Sausage Party: Foodtopia

Sausage Party: Foodtopia
Promotional poster
Created by	Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Kyle Hunter Ariel Shaffir
Based on	Sausage Party by Ariel Shaffir Kyle Hunter Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Jonah Hill
Developed by	Kyle Hunter Ariel Shaffir
Directed by	Conrad Vernon
Voices of	Seth Rogen Kristen Wiig Edward Norton Michael Cera
Music by	Christopher Lennertz
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Kyle Hunter Ariel Shaffir Seth Rogen Evan Goldberg Conrad Vernon Jonah Hill James Weaver Alex McAtee Megan Ellison Patrick Chu Andrew Millstein
Running time	23-28 minutes
Production companies	Point Grey Pictures Annapurna Television Sony Pictures Television Amazon MGM Studios
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11) – present (present)

Sausage Party: Foodtopia is an adult animated television series that serves as a sequel to the film Sausage Party (2016) created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir and developed by Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir for Amazon Prime Video. it features the returning voices of Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton and Scott "Diggs" Underwood, with Will Forte, Natasha Rothwell, Sam Richardson, and Yassir Lester voicing new characters.

The first season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 11, 2024, with a second season currently in development. The series received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised its voice acting and humor, while others were divided about its political themes, and criticized its writing and characters.

Premise

After standing up to the human race following the events of the film, Frank and his friends establish a safe haven dubbed "Foodtopia". Following a massive flood that destroys their once promised land, they have no choice but to partner with humans to ensure the survival of their race.

Cast

Main

• Seth Rogen as Frank Frankfurter, a sausage who discovered and exposed the truth about the "Great Beyond", he later becomes the leader of Foodtopia.
• Kristen Wiig as Brenda Bunson, a hot dog bun who is Frank's love interest, she later becomes co-leader of Foodtopia.
• Michael Cera as Barry, a small deformed sausage who is one of Frank's friends, he later becomes chief of police seeking lawbreakers at Foodtopia.
• Edward Norton as Sammy Bagel Jr., a neurotic Jewish bagel who had a relationship with Lavash. After Lavash's death, he becomes a comedian talk show host for Foodtopia.

Recurring

• Will Forte as Jack, a surviving human whom Frank and Brenda kept alive in order to learn about humanity, along with things such as weather, ravenous animals, and politics. Due to becoming an ally of food, he resorts to cannibalism to avoid eating them.
• Sam Richardson as Julius, a tyrannical orange who uses his charms and wealth of human teeth to gain followers in order to take over Foodtopia. The character is a parody of Donald Trump, with his name being a play on Orange Julius and Julius Caesar.
• Stephanie Beard as Jeri Rice, a tiny grain of rice who is the sole survivor of her family drowning from the flood and has a personal hatred towards Julius, who selfishly left her for dead. Her name is a pun of former NFL wide receiver Jerry Rice.
• Scott "Diggs" Underwood as Gum, a Stephen Hawking-esque intelligent but paraplegic wad of chewed gum who wears glasses and has a mechanized wheelchair. He dies after sacrificing himself for the other food during the flood.

