LONG RAMBLY BLU THOUGHTS AHEAD with emphasis on RAMBLY. apologies in advance, i just woke up haha and have so many thoughts all tangled together that i'm just spewing them here.
but a friend recently asked me if BLU was a sort of SpongeBob Movie situation in that despite being a planned finale, and despite the show (far exceeding) that finale established by the movie, if the film could still plausibly serve as a finale in some sort of timeline. i argued no, just because the biggest sticker is that Kenny dies permanently, and obviously that’s just not true of the show (evidenced by them bringing him back for the whole season where they tried this again haha)
it got me thinking about the “finale-nature” of the film, though. it does feel like a big hurrah, and intending to end the series with Kenny dying permanently and getting closure, i can definitely see how it would make a finale for the show—but it’s always been undercut a little by episodes coming out at the same time for me, which ofc wasn’t supposed to be the case
but now, having watched the movie within the proper chronology of the show, strictly comparing to everything that came before it and ignoring most of everything that ever came after—it DOES feel like a tangible finale. and i just wanted to take the time to ramble about some differences in tone and presentation that support this, that i never paid much attention to previously under the guise of “well of course, it’s old SP, old SP is this”
fascinatingly, there’s a really strong air of nostalgia with the movie, even within its proper chronology in the series. while you do have to take backlogs into effect (animation takes time to produce! and there was once a time where SP episodes, much less movies, didn’t take a week to make haha), there’s a lot in the film that feels warmly nostalgic and harkening back to beloved tropes and staples of the series that the series itself feels like it’s gently outgrowing, or growing around
more characters are slowly being integrated into the main show’s cast—the episode released just before the show is Tweek vs. Craig. there’s a little tip of the hat to Craig’s growing relevance with his cameo outside of Mr. Mackey’s office, but it feels like in the show, its world and characters are getting bigger. we’re seeing more places within the school and more teachers (Mr. Adler’s shop class, Home Ec, etc). the roles of the teachers themselves are being experimented with—the whole Mr. Twig saga with Garrison, Chef is having more episodes where he’s having the trouble rather than existing to give the characters advice, and again the scope of that trouble expanding. it’s subtle, but you do slowly feel the world of the show and the depth of their issues expanding. but in the movie, Chef is back to being just Chef, not Chef With A Succubus Girlfriend And Working An Office Job. Chef doing his thing in the cafeteria, giving the boys advice. Garrison has restored his relationship with Mr. Hat, there's no trace of the Mr. Twig saga, etc. maybe mentioning Adler is a bad comparison considering his episode came out a literal week before the film released, backlogs and all that, but i mention it to highlight how the show is growing concurrently
relatedly, Cartman is still provocative in the film because that’s His Thing, but it does feel like with the shift into s3 onward, they do lean a bit more into his bigotry and that being a purposeful asset of his character rather than on "accident"/ignorance. s3 opens with the teacher explicitly talking about how she heard that Cartman is disrespectful to other cultures and he agrees—feels a little different than his comparative ignorance in something like Pinkeye. he’s slowly evolving from the “annoying fat kid” role, and while he’s definitely still pushing buttons in the film, his character does feel almost nostalgic in a way with how it’s handled. it’s really subtle and difficult to differentiate, and again, backlogs have to be accounted for (though many of the Getting Gay with Kids kids from the same episode are in the film as background incidentals too). i'm really pointing this out moreso in response to starting s3 and being interested that Cartman's bigotry and apathy seems to get a bigger shove/spotlight with Rainforest Shmainforest, and him still feeling (even more) kidlike by comparison in the film
regarding the film's handling of characters. Gregory and Christophe are interesting in regards to this, too. they’re the characters made for the movie, there’s a fun and fresh novelty of seeing the boys interact consistently with these ✨new boys✨ with more gently specific designs, there’s a feeling of excitement and curiosity and freshness with their appearance… but ironically, they almost feel a bit regressive to me, too. to me they’re sort of reminiscent of characters like Terrance Mephesto or even Pip—characters made with specificity in mind and a clear shtick, one that’s affectionately a bit surface level (i don’t think they’re surface level characters at all mind you, but trying to think from the standpoint of the film); you know what you’re going to get when you look at them.
the show would continue to do this of course, the first example that keeps coming to mind for me is Loogie in The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000, but in a chronology where nothing after the movie was intended to exist, it feels like they’ve been erring away from this. new characters are going the Tweek and Craig route—both characters have their quirks that make them stand out, but still comfortably meld into the background and feel like an extension of our boys rather than an exception. even Pip has been getting less screen time in the show, with Conjoined Fetus Lady—released a year before the movie—being his last stand out to that point, and the last time he spoke being Summer Sucks (also a year before), and he of course has no lines in the film either. even at this point he's a bit of a throwback character
and so Gregory and Christophe just feel like extensions of that early indulgence from Matt and Trey to me. spiritually made in 1997 when M+T thought it was funny to make characters who existed as parodic elements, or very specifically catered. again we know they’ve done this time and time and time again after, but thinking strictly in terms of the show up through June 1999. there’s a gentle era of a throwback with them, despite their presentation given enough of a sheen to match the then-current storytelling needs and tone
another phrase that popped into my mind and sums up what i’m going for is: BLU is the Stick of Truth of ‘90s SP.
