21 years ago Matt Stone and Trey Parker unleashed Team America: World Police, which left audiences laughing and Matt Damon “bewildered.” Despite receiving positive reviews and even getting Oscar-nominated for the songs in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Parker and Stone felt so burned out making this movie spinoff they swore off making further films.

However, inspiration struck for the duo in the early 2000s when they heard a movie remake of classic TV series Thunderbirds was happening, but that it would feature actors instead of puppets. They resolved to make a puppet film themselves, and initially planned their own version of disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow.

Parker and Stone’s version would have been released one day after the Roland Emmerich blockbuster, and dubbed The Day After The Day After Tomorrow. Threats of a lawsuit nixed that idea, so instead, the duo concocted Team America: World Police, a parody of the bombastic action blockbusters produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

Team America: World Police Remains A Controversial Classic 21 Years After Release

Team America: World Police was H๏τly anticipated when it debuted on October 15, 2004, with the film parodying everything from action tropes to America’s foreign policy. It received some blowback from the MPAA for a particularly graphic scene involving two puppets, with Parker and Stone forced to cut some of the spicier sH๏τs.

They found this MPAA demand especially silly since, well, the scene involved puppets. Just like South Park, Team America is almost gleefully offensive and non-PC; it’s hyperviolent and revels in stereotypes and poking fun at celebrities and self-serious Hollywood action movies. Needless to say, the films of Michael Bay were also a major influence.

Reviews for Team America: World Police were largely positive (it stands at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes), but its box-office performance was so-so. The film just about grossed its $32 million budget back domestically, and went on to nab $50 million worldwide (via The Numbers). This number may have been disappointing to Paramount, considering the hype surrounding it.

That said, the film was no doubt a major earner on DVD and home media, and its reputation has only grown in the years since. Some of the references and gags have aged poorly, but Team America is still one of the 2000s’ best action comedies.

How Matt Damon Reacted To His Portrayal In Team America

Another area where the film raised controversy was its depiction of Hollywood celebrities like George Clooney, Tim Robbins and Alec Baldwin. Team America takes many potsH๏τs at liberal Hollywood and those who called out the war in Iraq, with the depiction of Matt Damon arguably being the funniest thing in the entire movie.

Team America: World Police depicts Damon as a simpleton barely capable of saying his own name. According to Parker and Stone, that’s because the Damon puppet accidentally made the star look like an idiot, so they decided to lean into that. Damon has spoken about hisTeam America portrayal several times, including in a 2016 Reddit AMA.

I was always kind of bewildered by Team America, I think because it’s hard for us to understand what our images are in public, I think we’re not good judges of that, and when I saw myself on screen just only able to say my own name and not really that well, I kind of wondered “Wow, is that how people perceive me?” At that point I just kind of was like, I’m a screenwriter and an actor, and like really? I can barely say my own name? So I was always bewildered by that, and I never talked to Trey and Matt about that. And incidentally, I believe those two are geniuses, and I don’t use that word lightly. I think they are absolute geniuses, and what they’ve done is awesome and I’m a big fan of theirs, but I never quite understood that one.

While Damon might have been “bewildered” by his Team America depiction, he doesn’t hold any grudges over it. On the other end, Alec Baldwin found the project hilarious and put himself forward to voice his puppet, while Clooney (who is friends with Stone and Parker) told H๏τdog magazine, “I must say I would’ve been offended if I wasn’t in it.

Other Actors Were More Offended By Team America Than Matt Damon

Many of the actors Team America: World Police parodied took their ribbing in good spirits – at least publicly. One performer who must certainly did not see the funny side was Sean Penn, who was so offended he wrote Stone and Parker an angry memo.

Penn opens him letter claiming not to mind several things about Parker and Stone’s actions, and that he has gotten a “… few giggles out of your humor.” The memo then takes aim at the pair for encouraging “uninformed” voters not to vote at all. Says Penn:

It’s all well to joke about me or whoever you choose. Not so well, to encourage irresponsibility that will ultimately lead to the disembowelment, mutilation, exploitation, and death of innocent people throughout the world.

Speaking about Penn’s letter to ABC, Parker and Stone claim all Penn did was play into their stereotype of him as pompous and self-important. They also stated Penn’s letter only added to the box-office haul and that while he might claim to be mad about their voting comments, they believe it was due to Penn’s Team America parody.

Speaking later with the Irish Examiner in 2004, Penn again claimed not to be offended by the movie itself, and insisted his letter was aimed at the Stones’ view on voting. According to Penn, “I just saw a guy who told people not to vote and I thought it was stupid.”

Actress Janeane Garofalo was also mocked in Team America: World Police, and had scathing words about her portrayal. Garofalo told HuffPost in 2009 that she hadn’t seen the film, but was aware her puppet gets its head sH๏τ off. Garofalo didn’t see the humor to this and called out the movie’s creators over it.

What am I getting my head blown off for? For speaking out against an immoral, illegal and unjustified invasion and occupation? What they did was cowardly. To try and get yourself off the hook by saying we’re equal-opportunity offenders, it doesn’t mean s*** to me.

21 Years Later, Team America’s Satire Of Hollywood And Politics Remains Unmatched

Over two decades on from the controversy that greeted Team America: World Police, the movie has largely stood the test of time. When it’s funny, it’s almost transiently so, though there are spotty patches between the big laughs. Sadly, its mockery of America’s global politics and Hollywood celebrities almost feels tame nowadays.

Like the South Park movie, Parker and Stone were so worn out by the process of making Team America: World Police that they haven’t made a theatrical film since. If it proves to be their final big screen outing, there’s no better comedy to stop with.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers, Reddit, H๏τdog, ABC, Irish Examiner, HuffPost