Additionally, David Krumholtz reprises his role as Kareem Abdul-Lavash, a Middle Eastern lavash who had a relationship with Sammy. He is killed off during the uprising, leaving Sammy devastated. Natasha Rothwell, Yassir Lester, Jill Talley and Grey DeLisle have been cast in undisclosed roles.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"First Course"	Conrad Vernon	Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Following the events of Sausage Party, the food items at Shopwell's, led by Frank, Brenda, Barry, Lavash, Sammy, and Gum, stage an uprising and successfully overthrow the human race by killing them, resulting in food to become the new dominant species on Earth, now free to do whatever they want. However, Sammy struggles to move past Lavash's death, as he was killed during the uprising, and Barry struggles to wind down, having a desire for action. A rainstorm arrives, resulting in a flash flood that leads to numerous deaths; Gum sacrifices himself to save his friends from falling into a sewer drain, and Barry goes off to rescue the food that has been washed away. With their promised land completely ruined, the food, realizing that Frank and Brenda have no idea what they are doing, decide to go back to Shopwell's, claiming it is safer despite the store falling apart, making Frank and Brenda comment that they wish they had a human to help them out. Meanwhile, Barry discovers a human, Richie, escaping with the food he is saving.
2	"Second Course"	Conrad Vernon	Ali Waller	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Frank, Brenda and Barry proceed to go on a search for Richie; Frank and Brenda want to get some answers on what rain is, while Barry wants to kill him. They eventually find Richie, but Barry ends up killing him before Frank and Brenda could get some answers from him. Suddenly, they are ambushed by two of Richie's friends, Jack and Donny, who proceed to attack the foods. Remembering what he saw Douche do during their uprising at Shopwell's, Barry decides to inject himself into Jack's butt in order to control him, and successfully makes him kill Donny. Meanwhile, at Shopwell's, Sammy discovers a newfound purpose in stand-up comedy as he begins to roast the food, much to their enjoyment. However, their combined laughter causes the store to start collapsing and, after having the escape route opened by Jack, they manage to escape in time. With their old home completely destroyed, Frank and Brenda encourage the others to seek out a new one. No longer needing Jack, Barry is prepared to kill him, while Sammy suggests holding a big festival for it. Unbeknownst to Frank and Brenda, the foods begin to hoard the different buildings to themselves after watching an orange named Julius do it, leading to more mass hysteria and smaller foods to become homeless.
3	"Third Course"	Conrad Vernon	Dewayne Perkins	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
The foods are getting themselves ready for the "Burning Man" Festival, where they will sacrifice Jack in front of a large audience by burning him alive. While holding auditions for the ceremony's performances, a crow arrives and starts attacking. After Barry's initial attempt to stop it fails, Frank and Brenda consult Jack once more on how to stop it, to which he suggests using the corpse of a dead human as a makeshift scarecrow, which successfully scares it away. Because of this, Frank and Brenda consider delaying Jack's sacrifice in case they need more of his help, but Barry refuses, telling them that Jack must die and will not take any excuses. That night, as the festival occurs, Julius offers to let smaller foods view the show from his building in exchange for their human teeth, their newfound form of currency. Going against Barry's wishes, Frank and Brenda secretly decide to spare Jack, and Frank manages to find another live human to control in order to take Jack's place, successfully fooling everyone into believing Jack is dead. Frank and Brenda take Jack to their treehouse to hide, only to start second-guessing their decision when Jack begins to rattle off what he'd like to eat.
4	"Fourth Course"	Conrad Vernon	Jennifer Kim	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Using his newfound wealth in human teeth, Julius decides to expand his empire by buying buildings from their owners. Sammy, desiring to be in the spotlight once more, discovers an electronics store owned by a cereal box. After being ejected, an enraged Sammy attacks him and proceeds to hijack the store, where he continues his comedy act. While bringing a human foot for Jack to eat, Frank and Brenda discover that foods are being robbed of their teeth, prompting them and Barry to enforce a new police system. During a trial, Frank and Brenda discover that the foods accused of stealing teeth consist entirely of perishables, who are showing signs of molding and live in slum-like conditions due to their inability to afford Julius' refrigerated housing. Appearing on Sammy's newest show, Frank and Brenda propose that those who own lots of teeth should offer them to those who don't, but Julius, who is in the audience, manages to turn everyone against them by arguing that they're taking away everyone's freedom and suggests that they hold an election in order to determine a new leader for Foodtopia. Meanwhile, Barry discovers Jack's footprints, and Jack, realizing he has no other choice, converts to cannibalism and tearfully eats the foot Frank and Brenda gave him earlier.
5	"Fifth Course"	Conrad Vernon	Laura Krafft	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Julius is establishing a capitalist system through his massage center, and has now become the owner of several businesses while actively campaigning to be elected as the leader of Foodtopia. Suddenly, Sammy is arrested after being reported by the cereal box for kicking him out of his building. Frank and Brenda make a case for fair distribution of wealth, only for Julius to get them removed through the task force, solely because he can. During Sammy's trial, Julius bribes the judge into ruling in Sammy's favor, putting Sammy under Julius' thumb so he can use the broadcasting system to propagate his propaganda against Frank and Brenda. Meanwhile, Barry is suspicious about the human footprint and investigates it. At the treehouse, Jack reveals that everything Frank and Brenda aim to do is exactly what human society was built on. Frank feels that they do not have enough teeth to influence other foods as Julius does and is influenced by Jack’s proposal of stealing from Julius, but Brenda feels they should lead by example instead of influence. Back in the city, Frank comes across Sammy helping Julius’ propaganda and confronts him, but Julius has clearly bought Sammy’s loyalty. Ultimately, Frank decides to act on his “fast and furious” plan. Barry suspiciously follows him, but loses him midway. That night, Frank successfully carries out a heist of teeth while Brenda is busy doing her door-to-door campaigning. When Brenda comes across this heist, she is unable to support Frank, who had taken Jack's side, and they part ways sadly.
6	"Sixth Course"	Conrad Vernon	Jeremy Levick & Rajat Suresh	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
Foodtopia is on high alert to find the culprit behind the theft of Julius’ teeth. Since Frank disguised himself as a potato, all the potatoes find themselves in trouble. Barry overhears a conversation about the culprit being a tall sausage and becomes suspicious of Frank. Meanwhile, Jack helps Frank gain confidence to run for the elections, and they seem to become fast friends. Frank practices becoming the president under his guidance. Brenda is putting all her efforts into mobilizing votes from the slums. Barry confronts her, and she tells him everything about the living human. Meanwhile, Frank and Jack grow close, eventually engaging in sexual intercourse when Brenda and Barry catch them in the act, leading to Jack breaking free from being a hostage and fleeing to the woods, fearing for his life. Frank swears to love Jack, but draws a line with Barry secretly watching him, and they finally part ways. On election day, Brenda announces that she is campaigning individually and appeals for a toothless society, which is not taken well by the foods. She further discloses that Frank had intercourse with a human, and both of them eventually bring each other down, resulting in Julius winning the election.
7	"Seventh Course"	Conrad Vernon	Dewayne Perkins	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
As Julius proclaims himself the emperor of Foodtopia, the divide between the haves and have-nots has intensified. Sammy has completely turned to Julius’ side and has certainly lost his way with his new mantra and personality. Frank apologizes to Barry and Brenda for his behavior, although only the latter forgives him, making Barry realize that good food can go bad but that there is redemption for them too. This realization comes after he watches Frank part ways with Jack. Barry talks to Sammy, who finds himself a slave to Julius. However, after Barry tries to make him realize his fault, stating to be aware of Lavash’s death severely affecting him, Sammy turns violent and refuses to listen to reason, leading Barry to leave the place. Brenda goes to visit Julius to talk to him about the foods dying in the street but is not allowed a meeting. She hears sounds coming from the air vent and follows it to find Julius in captivity. She realizes that Julius is being controlled by a small rice grain named Jeri who felt neglected by all the selfish foods in Foodtopia after the war. When she secretly saw Barry controlling Jack through his anus, she decided to do the same and controlled Julius to fulfil her selfish agenda. She then takes control of Julius’ body and engages in a fistfight with Brenda, ultimately deceiving her, removing herself from the orange, and opening the tap of the kitchen sink. In the meantime, Frank ends up in the kitchen to find Brenda torn up from the cutter in the drainage. Brenda dies in his arms while Jeri frames Frank by gaining control of Julius again.
8	"Eight Course"	Conrad Vernon	Kyle Hunter & Ariel Shaffir	July 11, 2024 (2024-07-11)
The residents of Foodtopia grieve the loss of Brenda while Frank is imprisoned. The shock of Brenda’s death even has Sammy finally make peace with Lavash’s death along with hers. Julius asks Sammy to help him turn Frank into the perpetrator, but Sammy refuses, so he is replaced by “Dunkin Doughnut” as the host. Sammy and Barry then visit Frank, who denies murdering Brenda. After they leave, they come across Werner Herzdog, who shows them a clip of Brenda and Julius’ tussle on the day of her murder, revealing Jeri to be the real culprit. Barry and Sammy plan to get this footage live before Frank is burned and killed on a barbecue. They visit Jack, who is living while eating the remains of his friend in the woods, and they persuade him to help Frank, so he throws a frisbee with Barry and Sammy hidden underneath through the vent of the broadcasting station. At the station, after a courageous fight, Sammy shows the video to the foods, claiming that Frank is innocent. Barry and the other foods save Frank, but Julius takes off running. Jack helps Barry catch Julius, squeezes Jeri out of his anus, and apprehends her. He tries to break her before Frank stops him and says that he forgives Jeri. Frank makes a case for the residents to forgive each other and start a new healthy and helpful society. Jeri feels grateful and emotional but is swiftly eaten by the crow. Despite Frank’s passionate speech, the residents have gotten used to their new way of life and refuse to change. Instead, new foods nominate themselves for leader, and the powerful rule over the weak. Frank goes back to the treehouse dejected but remembers Brenda’s message that the foods are their children and they need to fix Foodtopia. He invades an election with Jack’s help and declares himself the leader, ordering that all food will follow him alone and that they can’t be trusted to make their own decisions. Unbeknownst to everyone, a drone is secretly hovering and watching them from above.