watching this film over and over and over again, it’s gotten drilled into my head that oh, yeah, all the beloved Things are here! that’s because it’s emblematic of the era, this is what they were doing. but now that i watch it in its proper chronology, i see that a lot of the gags and story beats and cameos are throwbacks/fanservice, and that the show is slowly evolving past these things at the same time, but wanted to throw them back in for a last hurrah.
this is perhaps most obviously reflected in character cameos, since (almost) everybody is there and the movie will take time to focus on this, even for just a shot. whether it’s more beloved characters who don’t have much role in the story but are still grandfathered in, like Barbrady or Jesus, or one hit wonders (and adjacent) like Damien or Nurse Gollum, or other Colorful Characters who mildly populate the cast (like Halfy in I’m Super, who i forgot was a “frequent” side character in the show). you can even hear Bill and Fosse say "that's gay" in the classroom, despite their characters not physically appearing because they're no longer in the stock classroom arrangement. and of course that big ending shot filled with characters from the show—Ms. Crabtree, Principal Victoria, Mayor McDaniels, Mr. Hankey, Scuzzlebutt, Death, etc etc etc. i feel the same way about the movie poster too. and i mean, everything having to do with Brian Boitano!! reusing his character model from Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride, the fact that it's a reference to The Spirit of Christmas and now they dedicate a big flashy song number to him while also referencing him elsewhere in the movie. same with Kyle's Mom is a Bitch getting a show-stopping elevation
on this thought: Big Gay Al! this is only his second appearance after his debut, which is bizarre for me to think about. but he wasn’t intended to be a recurring character at one point; his role in this film feels like a big, dazzling “guess who’s back!” rather than simply utilizing a beloved character in the cast. he was a one and done deal. i love his role in the film and always have, but have sort of taken it for granted like.. of course he’s here, he’s Big Gay Al! but this would’ve been a much bigger deal and much bigger surprise in 1999 when the only other time we saw him was almost two years before
and just general little cameo things sprinkled throughout the film. the TV store playing old clips of Terrance and Phillip episodes from various episodes, the Snacky Smores slogans/prominence, Satan is watching Steve Irwin at one point (carried over from Prehistoric Ice Man), again all the character cameos.. there are a LOT of references and shoutouts to prior episodes. watching this movie contained from itself you assume that they’re just there because that’s what old SP was and that’s what they’re doing.. but within the proper context of the show at the time, it’s a throwback!! hell even Stan’s whole thing with Wendy, he doesn’t even vomit over her in Clubhouses, which is the last central episode they had together before this film’s release—likewise (i chalk this up to faulty memory and an in-progress series rewatch) i’m hard pressed to remember a time where he threw up at her after this film. i know he definitely has, but referring to the chronology of the show at the time, it’s not like they were interacting a whole lot, at least in comparison to how they once were. only “immediate” example of Stan vomiting i can think of is Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics, and that’s in a song that never made it to the episode proper
and one of my favorite realizations in terms of a throwback: THE MOVIE ENDS ON A CHEF SONG!!!!!!!!!!! how sweet is that??? again, another thing you (me. it’s me) take for granted—oh Chef’s here and he’s singing, yay! i miss you Chef! but i realized that him leading the reprise of Mountain Town is meant to be one last hurrah/reference/instance of a Chef Song™️, because that’s also something the show was doing. this one isn’t maybe as consciously nostalgic as the others considering he still gave us a (very catchy) song in The Succubus, but i never realized that this would be intended one last all’s well that ends well Chef song to close out the “episode”, just like old times.
likewise, just another quick note of endearment—it’s funny to say but this movie really DOES look better than the show at the time. there’s the obviousness of the more detailed and enhanced backgrounds and special effects, whether that be an airbrushed glow on a character’s face or the entire Hell isn’t Good segment, but this manifests even in the actual animation itself which i thought was really funny and endearing. there’s a stronger embrace of proper animation principles—the animation is a little smoother in areas where it’s necessary, the movements follow arcs and are smooth, there’s some settle and follow through for moments that wouldn’t necessitate it, more poses and more frames for the animation, and characters/their models drawn at unconventional angles. M+T facetiously talk about in the commentary the desire to make everything look good because it’s the movie, let’s make hell CG, etc! but this manifests even in the general animation of the characters. there are times where the characters are just straight up animated like any other character from any other show, strong arcs and in-betweens, etc. you wouldn’t get the smoothness of Christophe’s head tilts and animation during his death scene, nor Gregory raising his arms in the finale of La Resistance, nor even as many frames as Stan getting blasted by the missile, if this were the show
i have this movie memorized inside and out. it is why i love SP and everything i do love about SP. it’s monumentally important to me and it is embedded in me. but it was exceptionally rewarding and endearing to watch it within the proper chronology of the show and that mindset—a lot of things that i thought the film did just because “that’s how it was back then”, i now realize are actually a bit of a callback or piece of fanservice or general warm regard for the show in an attempt to make one last hurrah. i could easily see how the film would make a good finale at the time, if the show never continued, but with the show long surpassing it i didn’t really think it held up in that specific regard—thinking that the only “finale things” were Kenny’s permanent death and the shot of all the characters at the end of the film, as well as the scope of presentation. i didn’t realize how much love of the show’s history and throwbacks and acknowledgements were purposefully integrated as a love letter, rather than showing up to maintain the status quo. and so my love of the film grows even more, somehow!
