document_title: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

question_text: who sings the hell song in the south park movie

text: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

text: Plot[edit]

text: Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman go to a cinema to see Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire, which stars the boys' favorite Canadian comedy duo Terrance and Phillip. However, the boys are refused entry due to the film being R-rated, so they pay a homeless man to accompany them.

text: The following day, the boys begin swearing in class, and are sent to Mr. Mackey, the school counselor, who informs their mothers. Later, the boys see the film again, and Kenny bets Cartman $100 that he can set his fart on fire like Terrance in the film. Kenny immolates himself and ultimately dies, leading to Stan, Kyle, and Cartman being grounded. Kenny is sent to Hell, where he is tormented by Satan and Saddam Hussein. Back on Earth, the parents of South Park organize a boycott against Canada and Terrance and Phillip, which is led by Kyle's mother, Sheila. Terrance and Phillip are arrested as war criminals. When the United States refuses to release the duo, Canada retaliates by bombing the residence of the Baldwin brothers.

text: Sheila and President Bill Clinton announce that the United States will go to war with Canada and have Terrance and Phillip executed at a USO show. After overhearing Cartman leading the children in a song degrading her, Sheila has Dr. Vosknocker implant a V-Chip. The device gives Cartman an electric shock every time he swears. Back in Hell, Satan declares that if the blood of the two innocent Canadians touches American soil, he will invade Earth. Later, Kenny's ghost visits Cartman to warn him of the consequences of executing Terrance and Phillip. After failing to convince their parents, the boys decide to take matters into their own hands. They form La Resistance and Gregory tells Stan to recruit a God-hating French expert on covert operations named "The Mole".

text: La Resistance infiltrate the USO show, but The Mole is discovered and killed by guard dogs. The remaining boys attempt to warn their mothers about what will happen if Terrance and Phillip are killed, but they are laughed at, and Mr. Garrison activates the electric chair. A Canadian force attacks the base and a battle ensues between the two armies. In the confusion, the boys are able to free Terrance and Phillip, though Cartman's V-chip begins to malfunction. The mothers, seeing the destruction their movement has incited, decide to give up and look for their children.

text: Stan leads the kids to Terrance and Phillip, who have been cornered by the US army. La Resistance forms a human shield while Kyle tries to persuade the army and his mother against killing the two. Sheila refuses and shoots Terrance and Phillip, which results in Satan, his minions, and Saddam attacking Earth. As a result, Sheila regrets everything. Saddam tries to usurp Satan's authority, but is sent back to Hell and killed, thanks to Cartman's malfunctioning V-Chip and Kenny's encouragement. Satan then grants Kenny a wish; Kenny asks for everything to return to how it was before the war, even though it means he will have to go back to Hell. He takes off his hood to say goodbye to his friends, but instead of returning to Hell, Kenny ascends to Heaven due to his act of sacrifice. Everything returns to normal in South Park.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Trey Parker as Stan Marsh / Eric Cartman / Gregory / Satan / Mr. Garrison / Mr. Hat / Phillip Niles Argyle / Randy Marsh / Tom – News Reporter / Midget In A Bikini / Canadian Ambassador / Bombardiers / Mr. Mackey / Army General / Ned Gerblansky / Christophe – Ze Mole (or The Mole) / Big Gay Al (singing voice) / Adolf Hitler / Additional Voices
Matt Stone as Kyle Broflovski / Kenny McCormick / Saddam Hussein (credited as "Himself") / Terrance Henry Stoot / Big Gay Al / Ticket Taker / Stuart McCormick / Jimbo Kearn / Gerald Broflovski / Butters Stotch / Additional Voices
Mary Kay Bergman as Liane Cartman / Sheila Broflovski / Sharon Marsh / Carol McCormick / Wendy Testaburger / Clitoris / Additional Voices
Isaac Hayes as Chef Jerome McElroy
Jesse Howell, Anthony Cross-Thomas & Franchesca Clifford as Ike Broflovski (Franchesca Clifford was credited as "Francesca Clifford")
Bruce Howell as Man In Theatre
Deb Adair as Woman In Theatre
Jennifer Howell as Bebe Stevens
George Clooney as Dr. Gouache
Brent Spiner as Conan O'Brien
Minnie Driver as Brooke Shields
Dave Foley as the Baldwin brothers
Eric Idle as Dr. Vosknocker
Nick Rhodes as Canadian Fighter Pilot
Toddy E. Walters as Winona Ryder
Stewart Copeland as American Soldier #1
Stanley G. Sawicki as American Soldier #2
Chase Holt as American Soldier #3
Mike Judge as Kenny's Goodbye
Howard McGillin as Gregory (singing voice) (uncredited)

text: Themes[edit]

