K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) and The Little Mermaid (1989) already have versions with sing-along lyrics, but why isn't there one for this movie?
And no, turning on your DVD, Blu-Ray or Paramount+ subtitles doesn't count.
My favourite line in the movie was (said by Eric Cartman), "Oh I'm sorry, what I actually said was [pulls out megaphone], ahem, how would you like to suck my balls, Mr. Garrison??!"
Besides its great sense of foul-mouthed humour, the animation and voice acting have a lot of effort put into them. The animation is a beautiful mix between 2D and 3D animation, ranging from the infamous 3D animated scene of Kenny descending into Hell (which is accompanied by a rock ballad) to the smoothly animated Kyle's Mum's a Bitch musical sequence with dancing international children. As with the TV series, the movie boasts a bright colour scheme and diverse character designs inspired by the show's digital collage animation style.
The voice actors also did fantastic jobs acting and singing as the characters, especially Trey Parker, Matthew Stone, Michael Judge, Jennifer Howell and Mary Kay Bergman's recreations of child voices (although Wendy sounds more like a five-year-old compared to the show's later seasons). There were also actual children, as the voice of Kyle's adopted Canadian brother Ike. Likewise, the celebrity voice actors also did funny performances as their characters, especially Eric Idle as the British-accented Dr. Vosknocker (the scientist who creates the V-Chip and places it into Cartman's brain) and George Clooney as Dr. Doctor (the doctor who tried to save Kenny's life but failed).
While this film may be a silly comedy just like its source material, the tone gets incredibly serious during the film's climax where the protagonists have to stop Terrence and Phillip's public execution in order to prevent the apocalypse from happening. Aside from the amount of tension from the characters, there's a lot of emotional drama. Especially in the scene where Kyle reminds his mother of how violent and hypocritical her war against Canada is, by mentioning his adopted Canadian brother Ike (whom Kyle hides in the family's attic). In fact, the entire film is a critique of censorship in the United States, with the movie's moral stating that parents shouldn't blame the media for being a poor influence on their children. This is evident in Kyle's speech during the climax, where he tells his mother that she never really paid any attention to him before he snuck out of the house to watch Asses of Fire with his friends and brother. This scene, along with a line from Shelia's song, proves that Shelia is unable to take responsibility for her reckless actions throughout the picture. Ironically, it was reported that several children attempted to sneak into the movie when it first came out. Fortunately, nothing really happened and some of the children were unsuccessful in attempting to watch the movie, completely unsupervised.
The film also accurately parodies moral guardians in the United States, as there have been real-life instances of their influence on American media. The Comics Code Authority (for comics) and the Hays Code (for movies) were implemented between the 1930s-1960s due to several obscenity controversies, public scares and the overall socially conservative culture at the time. Several video games also came under scrutiny from moral guardians and certain politicians who support their views, the interactive movie Night Trap (1992) gained notoriety for a "Game Over" cutscene that was taken out-of-context, it was one of the games featured in a United States Congressional Hearing on Video Game Violence in 1993. The recent national social media bans (across many countries) are another infamous example, where a moral guardian's non-fiction book accuses social media of being a bad influence on children's mental health led to several politicians passing laws in support of his book's arguments. Trey Parker and Matthew Stone are also known for being anti-censorship and pro-freedom of speech.
It's also one of the few times I can stand incredibly vulgar humour and language in a movie, mainly because of how they were presented. Whenever a character swears or something disgusting happens on screen (such as gore, characters vomiting on screen, bodily fluids, characters flashing their privates etc.), it's usually done at a quick pace, which is why the jokes in this movie are well executed. Any comedy movie that gets its comedic timing off or presents its jokes at a slow pace are doomed to fail, whereas comedies with constant rapid-fire jokes are far more likely to succeed.
Overall, if I watched this film in the cinema, I'd be screaming with hysterical laughter, just like that time I went to watch The Day The Earth Blew Up (2024).
In other words, this film gets 11/10
The Soundtrack (WARNING: Contains vulgar language that's not suitable for children!)
https://archive.org/details/southparkmovie
Don't make the same mistake the parents made in this movie of accidentally introducing your kids to new swear words.
All The Songs
Mountain Town
Wendy's Song
Uncle F***er
Uncle F***er [short rap version performed by Terrence and Phillip]
It's Easy, Mmmkay?!
Uncle F***er [very brief reprise performed by Terrence and Phillip at the end of Asses of Fire]
Hell Isn't Good!
Blame Canada!
Kyle's Mum's a Big Fat Bitch!
What Would Brian Boitano Do?
Up There...
Medley: La Resistance Lives On!, Blame Canada, Tomorrow Night (We'll Be Entertained!), Up There, Uncle F***er
I Can Change!
I'm Super! (Thanks for Asking)
"The Mole's" Reprise (of La Resistance Lives On!)
Mountain Town (Finale)
Singers
· Trey Parker (as Phillip, Eric Cartman, Stanley Marsh, Clyde Donovan, William "Bill" Allen, Fosse McDonald, Tolkien "Token" Black, Christophe, Big Gay Al (singing voice, speaking voice by Matt Stone), Mr. Mackey, Mr. Garrison, Ned Gerblansky, additional voices)
· Matthew "Matt" Stone (as Terrence, Kyle Broflovski, Craig Tucker, Kenny McCormick (hooded; speaking and singing voice), Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Saddam Hussein, Ticket Vendor, Gerald Broflovski, Stuart McCormick, Jimbo Kearn, additional voices)
· Mary Kay Bergman (as the girls (except Bebe Stevens), Sharon Marsh, Liane Cartman, Sheila Broflovski, Carol McCormick, additional voices)
· Issac Hayes (as Chef)
· Jennifer Howell (as Bebe Stevens)
· Howard McGillin (as Gregory, whose speaking voice was provided by Trey Parker)
· James Hetfield (singer in Hell Isn't Good!)
Bonus Features
Official Website (1999) [NOT FOR KIDS!]
This movie earnt a Guinness World Record for "Most Swearing in an Animated Feature Film" (2001)
In real life, it's a device used in the Americas that blocks TV channels which are considered inappropriate for younger audiences.*