Trey Parker Was Not Happy When 'South Park' Lost an Oscar to Phil Collins
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone famously showed up to the 2000 Academy Awards high on LSD, but they really should have been railing Ritalin if they wanted to prepare for what was coming.As two of the most prolific comedic composers of all time, Parker and Stone are entitled to some strong opinions about their peers in cinematic songwriting. The Book of Mormon and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut creators have never been shy about airing their petty personal grievances, and one particular offender in the music industry upset them like no other Oscar-winning songwriter before him.
At those 2000 Academy Awards, Phil Collins took home the Oscar for Best Original Song, beating out Parker and fellow composer Marc Shaiman with their hit song “Blama Canada” from the aforementioned South Park movie. When Shaiman spoke with Cracked about his experience working with Parker, he hinted that, despite Parker’s open disdain for the pomp and circumstance of Hollywood’s biggest night, South Park's songbird simply couldn’t abide losing to the pop star, whom he apparently despises.
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South Park fans figured that one out about two weeks after Shaiman did.
South Park Studios“Not Phil Collins!”As Shaiman explained, the only reason he was able to attend the Oscars with Parker, Stone and their plunging neckline dresses was because the South Park creators purposefully submitted “Blame Canada!” from Bigger, Longer & Uncut for nomination instead of tunes they wrote themselves, such as “Uncle Fucka,” because they wanted Shaiman to share in the glory. Shaiman recalled Parker saying, “It's got to be something that's got Marc on it as well.”Parker and Stone famously showed up for the ceremony wearing dresses and tripping on acid, but, for as much as they seemed not to care for the prestige and pretention of the Academy Awards, Shaiman revealed that there was one way for the Oscars to give them a bad trip. “I will admit that when Cher said, 'And the Oscar goes to, “You'll Be In My Heart,”' I might have heard Trey say, ‘Oh, not Phil Collins.’”“Even now, when it comes on the radio, I will mockingly shake my fists to my husband and go, 'I'll get you Phil Collins!'” Shaiman exclaimed.
Thankfully, Parker took the loss to the Genesis drummer and abomination-that-is-"Sussudio" singer with grace and poise, coping with Collins' win for the sappy Tarzan ballad by immediately making the South Park episode “Timmy 2000,” in which Collins schemes and connives to prevent the newly introduced South Park character from upstaging him at Lalapalalapaza. Meanwhile, the epidemic of doctors over-prescribing Ritalin to children causes the entire town to enter the fugue-like state necessary to enjoy Collins' music.
And, of course, over the following few years, Parker also ranted about how embarrassing it was to lose a music competition to a Collins slow jam to any red carpet reporter, late-night host or 60 Minutes journalist who would listen. While Parker's gripes about Collins may seem like sour grapes, in retrospect, he does have a point – how much better would Tarzan be if Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld were on the soundtrack?
