Cannibal! The Musical
|
|
Cannibal! The Musical is a student film directed by the future creator of South Park, Trey Parker, while studying at the University of Colorado at Boulder. A black comedy, it is (loosely) based on the true story of Alferd Packer, known as "America's only convicted cannibal", and the sordid details of the trip from Utah to Colorado that left his five fellow travellers (Shannon Bell, George Noon, James Humphrey, Israel Swan, and Frank Miller) dead and partially eaten. Parker stars as Packer, with frequent collaborator Matt Stone featured as James Humphrey, Stan Brakhage--experimental filmmaker and University of Colorado teacher--as George Noon's father. Trey Parker is listed in the film's credits under the name "Juan Schwartz", which is a variant of "John Schwartze", a pseudonym used by the real Alferd Packer. Character George 'California' Noon played by Dian Bachar also works with Matt Stone and Trey Parker in Orgazmo, Baseketball and provides some voices for Team America: World Police.
Contrasting with the musical's dark comedy are its cheerful songs, all composed by Parker, including "Let's Build a Snowman", "On Top of You", "Hang the Bastard" and "Shpadoinkle". The last of these is a transparent parody of the song "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" from the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Oklahoma!. The DVD contains a "Drunken Director's Comentary" where Trey Parker and Matt Stone along with most of the cast get drunk as they watch the movie, although there are a few times when the commentary cuts out (either because the recorder was turned off or they spoke of things they later decided nobody should hear).
The films origins stem from a short trailer they made for film class. The trailer, which was about three-minutes long, drew much attention. Following repeated requests upon Parker and Stone to make the movie, they raised approximately $70,000 and began shooting the film.
This film was originally filmed as Alferd Packer: The Musical in 1993. It was not released until 1996, however, when Troma Studios picked it up and renamed it Cannibal! The Musical for concern that not enough people outside of Colorado knew who Alferd Packer was. Few people outside of Colorado ever saw the film since Troma did not distribute it widely. Parker and Stone's animated satire South Park debuted the following year.
External links
- Official Homepage (http://www.cannibalthemusical.net/)