'Sausage Party' Is Looking To Get Some Awards Love

Sausage Party (coming to Blu-ray and DVD on November 8) is already a success, having pulled in $135 million worldwide on a budget of just $19 million, not to mentions an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. But that's not enough for Sony Pictures, writers Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, and directors Conrad Vernon & Greg Tiernan. No, they're looking to get some awards love as well.

Find out about the Sausage Party Oscars campaign after the jump.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned Sony Pictures plans to make a run for some awards this season for their raunchy animated comedy Sausage Party. While the prospect of a movie about a bunch of filthy, horny food in a grocery store spouting off double sexually explicit dialogue and naughty language doesn't sound like something the Academy would be interested in, having an animated film like this is rather groundbreaking, and it could at least end up getting a shot at the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards.

Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman doesn't think it's crazy to think Sausage Party could get some members of the Academy to show them some love:

Academy members are way smarter and more forward-thinking than people realize. They want to recognize bold, original, risky breakthroughs, and that's what Sausage Party is, however subversive. Plus, it's just plain cool.

That sounds like Rothman is brown-nosing Academy members a little bit and almost daring them not to give them a shot at the risk of looking lame and old-fashioned, something the organization can be well-known for when it comes time to hand out awards. But at least the passion is there to get a movie like Sausage Party recognized even more. Writer, producer, and star Seth Rogen adds:

We've never been this passionate about a film and we're thrilled to enter uncharted territory. It's rare you really get to break new ground, and we hope that people view it as a good thing for the medium.

However, the movie might have to overcome some controversy since a group of animators have accused the filmmakers and the production company, Nitrogen Studios, of forcing artists to work overtime for free, and then failing to credit many of them onscreen. That something Academy voters might be thinking about when it comes time to consider the movie for any awards.

As someone who loved Sausage Party and found it to be one of the funniest movies of the year, I'm not entirely sure it's worthy of awards love. While it offered up more than the raunchiness that we expected by including some smart social commentary on religion, it's not as if seeing raunchy things in animated form is anything new. Adult Swim and Comedy Central have crafted adult animated entertainment for years, but this is the first time it's been done on the big screen on this scale. It's undoubtedly something to be proud of, but I'm not sure it's Oscar-worthy. Again, that's coming from someone who totally loved the movie.

However, if the movie itself isn't good enough to get a Best Animated Feature nomination, there's always the Best Original Song category. And since the movie has an opening musical number composed by Oscar winner Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid), the chances aren't bad for a nomination there. If "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut can get a nomination, anything is possible.

The awards campaign begins next month with a screening and cocktail party catering to Academy members from the short films and feature animation sector, as well as members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Honestly, I can see Sausage Party getting some Golden Globes love, but I think the Oscar run is going to take considerably more effort. At the very least, even if this awards campaign doesn't garner any nominations, we'll likely get to see some funny print and digital advertising trying to convince voters to give Sausage Party any nominations.