Creators of raunchy cartoon “South Park” bring obscene marionettes with hidden political agendas to the big screen By Chaley Zachmeier, Staff Writer Very few would think artistic talent and puppets could fuse together to create a wonderful balance of marionette entertainment. However, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker managed to defy these expectations; their new film Team America is proof. Team America is the story of a group of puppets dedicated to maintaining global stability. The group learns of a power-hungry North Korean dictator (Kim Jong Il) who is selling weapons of mass destruction to terrorists. It is Team America’s job to stop him, so it recruits a rising Broadway star to go undercover for it. There are some particularly delightful moments for anyone who appreciates “South Park” humor. Wanting this movie to be making fun of big-action blockbusters, Stone and Parker set an especially bloody scene in Paris. Because a little boy is not paying attention while eating his lollipop, he clumsily bumps into a Middle Eastern man standing on the street. This man is of course a terrorist, who proceeds to shoot up the surrounding area with several other terrorists who appear out of nowhere. When Team America gets there to save the day, it accidentally misfires a missile, destroying the Eiffel Tower. It is a big, loud and wonderfully cheesy scene. Kim Jong Il is a hilarious part of the cast. He plays the part of a misunderstood dictator, who is really just lonely. He thinks if he takes over the world, then perhaps someone will notice him and become his friend. Jong Il is privileged to sing one of the many songs in the movie. His song is – of course – about loneliness. It is funny on a few levels, because usually no one cares about a dictator’s feelings, and the lyrics are delightfully un-PC, for those who can appreciate the humor in things of that sort. The idea for an all puppet movie was stumbled upon when Stone and Parker were watching re-runs of the “Thunderbirds,” a popular ’60s television show. They decided to take a break from their usual animation style and give puppets a try. They also wanted to address a feeling toward America that had bothered each of them. Over time, America has been accused of trying to be the world’s police on numerous occasions. It has bred such a hatred for our country in many other parts of our globe, and leaves many people unsure as to how to act about our government’s policies. Stone said he often wondered if he should be ashamed of America, and that this movie was an outlet for him to explore the idea of patriotism. “This movie is an optimistic anecdote to what’s happening in the world today,” Stone said. Stone and Parker also said that they have both sworn off making movies after Team America because this experience nearly killed them. It is much harder to keep up excitement and enthusiasm for a movie because it takes so much longer to create. The jokes just are not funny after a whole year. They are much happier when working on “South Park” because it is very immediate. Sometimes they make the episode the week it is shown. In a recent interview, Stone said he felt like he was high on morphine because everything was finally finished. This was especially true because the movie was not finished as of Oct. 6, and it needed to be ready for the Oct. 9 sneak previews, so they really cut it close. The close call was mainly because a certain sex scene had to be re-cut 30-something times before it shook off the dreaded NC-17 rating. The Motion Picture Association of America is responsible for rating movies, and it stuck to the high rating for a long time despite the fact the people having sex in the movie are puppets. The rating came only four days before the sneak previews. Stone said the scene is very tame. “It is something we all did as kids with Barbie and Ken dolls … The whole joke of it is that it’s just two dolls flopping around on each other. You see the hinges on their legs and the puppets aren’t even anatomically correct.” The scene is more docile than any sex scene with real people, and scenes like those get R-ratings veryeasily. Stone also said he feels the “MPA is a very broken organization that doesn’t serve artists very well.” You have to wonder if the MPA has a right-wing agenda and does not agree with the subject matter of the film, but can only target something as innocuous as a sex scene. Speaking of right-wing agendas, the White House issued an official statement Aug. 1 regarding the movie. The White House was upset at how the movie was mocking the war on terror. Stone and Parker did not have a combative reply – instead they just thanked President Bush for the free press. Team America is in theaters Friday.