A s El Paso counted its dead, Walmart took action.

On 3 August this year, a white supremacist entered a Texan branch of the US grocery chain and began gunning down shoppers, killing 22 and maiming 24 in a racially motivated act of domestic terrorism inspired by March’s Christchurch mosque shooting. The attack came less than a month after another mass shooting in a Walmart store, in Mississippi, where a disgruntled employee killed two and wounded an officer. A strong response was needed, and on 9 August, the company found one. Employees at Walmarts across the country were directed to take down displays advertising supposedly violent video games.

As signs for shoot-’em-ups were hurried out of public view, aisles of firearms and ammunition were left untroubled by the company. Walmart, which claims to sell one out of every 50 guns sold in America each year, and one out of every five bullets, had put their best guys on the job, and seemingly concluded that firearms weren’t at fault for all the lives lost in their stores. Fortnite was to blame.

Somewhere, Trey Parker and Matt Stone probably sighed, wondering when the lines became so blurred between real life and their imaginations. After all, a popular youth culture product being blamed for America’s ills by adults who’d rather scapegoat than confront the root of the problem? That’s pretty much the exact plot of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, their adult animation’s first and so far only foray onto the big screen, released in the UK 20 years ago today.

45 films you never realised were banned Show all 46 1 /46 45 films you never realised were banned 45 films you never realised were banned 45 films you never knew realised were banned Click through the gallery 45 films you never realised were banned All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) The ban on All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) was ordered in Germany by Adolf Hitler himself who disliked its anti-war message. This came after an initial run during which members of the Nazi Party disrupted screenings by releasing mice into the cinema and, at one stage, attacking Jewish audience members. Censors in Austria, Australia, Italy and France also banned the film in the early 1930s. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned American Sniper (2015) Many might find Clint Eastwood's American Sniper (2015) to be something of an insult, but Iran banned the war drama – based on the life of the US military's deadliest marksman – for being just that. Censors deemed it "offensive" to its nation. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Apocalypse Now (1979) The anti-war sentiment present in Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now saw the film banned under President Park Chung-hee's regime in 1979. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned Argo (2012) Ben Affleck's Best Picture-winning 2012 drama Argo was banned in Iran due to its negative portrayal of the country. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Battleship Potemkin (1925) Finnish censors believed that Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 Soviet silent film Battleship Potemkin would incite a Communist revolution, so gave the film an outright ban. Goskino 45 films you never realised were banned Beauty and the Beast (2017) Disney's live-action remake of its 1991 classic was banned in Kuwait due to homosexual references involving the character LeFou (Josh Gad). It evaded a ban in Russia after being slapped with a 16+ age certificate and in Malaysia after having the references cut altogether. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Ben-Hur (1959) China banned William Wyler's religious epic Ben-Hur in 1959 under the regime of Mao Zedong for containing "propaganda of superstitious beliefs, namely Christianity". While most films go on to have their ban lifted, the country has never given the Oscar-winner permission to be shown. Loew's, Inc 45 films you never realised were banned Borat (2006) It turns out there are some people who don't find Sacha Baron Cohen that funny, notably officials in all Arab countries (except Lebanon) who banned his 2006 comedy Borat for being "too offensive". 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned Brief Encounter (1945) Officials in the Catholic country of Ireland found David Lean's romantic drama Brief Encounter to be too accepting of adultery to be shown in cinemas. Eagle-Lion Distributors 45 films you never realised were banned Brokeback Mountain (2005) The homosexual relationship at the centre of Ang Lee's 2005 drama Brokeback Mountain saw the film banned in all Arab countries bar Lebanon, where it was released in a censored format. Focus Features 45 films you never realised were banned Child 44 (2015) The number of banned films in North Korea runs pretty high, but an unexpected feature on the list is the Tom Hardy-starring Child 44 (2015). Countries including Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus all followed suit. Summit Entertainment Lionsgate 45 films you never realised were banned Christopher Robin (2018) Censors in China denied the release of Disney's Christopher Robin in 2008 because the character of Winnie the Pooh has become a symbol of resistance against the country’s ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick met a lot of opposition with A Clockwork Orange in 1971. While the film was never banned outright in the UK (it was withdrawn at the director's request after his family received death threats because of it), it wasn't shown in cinemas in Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea due to its depictions of violence and gang rape. It wasn't screened in the UK until after Kubrick's death in 1999. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned The Da Vinci Code (2006) The high-profile adaptation of Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code was banned in (take a deep breath) China, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa and Solomon Islands due to content deemed blasphemous. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Danish Girl (2015) The Danish Girl, Tom Hooper's film inspired by the life of transgender painter Lili Elbe, was banned in Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Malaysia on grounds of "moral depravity" in 2015. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Deadpool (2016) After it was decided that Deadpool couldn't be edited without affecting its plot, Chinese officials initially banned the film citing explicit content. Uzbekistan followed suit as the film "violated the country's societal norms", while it received heavy editing in order to be shown in India. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned The Death of Stalin (2017) Armando Iannucci's 2017 comedy The Death of Stalin failed to make the cut in Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan because of its perceived anti-Soviet theme. eOne Films 45 films you never realised were banned The Departed (2006) Martin Scorsese's crime thriller The Departed hit a nerve with China in 2006 thanks to a line of dialogue that suggested its government intends to use nuclear weapons on Taiwan, a sensitive issue for the country. The ban has never been lifted. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned District 9 (2009) District 9, Neill Blomkamp's science-fiction film from 2009, was slapped with a ban in Nigeria due to accusations of being xenophobic and racist towards its citizens. TriStar Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) The adaptation of EL James's erotic drama Fifty Shades of Grey may not have been as raunchy as some were hoping, but it was considered too explicit for audiences in Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe. Universal Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Funny Girl (1968) William Wyler's romantic musical Funny Girl was banned in Egypt because its male lead Omar Sharif – an Egyptian Muslim – is shown in a romantic storyline with the Jewish Barbra Streisand, who was vocal in her political support for Israel at the height of military tensions with Egypt in 1968. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Ghostbusters (2016) Paul Feig's all-female reboot of Ghostbusters was denied a release in China due to censorship laws prohibiting the promotion of cults and superstitions. Not even changing the title to Super Power Dare-to-Die Team (yes, really) could help its cause. Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Goldfinger (1964) Sean Connery's third film as British spy James Bond, Goldfinger (1964), had been released in Israel for six weeks when it was revealed that one of its main actors, Gert Fröbe, had a Nazi past. It had the ban lifted when a Jewish survivor came forward with the revelation that his life and his mother's were probably saved after being hidden from the Nazis by Fröbe. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned The Hunger Games (2012) The country of Vietnam deemed the numerous murders shown in blockbuster The Hunger Games too violent for teenage audiences and decided to slap the film with an outright ban. Lionsgate Films 45 films you never realised were banned Jules and Jim (1962) François Truffaut's beloved French drama Jules and Jim found itself at the centre of a ban in Italy for its "attitudes toward sex". The ban was quickly lifted. Gala 45 films you never realised were banned Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017) Not many people enjoyed 2017 sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but the cinema censors in Cambodia sit top of that list. Thanks to the moment that sees the film's antagonist working from a lair in a Cambodian temple, the Colin Firth action film was handed an indefinite ban. