Vintage Vault: South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
By J. Kyle LeBel
Lance Writer
February 3, 2010
 When South Park was first on the air, much of the student body from this university was still in grade school. The show has left an indelible legacy within television, and is still experiencing a very strong run, heading into its 14th season this March.
While its television accomplishments are impeccable, the South Park film from 1999 titled South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut does not hold up too well. This is primarily due to the film being released before the show hit its stride, and for those who have followed South Park all the way through, the film is lacking many aspects of the show that the fans adore.
When released, the television series was in the middle of its third season, and while its reputation has been long established, the film is representative of a series before its peak.
Thus, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is merely a raunchier version of the television series in its early incarnation, free to be more offensive than on cable television, but lacking the satirical bite of the series at its peak.
Not to say the film is without satire, for the U.S.’s military industrial complex and hypocritically moral stance regarding free speech (an American virtue) are taken to task by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Here, the satire seems more like side-humour, serving as a means of complementing the shock jokes and bodily function gags.
For example, while the machismo military of the U.S. is critiqued, a stale gross-out joke involving Winona Ryder and ping pong balls is given more attention (as well as make the film feel rather dated).
Another shock-gag predominant throughout the film is the homosexual relationship between Satan and Saddam Hussein, a pedestrian subplot that has been handled better on the television series in the seasons following Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
With a title like Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, one would expect a large-scale storyline that provides for a larger panorama than what can be offered in a 20 minute episode. Here, Parker and Stone deliver.
In the film, the boys (Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny) must band together to save their beloved TV heroes Terrence and Philip, who happen to be Canadian, from the wrath of M.A.C. (Mothers Against Canadians) and the U.S. government, as M.A.C. is able to influence the country’s psyche and declare war against Canada, all because of the crude content found in the Terrence and Philip film the boys pay a homeless person to see with them as their legal guardian.
Much chaos ensues, and so do a series of musical numbers. The musical numbers are the strongest aspect of the film, and each song, from “What Would Brian Boitano Do?” to “Uncle Fucka,” is easy to sing along to, and is downright funny.
Ironically, the most well-known song from the film, “Blame Canada,” is the weakest musical number, mainly due to the grating voice of Kyle’s mother, the leader of M.A.C.
The song, and Kyle’s mother, is a reminder of another of the film’s weak points—the focus given to certain characters. How much this detracts depends on how much one is familiar with the series.
As stated above, the film was released in 1999 when the series was still in its early stages. Thus, many beloved characters are either under-used, or just absent. Butters, a favourite character of many (including myself) appears in only one scene, while Timmy and Jimmy are completely absent.
These characters are featured prominently in the three-part “Imaginationland” episodes, a story-arc in the South Park universe that could have been a feature film of its own. A film stronger than Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, primarily because the ideas are more focused, and the satire is more biting.
Some may have fond memories of the South Park movie, but the show was at its best from 2001-2004, long after the film had already been released.
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