This week on Disc Dive we’re starting the week off right. We’re going to have a shpadoinkle day as we look at Cannibal! The Musical.
Title: Cannibal! The Musical
Director: Trey Parker
Released: October 31, 1993 (Premiere – Boulder, Colorado)
Runtime: 1 hour 37 minutes
Disc Format: DVD
Alferd Packer (Trey Parker) sits on trial in 1883, accused of cannibalism. He insists the prosecutor’s version of events isn’t accurate. Journalist Polly Pry (Toddy Walters) gets him talking, and he tells his side through flashback.
In 1873, Packer takes on the role of guide for a party of five miners traveling from Utah into Colorado Territory in search of new prospects. He estimates the trip will take three weeks.
Four weeks in, they’re lost and low on supplies. Along the way they cross paths with a group of fur trappers. The next morning, Packer’s horse Lianne is missing, and he becomes convinced the trappers took her.
Stranded in the Rockies with nothing left to eat, the men resort to their shoes and then the bodies of the dead. When Packer heads out on a solo scouting trip and returns, the rest of the party is gone. One of the men, Bell, is the only survivor. He claims he had no choice.
Cannibal! The Musical is very loosely based on the real events surrounding Alfred Packer. Emphasis on very loosely.
I’ve seen this dozens of times. My heart’s as full as a baked potato after every viewing.
Trey Parker was working with a reported budget of $125,000, and he makes the most of every penny. The practical effects in the opening sequence, which include stretching someone’s jaw in order to rip out their tongue, are impressive.
The rest of the film is carried by Parker’s writing. The gags land consistently, and like any great musical, it’s the songs that do the heavy lifting. They’re both ridiculous and ridiculously catchy. Earworm after earworm that you’ll catch yourself singing long after the credits have rolled. In fact, there’s one scene where you can even hear a Cartman voice singing along to one of the songs.
The DNA of South Park and The Book of Mormon was there from the very beginning.
It’s best experienced rather than explained.
And if you don’t agree, go to timeout mister.