text: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a cautionary tale on the dangers of censorship. It uses the execution of Terrance and Phillip as the Seventh Sign in a parody of the Apocalypse. Cartman's use of foul language helps to avert the disaster. Parents and "lazy child rearing" come in for particularly sharp criticism. On their way to see Terrance and Phillip, the boys sing that "movies teach us what our parents don't have time to say!" During "Blame Canada" a couple are seen abandoning their baby in their enthusiasm to join Mothers Against Canada. The song ends with: "We must blame them and cause a fuss / Before somebody thinks of blaming us!" Much of the film's satire and many of the songs are concerned with the refusal of people to accept responsibility for failure and their tendency to look for scapegoats (Some of the songs are also parodies of musical theatre, but this is usually secondary to furthering the satire). Movies, government, society, foreigners, and Satan are all blamed leading Kyle to remark: "whenever I get in trouble, you go off and blame everybody else. But I'm the one to blame. Deal with me."[4] The movie is also self-reflective in nature. The enthusiasm the kids display for seeing the Terrance and Phillip movie reflects the creators' anticipation of the real world enthusiasm many people, including those under age, would experience to see the movie.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Developmental stages began for the film midway through the series' first season production in January 1998.[5] Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone signed a deal with Comedy Central in April 1998 that contracted the duo to producing South Park episodes until 1999, gave them a slice of the lucrative spinoff merchandising the show generated within its first year, as well as an unspecified seven-figure cash bonus to bring the show to the big screen, in theaters.[6] A large part of Parker and Stone's conditions attached to any potential movie project was that it must at least be R-rated, to keep in touch with the series' humor and its roots, the short The Spirit of Christmas. Parker stated that their desire was to approach the film from a much more creative perspective and do something other than a simple movie-length version of a regular episode.[5] Despite alleged pressure from Paramount Pictures officials to keep the movie toned down, the two won the battle for a more mature rating. "They really wanted to be able to go beyond the South Park television show," said Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox to TV Guide at the time. "They really fought hard for and won the right to make an R-rated movie."[7] Paramount executives went as far to prepare graphs displaying how much more money a PG-13-rated South Park feature would perhaps accumulate.[8] The William Morris Agency, which represented Parker and Stone, pushed for movie production to begin as soon as possible, while public interest was still high, instead of several years into its run, as was done with Beavis and Butt-head Do America, possibly because Beavis and Butt-head and South Park were owned by Viacom Global Entertainment Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom after Doug Herzog left Viacom Media Networks on January 12, 2017.[9]

text: Casting[edit]

text: The cast of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is mostly carried over faithfully from the television series. Co-creator Trey Parker voices the characters of Eric Cartman and Stan Marsh, and Satan, Clyde Donovan, Mr. Garrison, Phillip Niles Argyle, Randy Marsh, Mr. Mackey, Ned Gerblanski, the singing voice of Big Gay Al, the speaking voice of Gregory, The Mole, Adolf Hilter, and President Bill Clinton, as well as multiple other background characters. Matt Stone portrays Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick, as well as Saddam Hussein (even though during the end credits it says that he was voiced by himself), Terrance Henry Stoot, Big Gay Al, Jimbo Kearn, Stuart McCormick, Gerald Broflovski, Bill Gates, and additional voices. Mary Kay Bergman voices Wendy Testaburger, the core mothers of the film (Sheila Broflovski, Sharon Marsh, Liane Cartman, and Carol McCormick), Shelley Marsh, and the clitoris. Isaac Hayes reprised his role from the series as Chef, and voice clips of staff children Jesse Howell, Anthony Cross-Thomas, and Franchesca Clifford make up Ike Broflovski. Guest voices for the film included George Clooney as Dr. Gouache, Brent Spiner as Conan O'Brien, Minnie Driver as Brooke Shields, Eric Idle as Dr. Vosnocker, and Dave Foley provides the combined voices of Alec, Billy, Daniel, and Stephen Baldwin.[8]

text: Michael McDonald as himself (the track "Eyes of a Child") and as Satan's high notes in "Up There", and Howard McGillin provides Gregory's singing voice in "La Resistance (Medley)". Stewart Copeland, former drummer for The Police, guests as an American soldier. Mike Judge, creator and voices of Beavis and Butt-head, King of the Hill and The Goode Family, provides Kenny's voice in his sole speaking appearance at the end of the film.[8] Although initially denied by Paramount, Metallica lead singer James Hetfield said in 2001 that he provides vocals for the track "Hell Isn't Good".[10]

text: Writing[edit]

text: The season one episode "Death" heavily influenced the film's screenplay. The plot and theme of both scripts revolves heavily around the parents of South Park protesting about Terrance and Phillip due to the perceived negative influence it has over their children. Parker said, "After about the first year of South Park, Paramount already wanted to make a South Park movie, and we sort of thought this episode would make the best model just because we liked the sort of pointing at ourselves kind of thing."[11] During the time, the team was also busy writing the second and third seasons of the series, the former of which Parker and Stone later described as "disastrous". As such, they figured the phenomenon would be over soon, and they decided to write a personal, fully committed musical.[12]

text: Animation[edit]