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned Mad Max (1979) It was a particularly gory death scene that saw Australian thriller Mad Max (1979) banned from being seen in New Zealand as it unintentionally mirrored an incident with a real gang shortly before it was released. The same scene saw the film banned in Sweden until 2005. Roadshow Film Distributors 45 films you never realised were banned Milk (2008) Milk, Gus Van Sant's 2008 Oscar-winning biopic about gay rights activist and US politician Harvey Milk, was initially banned in Samoa with no reason given, though it was eventually revealed the film had been deemed "inappropriate and contradictory to Christian beliefs and Samoan culture" for its depiction of homosexuality. Focus Features 45 films you never realised were banned Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) The religious satire featured in Monty Python's Life of Brian was considered blasphemous in countries including Ireland, South Africa and Norway. Director Terry Jones used the controversy to the film's advantage, putting up posters in Sweden with the tagline: "So funny, it was banned in Norway!" Cinema International Corporation 45 films you never realised were banned Modern Times (1936) Charlie Chaplin's classic 1936 film Modern Times was banned in Nazi Germany for advocating Communism. United Artists 45 films you never realised were banned Noah (2014) Darren Aronofsky's biblical drama Noah (2014) found itself the subject of a ban in China, as well as several Muslim countries, because it was perceived to contradict the teachings of Islam. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Pulp Fiction (1994) Malaysia disregarded Pulp Fiction for release and banned the Quentin Tarantino film scenes featuring drug abuse, explicit nudity and sexual violence. Miramax Films 45 films you never realised were banned Rambo (2008) Sylvester Stallone's return as Rambo in 2008 – which he also directed – was deemed offensive by censors in of Burma who opposed the way the film depicted its country's soldiers. Lionsgate 45 films you never realised were banned Sausage Party (2016) Officials in China were so worried that adults would assume animated film Sausage Party (2016) to be a children's film that they slapped it with an outright ban. On the flip side, France gave the film a 12-rating. Sony Pictures Releasing 45 films you never realised were banned Sex and the City 2 (2010) It's a wonder the first film of HBO series Sex and the City wasn't banned in Vietnam considering the critically-maligned sequel – released in 2010 – was prohibited there due to a "conflict of cultural values". Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Shrek 2 (2004) Although brief, the ban on 2004 sequel Shrek 2 was incurred in Israel due to the Hebrew dub added to the film ahead of release. A particular joke aimed at Israeli singer David D'Or's high voice prompted the musician to take legal action, halting the film from being released until its removal. DreamWorks Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Simpsons Movie (2007) The Simpsons Movie was banned in Burma due to the "juxtaposition of the colours yellow and red", which is considered to convey support for rebel groups in the country. 20th Century Fox 45 films you never realised were banned South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) Trey Parker and Matt Stone ruffled plenty of feathers with their big-screen South Park film, Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and the comedic depiction of Saddam Hussein saw it banned in Iraq. The duo's 2004 film Team America: World Police would later be banned by North Korea for its comedic depiction of Kim Jong-Il. Warner Bros 45 films you never realised were banned 300 (2006) Iran didn't take too kindly to Zack Snyder's depiction of the Persian military in his 2006 film 300. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned 2012 (2009) North Korea suppressed 2012 from release in 2009 because the film depicted what the government considered to be an important year for the nation in a negative light (it coincided with its first leader Kim Il-Sung's 100th birthday). According to reports, several people were arrested for viewing imported copies of the disaster film and were charged with "grave provocation against the development of the state". Columbia Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) Despite permitting other Martin Scorsese films to make the cut, countries including Malaysia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Kenya banned The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) for its profanities and depiction of sex and intense drug use. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Wonder Woman (2017) Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot's past in the Israeli army sparked a campaign to boycott the DC film in Lebanon due to conflict with both countries. The 2017 film was later banned there as well as Qatar and Tunisia. Warner Bros Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) Censors in Trinidad banned Kevin Smith's 2008 comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno out of fear that teenagers would mimic the plot and make their own porn movies. The Weinstein Company 45 films you never realised were banned Zoolander (2001) Ben Stiller's 2001 comedy Zoolander was deemed "unsuitable" for release in Malaysia due to its negative depiction of the country. Shockingly, Iran also banned the film over its perceived support of gay rights. Paramount Pictures 45 films you never realised were banned Any film featuring Claire Danes Claire Danes' honesty regarding her time working in Manila came with a price. After telling Premiere Magazine the country "smelled like cockroaches", the council passed a motion to ban the Homeland star from the city and prevent her films from being shown. Although Danes issued an apology, Manila said they will lift the ban when they are "satisfied". 20th Century Fox

