Sightlines · reception

How South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was received

1999 · Trey Parker · South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut on Sightlines

The arc

Critics were startled in 1999 that a foul-mouthed cash-in cartoon turned out to be a genuinely great movie musical — and its stock has only risen since, now routinely called one of the best film musicals of its era, with Stephen Sondheim among its famous admirers.

What’s debated

The evergreen debate: was 'Blame Canada' losing the Best Original Song Oscar to Phil Collins' Tarzan ballad one of the Academy's all-time robberies?

Its footprint

'Blame Canada' became a catchphrase far beyond the film — Robin Williams performed it at the Oscars — and the songs ('Uncle Fucka', 'What Would Brian Boitano Do?') remain endlessly quoted, while the film itself stands as the go-to satire of moral panics over what kids watch.

Where it stands

A fixture of the adult-animation and movie-musical canons alike — the 'no really, it's a great musical' pick that film fans love springing on skeptics.

Did you know? The MPAA rejected the original subtitle 'All Hell Breaks Loose' for containing 'Hell' — so Parker and Stone swapped in the circumcision double entendre 'Bigger, Longer & Uncut', which sailed through unnoticed.

Named by the director

• Beauty and the Beast (1991) — Parker and songwriter Marc Shaiman modeled the opening number 'Mountain Town' on the Disney musical's 'Belle', aiming for the full Menken-era Disney sound.