Seth Rogen is Campaigning to Get Sausage Party Some Oscars

Sausage Party was always going to get a strange reaction. The adult animated comedy from Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and their crew of comedian friends is about food at a grocery store that is horrified to learn that their gods (a.k.a. us) are actually mutilating and eating them. Some people loved the combination of off-color humor and typical Rogen-esque raunch in an animated package, while others were put off by those very same things. Love it or hate it (or somewhere in between), it’s still a daring move to make a very explicit adult comedy in a medium usually thought of as being only for kids.

According to THR, Rogen and Sony, the studio behind the film, are pushing for some recognition for their boundary-breaking (besides just being the most-successful R-rated animated film of all time) film.

Starting Nov. 1, Sony will be actively campaigning to get Sausage Party nominated for Oscars, including Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song. The only R-rated animated film to be nominated for the big prize was Charlie Kaufman’s heady drama Anomalisa in 2015. South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut came out before the category existed, though it did get a nomination for Best Original Song for “Blame Canada.”

Speaking to the possible hesitation the Academy could have in nominating a movie with an eight-minute food orgy scene, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman said, “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.”

Rogen, who will be attending a screening of the movie and cocktail party on Nov. 1 with Academy members and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, said, “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.” He talks a big game about pushing boundaries, but Rogen also admitted, “We all want to meet Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Sony’s campaign will consist of numerous screenings, print and digital advertisement, mailers containing the movie and its song “The Great Beyond,” plus more events with Rogen wooing Academy members.

Nominations for the 89th Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 24.