ⓘ Details

Movie TitleTeam America: World Police

Release DateOctober 15, 2004

TaglinePutting the “F” back in freedom.

Runtime98 minutes / 1 hour 38 minutes

DirectorTrey Parker

Screenplay Written ByTrey Parker, Matt Stone & Pam Brady

Based OnOriginal story by Trey Parker, Matt Stone & Pam Brady

Is It a Remake?No. It is an original puppet-action political satire from the creators of South Park.

BudgetApproximately $20–32 million, depending on source

Box OfficeApprox. $32.8 million domestic / approx. $50.8 million worldwide

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👥 Main Cast

Trey ParkerGary Johnston / Joe / Kim Jong Il / Carson / Hans Blix / Matt Damon / Additional Voices

Matt StoneChris / George Clooney / Danny Glover / Ethan Hawke / Additional Voices

Kristen MillerLisa

Masasa MoyoSarah

Daran NorrisSpottswoode

Phil HendrieI.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E. / Additional Voices

Maurice LaMarcheAlec Baldwin / Additional Voices

Chelsea MargueriteJean François

Jeremy ShadaJean François

Fred TatascioreSamuel L. Jackson / Additional Voices

Greg BalloraLead Puppeteer

Scott LandLead Puppeteer

Tony UrbanoPuppeteer

Bruce LanoilPuppeteer

Allan TrautmanPuppeteer

Brian HensonPuppeteer

Kevin CarlsonPuppeteer

Julianne BuescherPuppeteer

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🏆 Awards

⭐ Empire Award Winner — Best Comedy

⭐ Golden Schmoes Nominee — Best Comedy of the Year

⭐ Golden Schmoes Nominee — Best Music in a Movie

⭐ Golden Schmoes Nominee — Most Memorable Scene in a Movie

⭐ Golden Trailer Awards Nominee — Best Comedy

⭐ IFMCA Award Nominee — Best Original Score for a Comedy Film: Harry Gregson-Williams

⭐ Golden Reel Award Nominee — Best Sound Editing in a Feature Film: Animated

⭐ IMDb lists the film with 1 win and 11 nominations.

⭐ No Academy Award, Golden Globe, or BAFTA nominations were verified for the film.

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📖 Short Plot Summary

Gary Johnston, a Broadway actor with suspiciously useful acting skills, is recruited by Team America, an overfunded anti-terrorism squad that saves the world by blowing up large sections of it. As Gary infiltrates a terrorist network, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il secretly plots global chaos, while a group of politically outspoken Hollywood celebrities complicates everything. With landmarks exploding, puppets making terrible decisions, and musical numbers doing emotional heavy lifting no puppet should have to survive, Gary must decide whether he has what it takes to be a hero — or at least fake it convincingly enough to save the world.

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❝ Key Quotes

“America! Yeah!” — Team America

“Freedom isn’t free.” — Gary Johnston / Song lyric

“I’m so ronery.” — Kim Jong Il

“Matt Damon.” — Matt Damon

“There’s no ‘I’ in Team America.” — Spottswoode

“We have no intelligence.” — I.N.T.E.L.L.I.G.E.N.C.E.

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💡 Trivia

Director

Team America: World Police was directed by Trey Parker.
The screenplay was written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady.
The film was created by the team behind South Park, carrying over their style of profanity-heavy satire, musical comedy, and equal-opportunity offense.
AFI lists the movie as a 2004 R-rated comedy/satire with a 98-minute runtime.
The movie satirizes American interventionism, action-movie clichés, celebrity activism, terrorism panic, and patriotic blockbuster logic — all with puppets that can barely walk straight.

Cast / Casting

Trey Parker voices multiple characters, including Gary Johnston, Joe, Kim Jong Il, Carson, Hans Blix, and the film’s version of Matt Damon.
Matt Stone voices Chris, George Clooney, Danny Glover, Ethan Hawke, and other characters.
Kristen Miller voices Lisa, one of Team America’s main members.
Masasa Moyo voices Sarah, the psychic member of Team America.
Daran Norris voices Spottswoode, the team’s no-nonsense leader.
The film uses marionette characters throughout, making the voice cast and puppeteers equally central to the comedy.

Soundtrack / Score

The score was composed by Harry Gregson-Williams.
IMDb’s soundtrack listing includes songs performed by Trey Parker such as “Everyone Has AIDS,” “Freedom Isn’t Free,” “America,” “I’m So Ronery,” “Only a Woman,” “Montage,” and “The End of an Act.”
The film also uses “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf and “Battle Without Honor or Humanity” by Tomoyasu Hotei.
The songs are a major part of the film’s parody, mocking patriotic anthems, Broadway ballads, training montages, and action-movie emotional cues.
Harry Gregson-Williams received an IFMCA nomination for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film.

Location

The story globe-trots through exaggerated versions of Paris, Cairo, Panama, North Korea, Hollywood, and Mount Rushmore.
IMDb lists filming locations including Culver City, California; Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Fillmore, California; and London, England.
Most of the movie’s “locations” are miniature puppet sets built to parody big-budget action spectacle.
The Team America base is located inside Mount Rushmore, because subtlety was apparently not available in puppet scale.
The film’s intentionally artificial world is part of the joke: the sets look elaborate and ridiculous at the same time.

Behind-The-Scenes

The film was produced by Scott Rudin, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone.
Bill Pope served as cinematographer, Thomas M. Vogt edited the film, and Jim Dultz served as production designer.
The production used hundreds of marionettes and miniature sets to parody large-scale action filmmaking.
The Chiodo Brothers, known for puppet and creature work, helped create the film’s puppet characters.
The production was famously difficult because Parker and Stone were trying to stage action, comedy, songs, and physical performance through marionettes.
The film’s puppet sex scene created ratings issues with the MPAA and had to be cut down for the R-rated theatrical release.

Nostalgia

Team America: World Police is a very 2004 comedy, aimed directly at post-9/11 foreign policy panic, celebrity politics, and action-movie excess.
The film became a cult comedy because it is so committed to its absurd premise: a dead-serious international thriller performed by puppets.
“America,” “Freedom Isn’t Free,” and “I’m So Ronery” became some of the movie’s most remembered musical bits.
The movie remains one of the strangest wide-release studio comedies of the 2000s.
For fans, it is basically what happens when Thunderbirds, Jerry Bruckheimer explosions, Broadway, cable-news panic, and South Park humor crash into each other at full puppet speed.

Easter Eggs

The movie’s marionette style directly nods to puppet adventure shows like Thunderbirds.
The film parodies many real celebrities as puppets, including Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney, Michael Moore, and Matt Damon.
The “Matt Damon” joke reportedly became one of the film’s simplest and most repeated gags.
The title and organization name spoof American action-movie confidence and global-policing rhetoric.
The song “Montage” is a joke about the way movies compress training, romance, trauma, and personal growth into a few efficient minutes.

Misc.

Team America: World Police is rated R for graphic crude and sexual humor, violent images, and strong language — all involving puppets.
Rotten Tomatoes lists the theatrical release date as October 15, 2004 and the runtime as 1 hour 38 minutes.
Box Office Mojo classifies the film as an action/comedy/satire release.
The Numbers lists the production budget at $20 million, while other sources report a higher budget figure, so the HTML lists a range.
Your 3 Guys and a Flick ratings page lists the episode as Episode 168, with Don rating it 3.00, Ken rating it 3.25, Jon rating it 2.00, and an overall rating of 2.75.

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