The strictly R-rated animation 'Sausage Party' became a surprise hit at the box office over the weekend, pulling in $36.8 million domestically. However, according to a recent report, this movie wasn't so much fun for the animation department. Some animators who claim to have worked on the movie revealed that working conditions were a nightmare.

Seth RogenSeth Rogen apparently unaware of 'Sausage Party' working conditions

'Sausage Party' directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan did an interview with Cartoon Brew recently, where they spoke about the film's low budget, excellent organisation and the collaborative atmosphere of the production at Nitrogen Studios in Vancouver. However, according to the comments on the article, nothing could be further from the truth.

One individual under the name 'Uncredited Supervisor' claimed that the real reason production costs were low was because 'Greg would demand people work overtime for free'. They added that they were threatened with dismissal if they refused, which led to more than 30 animators leaving over the course of two years. 'This was met with animosity and was taken as a personal insult to the owners', they said. 'Their names were omitted from the final credits despite working for over a year on this film.'

Watch the trailer for 'Sausage Party':


 

A similar sentiment was shared by another commenter, named 'Another Uncredited Animator'. They revealed that the full credits can be viewed on IMDB, though only around half of them appeared in the movie's credits. And far from organisation being a key factor in keeping costs low, this animator claims that 'the studio management had little knowledge on how to proceed'.

Somebody else claimed: 'All of my shots are in the trailer and I didn't get the screen credit', while even some artists who were credited confirmed that these shocking claims are true. Working on the movie was described as 'a crazy and fun experience' by one fortunate artist, but admitted that it was 'heartbreaking to see so many of my colleagues' names disappear into thin air'.

However, as much as this animators are trying to reveal the truth about practices at Nitrogen Studios, many are insisting that writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg as well as co-director Vernon were not aware of the plight of their animation department. In fact, the recent protests have been aimed almost solely at the Nitrogen management team.

Rogen, Golberg, Venon and Tiernan are yet to comment on the allegations.