We rarely get R-rated animated films, and while that's a shame, it's also understandable.  In addition to the genre always being considered as something for kids, the cost of animation also means it needs to bring in the widest audience possible, i.e. families.  But the upcoming animated comedy Sausage Party sounds like it will be anything but family-friendly.  Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and directed by Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2) and Greg Tiernan, the story follows a group of supermarket foods trying to get back on their shelves before the biggest shopping day of the year, the 4th of July.  Their Lord of the Rings-type quest has them considering the great beyond, the meaning of their existence, and trying to fuck buns.

During the press day for Neighbors, Steve spoke with Goldberg and executive producer James Weaver about Sausage Party, and learned that their movie isn't just coasting on being animated and R-rated.  It has a very specific target: Pixar and Disney movies.  Hit the jump to learn more about the film including details about the plot, the characters, and more.  The film is due out in 2015 and features the voices of Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, David Krumholtz, Anders Holm, and Salma Hayek.

Goldberg explained that while a film like This Is the End may be alienating to some audiences, Sausage Party is more universal because Disney and Pixar movies are so popular:

EVAN GOLDBERG: No one has ever ripped apart these Pixar movies like we're going to, and it's such a great platform to mock something because it's the most embraced new form of movies.  Everyone likes going to see WALL-E and Frozen and those movies.  Everyone knows what they're like, so now we get to fuck around with that.  And it's awesome when just everyone understands.  This Is the End is great and I love it, but not everyone got it.  People were like "I don't understand," and "I don't know these actors."  But this: everyone knows Pixar.  And we're just kind of taking all the conventions of children's movies, and making them disgusting and insane, which is something I'm very proud of.

Weaver then provided new details about the story as well as details about the characters:

JAMES WEAVER: The quick pitch is that it takes place in a grocery store that sort of has similar rules to Toy Story where food comes to life after all the customers leave and our sort of lead character is a hot dog named "Frank", who Seth Rogen is going to be the voice of, and he and his fellow sausages as well as the whole grocery store belive in the great beyond.  And the great beyond is what happens when you leave the store; every food in the store believes something different happens in the great beyond.

GOLDBERG: And humans are these glorious gods that take you there.

WEAVER: And Frank and his fellow sausages who are played by, Jonah Hill does "Carl" and Michael Cera does "Barry", and Anders Holm does "Troy".  They all believe that in the great beyond you get to fuck the buns who are across the aisle.

GOLDBERG: Get inside them.

WEAVER: Sorry.  "Get inside them."  We know it as fucking; they know it as "get inside".  And our lead bun is voiced by Kristen Wiig.  And what happens is that they get chosen, they think they're going outside the door, their cart tips over, and the majority of the movie is Frank, Seth, a couple other characters, Sammy Bagel Jr—

GOLDBERG: Played by Edward Norton.

WEAVER: Played by Edward Norton,

GOLDBERG: "Vash" played by David Krumholtz.

WEAVER: And Teresa Taco, played by Salma Hayek, they all try to get back to their aisles to get to get chosen for the next day, which is "Red, White, and Blue Day", which is the 4th of July, which is the biggest grocery store day of the year.  So it also has a Lord of the Rings-type vibe.

GOLDBERG: It's a quest movie.

WEAVER: Trying to figure out "What is the great beyond? Are we going to get chosen by the gods?" and how do those two ideas link up?

And how closely will this resemble a Pixar movie?  Specifically, they're going for Toy Story, although which Toy Story is up for debate.  Although Rogen, who is also co-producing the film in addition to co-writing and providing his voice, thought they could only get Toy Story 1-level animation (remember, animation is expensive), and Goldberg and Weaver were hoping for Toy Story 2, the animators at Nitrogen Studios are bent on delivering Toy Story 3.  Personally, I'm just happy there's a specific look that will immediately be recognizable to audiences.

Finally, they also mentioned that because animation is cost-per-minute, the movie will be 85 to 90 minutes.  And as for how dirty it will be:

GOLDBERG: We're trying to skirt away from NC-17.

WEAVER: In this moment where we're pushing it, there are definitely moments where they're like, "Oh, you can't do that.

GOLDBERG: The current version is NC-17.

Here's the video of the interview.  Look for more with Goldberg and Weaver later today.