2016 gave us one of the weirdest, yet funniest moviesyou’ll ever see with the release ofSausage Party. Although it might have been animated and about talking food, this isn’tToy Story. With mass food murder, a plethora of adult-oriented humor (the villain was a talking douche after all), and more orgies thanCaligula,Sausage Partydefinitely isn’t for children. Starring the likes ofSeth Rogen,Kristen Wiig,Michael Cera, andEdward Norton, along with a dozen more big names, this comedy is filled with laughs, while still going dark, asfood, who now know what happens to themwhen they leave the grocery store shelf, decide to fight back.
Eight years later,Sausage Partyis back — not as a sequel feature film, butan eight-episode series from Prime Video calledSausage Party: Foodtopia. A streaming series instead of a movie on the big screen might seem like a step backward, but with all of the voice cast returning, the longer runtime allows for a story with a wider scope. The perverted humor we expect is still there (including one scene that required a warning for its shocking images — more on that later), but beyond that isa message surprisingly effective for our times.
Sausage Party: Foodtopia
What Is ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ About?
Sausage Party: Foodtopiaisn’t a TV spin-off or a story about a different group of food, but insteadpicks up with the same characters right where the film ended. InSausage Party, the finale has the food fighting back against the humans in the grocery store, slaughtering them left and right in an all-out war (forget about the scene after, where they learn that they’re cartoon characters).Foodtopiabegins right after that war, as the food celebrate their win with yet another orgy and are now going outside into the world beyond the grocery store walls.
This isn’t a happy ending or a happy new beginning, because now the food, completely out of their element, have to deal withthe harsh realities of outside. They may have defeated the humans, but how do you fight back against that terrifying and inexplicable water that falls from the sky ceiling? Rain might not be a big deal for people, but it’s a death sentence if you’re made out of bread. And then there are the weird flying creatures that hunt the food. To us, they’re just crows, but for food, they’re bizarre monsters who can rip you apart. It’s enough to make you want to go back to the safety of your old life, no matter how bad it was.
Sausage Party: Foodtopiahas a clever premise in thatit looks at what happens after the happy ending. OK, you’ve been freed from your captors, and now you can do whatever you want, but then what? The food still need places to live, and they still have their own desires and greed, which results in a complete changeover of society. It’s up to Frank (Rogen), Brenda (Wiig), and others to save it before the food becomes just like the humans.
‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’s Political Message Isn’t Preachy
It’s a joy to watch the food inFoodtopiatry to develop their own society and quickly make the same mistakeshumanity does. There is a quick breakdown into separate classes, with some of the food taking the bigger stores for themselves and others forced to live in cardboard boxes in the alleyway. They then become fascinated by the teeth they pull from the dead humans scattered about and decide to use it as a bartering system. The more teeth you have, the more you can earn in exchange, and life becomes all about trying to collect more teeth. Sound familiar? With some food stealing teeth, a police department is set up as well — along with courts, jails, and an entire judicial system. (You can see where this is all headed.)
The Food Friends Go to War in First ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’ Images
Seth Rogen and more return for the spinoff series to the 2016 animated comedy this July.
Amidst the chaos, a leader emerges, and it’s not Frank or Brenda, but an orange named Julius (Sam Richardson) — get it? — a self-centered fruit who desires power at any cost. This results in further collapse, with some food giving Julius teeth in exchange for what he can provide them while the poor continue to suffer. With Julius’ attitude and his orange skin, it’s not too difficult to see that he is meant to be a bit of a parody of a certain former U.S. President. If the concern is thatSausage Party: Foodtopiais going to be a show all about heavy-handed politics, your worries can be alleviated. While the series does go into deeper messages about the ills of society, it’s a wink to American politics and capitalism without being a preachy, soapbox message meant to convert you to a particular side.Foodtopiawill definitely make you think, but above all, it’s still a comedy — oneas sick, raunchy, and gut-bustingly hilarious as ever.
‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia’s Humor Hasn’t Gone Bad
Yes,Sausage Party: Foodtopiahas more creatively chaotic scenes of food death. One moment, involving some eggs, is particularly over-the-top, and the sex jokes are abundant as well. Thankfully,Foodtopia, while familiar,isn’t content to simply rehash the same punchlinesfrom the film. It’s what you know from before, but also fresh, with a lot of that coming from a human character voiced byWill Forte. TheSNLalum might have played a much more serious character earlier this yearin the Netflix seriesBodkin, but here, he returns to the comedic genius that we’re used to. Forte’s character is captured as a prisoner of war, but since he’s able to explain the everyday occurrences that scare the food, he might be valuable in keeping around.
Rogen and Wiig are again the lead voice talents, buttwo others steal the show. Cera is hilarious as Barry, the deformed sausage who doesn’t let his diminutive size stop him from becoming a badass warrior. Then there’s Norton’s Sammy Bagel Jr. Although he may have started as more of an over-the-top Woody Allen impression, the character becomes the most interesting inFoodtopia, as he tries to overcome his grief from the battle with the humans by entertaining everyone any chance he gets. It results in him seeing just how far he’ll go for attention. Sammy gets many of the best lines, and it might sound crazy, but with Norton’s voice talents, it may be one of the best roles of the actor’s entire career (and the man has been nominated for three Oscars).
Sausage Party: Foodtopiaisn’t interested in playing it safe. We wouldn’t love it if it did. It’s still as demented as it was eight years ago, and maybe even more so. One episode actually starts with a disclaimer informing us that one scene is so shocking that Amazon wanted a warning included beforehand. That might sound like a cheap tactic to get you watching, but whatever scene of raunch or brutality you’re setting yourself up for, what you see is so, so much worse — in the best way possible. IfSausage Partywas your type of humor, you’ll loveFoodtopiajust as much if not more. This food is really cookin’.
Sausage Party: Foodtopia has all the raunchy humor from the movie wrapped up in a deeper message about society.
Sausage Party: Foodtopiais available to watch on Prime Video beginning on July 11 in the U.S.