The film’s meta-narrative made knowing winks at the controversy that followed the show’s first few seasons. After quickly becoming household names after South Park’s first season in 1997, the show’s creators Parker and Stone were accused by conservative and Christian groups of corrupting American children with the show’s bad language and risque, taboo content. The conservative advocacy group Parents Television Council called it a “curdled, malodorous black hole of Comedy Central vomit” that “shouldn’t have been made”. This didn’t come as much of a shock to Parker and Stone: by the end of the show’s first run, it had depicted an alien anal probe, a boxing fight between Satan and Jesus and introduced a singing, talking turd called Mr Hankey, intent on saving Christmas, after all.

The narrative of their hotly anticipated South Park film therefore featured an almighty kerfuffle about a new movie from Cartman and co’s favourite comedians, Canadians Terrence and Phillip. The show’s kid protagonists all love the film, which includes a song called “Uncle F**ka” and a whole lot of farting. The town’s parents, however, quickly decide that Terrence and Phillip are to blame for society’s supposedly declining morals. It spirals into a war between America and Canada: a conflict that Stan, Kyle and Cartman soon find themselves immersed in (the group’s fourth member, Kenny, is otherwise engaged being dead, trapped in hell with Satan and his new romantic partner, Saddam Hussain).

Kenny finds himself trapped in hell in the ‘South Park’ movie (Warner Bros)

The war on screen was only slightly less brutal than the one behind the scenes, between Stone, Parker and the studio, Paramount. During the show’s first season, as South Park fever spread across America, Cartman dolls flew off the shelves and Kenny posters started covering walls in college dorms everywhere, and Paramount began to plead with the pair to make a movie. It’d be a giant money-spinner, they insisted – not just in terms of box office, but in merchandise sales, which were already booming. Such was their certainty, they reportedly offered a seven-figure cash bonus to the duo to make South Park: The Movie.

Paramount understood the show’s money-making potential, but not the show itself, it quickly transpired. Between the show’s first season and the movie coming out, South Park’s ratings had dropped. Critics began to suggest the series’ time was up, that it had been a fad. This, Stone said at the time, was “bulls**t”, pointing out: “That was when we were on the cover of Rolling Stone, we were on the cover of Newsweek and we had a huge article in Time. We were the thing for that month, right? And that kind of press buys you numbers. There were a lot of people watching the show who probably had no business seeing it. It still gets great ratings.”



Nonetheless, critics predicted South Park’s imminent demise. Paramount had missed their chance to capitalise on the show’s initial success. With Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, their competition at the summer box office, they were staring down the barrel of a commercial flop, detractors claimed.

The pair were angry, and poured their anger into South Park: The Movie. It was “the most stressed out I’ve ever been”, Parker told Playboy in 2000.

“I really felt it was our suicide note,” added Stone. “We felt like, they’re going to cancel the show after this movie comes out, but we’re going to f***ing do it our way. It’ll be a big middle finger to Hollywood, and then everyone will hate us and we’ll go back to Colorado.”

The South Park creators (left and centre) arrive at the Oscars dressed in drag (PA)

A panicked Paramount tried to market the film to the broadest possible audience, in the most un-South Park of ways. “The studio did everything they could to beat us down and beat the spirit out of the movie,” Stone is quoted as saying. A music video was made for MTV that Stone and Parker detested. One trailer described the film as the “laughiest movie of the summer”. When the duo were sent that promo for their approval, they snapped the VHS in half and mailed it straight back. “It was war,” Parker told Playboy. “They were saying, ‘Are you telling us how to do our job?’ And I was going, ‘Yes, because you’re f***ing stupid and you don’t know what you’re doing.’”

Somehow, despite it all, the brilliant South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was a huge success. Critics loved it – The New York Times called it “a scathing social parable in which desperate, paranoid grown-ups who long for an impossibly sanitised environment go collectively crazy to the point that they’re willing to bring on World War III. And what are they so afraid of? Just some dumb off-colour humour about bodily functions.” The Independent was similarly won over, calling it “a non-stop barrage of toilet jokes, rude words and wired pop-culture piss-takes”.

It made $83m worldwide against a budget of $21m, although that might only be half the story: US newspapers were full of reports of young teens buying tickets for PG-rated Will Smith vehicle Wild Wild West, then sneaking into screens showing the R-rated South Park film instead. The movie’s success did little to patch things up between Stone, Parker and Paramount though. One of the reasons a second South Park movie has never materialised is perhaps because Paramount still reportedly retain rights to further South Park films, and neither party wants to work with the other again, such was the struggle of Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

Ten years since South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

South Park is expected to return for its 23rd season later this year. Who knows if the summer’s spate of mass shootings, and Walmart’s strange response to the killings in El Paso, will be in Parker and Stone’s satirical crosshairs? It wouldn’t be the first time, if so: their 19th-season finale, “PC Principal Final Justice”, lampooned America’s gun control debate by having Cartman and his mum pull firearms on each other in an argument over his bedtime, while Walmart has come under fire from the show before, in 2004’s “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes”. Walmart’s response to the El Paso terror attack is exactly the type of warped thinking Parker and Stone have loved exposing since South Park began, as it struggles to remain relevant in the time of Trump.