Xeni on NPR: interview with Matt Stone and Trey Parker on "Team America": "Xeni Jardin:


For today's edition of the NPR radio program "Day to Day" I interview South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker in Hollywood about their new movie, Team America: World Police (previous BB posts: Team America preview, and MPAA freaks over puppet sex). The film -- "acted" entirely by live-action marionettes -- will open in selected theaters this weekend.

Stone and Parker talk about some of the many creative challenges they encountered while producing a comedy action flick with puppets. Here's one snip from the interview that didn't make it in -- the film lampoons world leaders, and pokes bitter fun at the so-called "war on terrorism." I asked Trey Parker whether or not they timed the release in relation to the upcoming presidential elections. He replied, "(laughs) -- People assume we're trying to affect the election. But if you're going to change your vote based on what you see in a puppet movie, honestly -- you really should not be voting in the first place."

Link to today's "Day to Day" show, with archived audio. Includes streaming video clips of Kim Jong Il singing a reflective ballad, then feeding weapons inspector Hans Blix to live sharks.

Image: Trey Parker and "Kim Jong Il" -- the marionette, not the actual North Korean dictator -- on the set of Team America: World Police (Melinda Sue Gordon/Paramount)."

(Via Boing Boing.)