Norway’sSpermageddonhas some obvious similarities toSausage Party, but the parallels between the two are only surface deep. Don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard ofSpermageddonjust yet. It’s an adult-animated musical sex comedy, and even if that’s right in your specific niche of interests, if you’re neither Norwegian nor someone who does what I do for a living, you really wouldn’t have had a chance to hear about it. Directed by Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen,Spermageddonpremiered in Norway on July 28, 2025.
An adult animated moviewith a name likeSpermageddon, you might already be guessing where this is going. The film follows two parallel stories. One is about a teenage couple, Lisa (Nasrin Khusrawi) and Jens (Christian Mikkelsen), who decide to have sex for the first time. The other story follows Simen (Aksel Hennie) and Cumilla (Mathilde Storm), two sperm living inside Jens, who go on an adventure to search for an egg to fertilize.With anthropomorphic characters and plenty of sex jokes, it’s no wonder it’s been compared toSausage Party, but it’s a far cry from that movie.
Spermageddon And Sausage Party’s Similarities Are Surface Level
Both Films Have Similar Animation Styles And Comedic Sensibilities
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have made a lot of moviestogether, butSausage Partystands out among their creations as a particularly raunchy, wild, and gross-out comedy. Featuring anthropomorphic food items that believe being eaten is the same as entering heaven,Sausage Partywas as much an excuse for Goldberg and Rogen to juxtapose cartoonish animation with outrageous violence and sex as it was a chance for the filmmakers to discuss their thoughts on organized religion. Frankly,I think the vulgarity is the much more appealing part of the film.
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While the comedies have become a little more sophisticated over the years, there is still a call for something low brow.
As off the wall asSausage Partywas,the movie earned some rave reviews from critics, and now, it’s the reference for any animated film or TV show even slightly aimed at adults. TakeSpermageddon, which looks like it could take place in the same universe asSausage Party. The animation style is very similar.It’s that purposefully comic look with disproportionate features that helps to take some of the discomfort out of the raunchy sequences, and both films are filled to the brim with gross-out jokes and humor that would be impossible in a live-action film.
That’s about where the similarities stop, however, because the films are wildly different in tone and scope. For one,Spermageddonis not out to push every single boundary of decency likeSausage Party, and the “inappropriate” jokes ofSpermageddonare a result of the setting and the characters. It literally takes place in the sex organs of a teenage couple — there are necessarily going to be some sex jokes.Spermageddonis a bit more “biologically accurate,” for lack of a better phrase.
WhileSausage Partytries to grapple with some heady themes,Spermaggedonis much more a classic adventure.
There are no fantastical elements in the Norwegian film, like there are inSausageParty, where humans suddenly start seeing food come to life and go to war with them.Spermageddonis a bitcloser to the underappreciatedOsmosis Jonesin that regard. WhileSausage Partytries to grapple with some heady themes,Spermaggedonis much more a classic adventure.
Directors Tommy Wirkola And Rasmus A. Sivertsen Said Spermageddon Is An Epic Adventure Movie
Wirkola Couldn’t Believe He Was Even Allowed To Make The Movie
Another difference betweenSpermageddonandSausage Partyis the more rollicking adventure story told inSpermageddon. Simen and Cumilla are on a journey, one that takes them through dangerous body parts and past killer contraceptives. Is it a bit odd that we’re rooting for a teenager to get pregnant? Perhaps a bit, but it also makes it all the more interesting to see if our sperm heroes will succeed in their quest.It’s frankly a fairly incredible accomplishment that the film got made, and directors Tommy Wirkola and Rasmus A. Sivertsen agree (viaVariety),
“When we finally got to make it, there were times when I was looking at the screen, thinking: ‘How the hell did we get this movie made?!'”
Part of what may have drawn producers to the project and got it greenlit is thatSpermageddonis not just a vehicle for sex jokes; there’s a real adventure story tucked away between the body fluids and awkward encounters. Wirkola said (viaVariety),
“This is both a road movie and an epic adventure, a most incredible journey, much like Lord of the Rings. But instead of Orcs and elves, our heroes have to do battle with sperm-killing creams and e.Coli trolls.”
There is an element of truth to Wirkola’s statement. I’m not going to say it’s an epic the size ofTheLord of the Rings, but it’s certainly an adventure. It’s a little closer toThe Gooniesthan J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary masterpiece, but I like the confidence, Wirkola. Simen and Cumilla do encounter a lot of danger on their way to the egg, and while their lives hang in the balance, it’s fairly low stakes for everyone else involved.This adventure style of story-telling does certainly set it apart fromSausage Party, which is more concerned with wild kills and innuendos.
Sex-Positive Messaging Has Been Popular In Animation In Recent Years
Animation Is A Clever Way To Talk About Sex In A More Universally Palatable Way
I would hesitate to callSausage Party"sex-positive". Though it has no issues with sex and sexuality in all its forms, it’s more interested in those ideas as a punch line than anything else.Spermageddoncertainly uses sex as a punchline often, but there’s also some wisdom and thoughtfulness put into those jokes.Spermageddondoesn’t set out to teach you about appropriate safe sex, but it does it all the same, and for a certain age of viewer, it could actually prove pretty helpful, giving them a funny reminder about how to be intimate in a safe way.
In fact, it feels like animation has been the home of this kind of storytelling for a few years now.
It’s not the first adult animation to include some good lessons about bodily functions and maturity. In fact, it feels like animation has been the home of this kind of storytelling for a few years now.Big Mouthhas plenty of gross moments, but those moments often serve as thoughtful insights into the ways everyone grows up, physically and sexually.Tucca and Bertieis another adult animation that explores growing up and relationship dynamics in a way not often seen on television.
Animation offers a clever way to talk about sex in a more in-depth and specific waythan live-action ever would. What happens in these TV shows and movies would never make it past the censors if people were performing the acts, but animate everything, and suddenly it’s much less threatening. However, as something likeSpermageddon, and to an extentSausage Party, show, there can still be effective messaging from an animated cartoon.
