If Sausage Party was supposed to capture the exploits of a bunch of plucky, adorable food products, and prove that there’s an exciting future in R-rated animation, it should have combined the raunchy comedy in Pineapple Express and This Is the End with the nostalgia and imagination of Disney movies.
Alan Menken (who wrote the catchy tunes in musicals like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast) created the witty theme song. The animation is voiced by a fantastic cast of comedy actors, including Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Nick Kroll, James Franco, and Paul Rudd. And the writers managed to add layers of cultural commentary and plotlines with metaphors about the futility of religion.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Seth Rogen (who cowrote and starred) said he’d been working on this movie for a third of his life. However, he shouldn’t have put so much effort in. The 10 years Rogen spent on Sausage Party didn’t result in a polished final product—and now the movie is even more outdated than it would have been if it was released in 2006.
Disney’s Peter Pan came out in 1953, and its scene starring the “Indian Chief” sometimes provokes awkward silence and conversations with small children about offensive stereotypes. Sausage Party features an eerie modern-day replica of the “Chief”—only this time it’s definitely not racist, because instead of being depicted as a person, he’s a talking bottle of “firewater.” There’s also an aggressive, inebriated bottle of tequila with a mustache and a sombrero. One of the running plotlines is an infantile, cringey feud between a Woody Allen bagel and a hook-nosed, bearded flatbread. The fruits—surprise: gay men!—were vapid and ridiculously flamboyant.
While the supporting characters are just repetitive caricatures, at first it’s hard to determine the main characters’ race—mostly because they are animated hot dogs and hot dog buns. But when they develop relationships and pursue goals without acting like your weird uncle’s bigoted jokes living as animated food, it’s clear that they are probably white.
And although the title Sausage Party should have tipped you off, women: This movie is not for you. There’s a long list of misogynistic moments to take issue with, but I will choose to focus on the fact that all the male characters have straightforward and functional little Mr. Peanut legs while the lady food products shuffle around seductively like extra-curvy Betty Boops.
If any of this offensive nonsense was interesting, things would be different. It isn’t a matter of what comedy can or can’t comment on. But Sausage Party isn’t funny or thoughtful. It doesn’t have much to say, other than “I can say what I want.” Just because everyone is made fun of (“There’s a joke about ‘crackers’!”) doesn’t mean that any value was added. It’s lazy and disappointing.
Audiences who feel deprived of honesty are celebrating Sausage Party. Some reviewers are hailing it as an example of irreverent hilarity that ditches political correctness and tells it like it is. But at this moment, candor that has no substance beyond easy stereotypes is just depressing. 