Production

Development

Rogen has expressed interests in making a sequel to Sausage Party and more animated films aimed for adults. When asked about the possibility of a sequel, Rogen stated: "It's something we talk about, yeah. That's one of the reasons why we took away the [original] ending because we thought, well, if that was the first scene of the next movie it's probably not what you would want it to be, with them just seeing us and finding us basically. But the idea of a live-action/animated movie, like a Who Framed Roger Rabbit?-style hybrid, is also very exciting, mostly because Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is one of my favorite movies of all time."

On October 26, 2022, It was announced that Amazon had ordered a sequel from Point Grey Pictures, Annapurna Television, and Sony Pictures Television the co-writers Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir returning to develop and executive produce the series under their production company Shaffirwhich while some of the cast (including Rogen, who co-wrote, co-produced, and created the film alongside creative partner Evan Goldberg) returning to reprise their roles, along with new members like Will Forte, Natasha Rothwell, Sam Richardson and Yassir Lester.

Animation

Unlike the first film being produced by Nitrogen Studios, now acquired by Cinesite, Bardel Entertainment and Stellar Creative Lab would handle the animation for the series as former Blue Sky Studios executive Andrew Millstein, who now runs Annapurna's animation division with Robert L. Baird after its first film Nimona (2023) was released on Netflix, executive produces with Rogen, Goldberg, James Weaver, Alex McAtee, Megan Ellison and Patrick Chu on the series while co-producer/co-director Conrad Vernon returns as a supervising director.

Release

On May 1, 2024, it was announced that the series would premiere on Amazon Prime Video on July 11, 2024. A second season is currently in development.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 48% approval rating based on 23 reviews with an average rating of 5.70/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Clean up on aisle three—Foodtopia has plenty of rancid gags to tide over fans of Seth Rogen's sense of humor, but this follow-up can't help but feel like stale leftovers." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the series assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

External links

• Sausage Party: Foodtopia at IMDb