Sausage Party Should Get Oscar Consideration, Sony Says

Sausage Party, the raunchy, R-rated animated movie from Superbad's Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, deserves an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature. That's according to Sony, which is preparing a campaign to help drive awareness about the movie in the lead-up to awards season.

The short films and animation division of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which selects the nominees, is "generally described as a conservative bunch," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The group typically is more interested in "old-fashioned animation and moralistic stories," according to the site, which might mean Sausage Party will face an uphill battle. But according to Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman, Sausage Party stands a chance.

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

Rogen added: "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."

The campaign to promote Sausage Party will begin on November 1 with a screening and a party at the iPic Theater in Los Angeles; Rogen and one of the movie's director's, Conrad Vernon, will be in attendance. Voting members of the Academy's animation branch will be there as well. A similar event is scheduled for New York around Thanksgiving, while Sony will also put out print and digital advertising for the movie in an attempt to reach voters.

Sony is hoping the Oscars recognize not only Sausage Party itself, but also the movie's original song, "The Great Beyond." Its music was written by Alan Menken, an eight-time Oscar winner who also wrote the music for famous Disney songs like "Under the Sea," "A Whole New World," and "Colors of the Wind."

The only R-rated animated film to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature was 2015's Anomalisa. The song "Blame Canada" from South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut received an Oscar nomination.

Go to The Hollywood Reporter to get the full story.

Sausage Party, which tells the story of grocery store food that discovers the horror of what happens at home,came out in August. It made more than $135 million against a budget of $19 million, making it the most commercially successful R-rated animated film in history.