text: The animation in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was created in 3D using Alias|Wavefront (now the Alias Systems Corporation) PowerAnimator software, running on Silicon Graphics O2 and Octane workstations. Characters and individual scene elements were designed with both texture mapping and shading that, when rendered, resemble 2D paper cut-out stop-motion animation.[13] The artists at South Park Studios (at the time, called South Park Productions) used a multiprocessor SGI Origin 2000 and 31 multiprocessor Origin 200 servers (with 1.14 terabytes of storage) for both rendering and asset management. Backgrounds, characters and other items could be saved separately or as fully composited scenes, with speedy access later.[13] "By creating flat characters and backgrounds in a 3D environment, we are able to add textures and lighting effects that give the film a cut-out construction paper stop-motion style which would have taken many more months if done traditionally," said Gina Shay, line producer of the film.[13] The animation team, beginning with season five, began using Maya instead of PowerAnimator.[14] The studio now runs a 120-processor render farm that can produce 30 or more shots an hour.[15] As the show's visual quality has substantially improved in recent seasons, the animation of South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut is a prime example of the show's old, cruder, even more primitive animation style.[16] In the audio commentary on the 2009 Blu-ray reissue of the film, Stone and Parker take ample time to criticize how "bad and time consuming" the animation was during the era.[17] IGN described the animation as "fall[ing] somewhere within the middle ground—not quite cardboard cutouts, but not quite fully computerized either."[18] Nate Boss, in a review of the Blu-ray reissue for High-Def Digest, commented, "There is no comparing the two, as the movie has a classic (for South Park, at least) animated feel, so full of the cut-outs we have grown to love, while the newer seasons sport a more computer processed feel."[19] The film, unlike the television series (at the time), was animated in widescreen (1.78:1).[12] "Although the 'primitive' animation of South Park is supposedly a joke, it's really a secret weapon," said Stephanie Zacharek of Salon. "The simplicity of Parker and Stone's technique is what makes it so effective."[20]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: The team working on the film commuted between the project and the series, pushing both to scheduling extremes (changes to Bigger, Longer & Uncut were made as late as two weeks before its release) and fighting constantly with Paramount.[21] "They wanted a Disney kind of trailer. We said no. They put together a totally un-South Park MTV video for the song 'What Would Brian Boitano Do?'. We had to go make our own version."[21] Paramount's first trailer for the film advertised it, according to Parker, as "the laughiest movie of the summer", and promoted it in a way that South Park "was completely against". Parker and Stone told the studio of their dissatisfaction with the trailer, and upon the creation of a second trailer with minimal changes, the two broke the videocassette in half and sent it back in its original envelope. "It was war," said Stone in 2000. "They were saying, 'Are you telling us how to do our job?' And I was going, 'Yes, because you're fucking stupid and you don't know what you're doing.'"[22] In another instance, Paramount took the songs from the film and created a music video to be aired on MTV. In accordance with broadcast standards, the studio cut various "R-rated" parts out and edited it into what Parker described as a "horrible little medley with all humor absent". The studio sent the original tape to Parker and Stone over a weekend, with plans to send it to MTV on Monday to prepare it for airtime beginning Wednesday. Stone instead put the tape in the trunk of his car and went home. Paramount threatened to sue Parker and Stone in response.[22] Parker also noted that the title was an obvious innuendo, and "they (the MPAA) just didn't get it".[23]

text: Music[edit]

text:
"Mountain Town " (sample)

"Mountain Town"; the opening number for the film, has been compared to musicals such as Beauty and the Beast and Oklahoma! As it described the setting of the film.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: The musical score and songs featured in the film were composed and written by Parker and Marc Shaiman. The musical features 14 songs, each evoking a familiar Broadway style.[24] The soundtrack also parodies many familiar Disney conventions, with several songs spoofing Disney musicals such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.[25] The tracks "Mountain Town" brought comparisons to Oklahoma! and the opening to Beauty and the Beast ("Belle"), and the "La Resistance" medley drew forth favorable Les Misérables comparisons.[26] "I'm Super" recalls Beauty and the Beast's "Be Our Guest" and South Pacific's Honey Bun and "Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" echoes Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; "Up There", "I Can Change" and the "Mountain Town (Reprise)" recalls The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World", "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and "Part of Your World (Finale)"; and "Uncle Fucka" is reminiscent of Oklahoma! (especially the ending).[27] "Eyes of the Child" recalls pop versions of Disney songs played at the end credits like "Colors of the Wind", "A Whole New World" and "Go the Distance".

text: The score received critical acclaim, with Entertainment Weekly calling it "a cast album that gleefully sends up all the Hollywood musical conventions we're being deprived of."[25] The soundtrack was released June 15, 1999 by Atlantic Records. "Blame Canada" was frequently highlighted as one of the best from the soundtrack and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. "I was like, 'We're going to get nominated for an Academy Award for this.' I really was," Parker said. "I even told him [Shaiman]."[28] The song takes place in the film when the United States blames Canada for corrupting its youth. "We're making fun of people who pick ridiculous targets to blame anything about what's going on in their lives, so Canada was just the perfect, ridiculous, innocuous choice for a target," said Shaiman.[28] In 2011, Time called the music of the film the "finest, sassiest full-movie musical score since the disbanding of the Freed unit at MGM."[27]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: Musical numbers[edit]

text:
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Soundtrack album by Various Artists

Released
June 16, 1999

Recorded
1999

Genre
Comedy

Length
50:34

Label
Atlantic

Producer
Darren Higman

South Park chronology

Chef Aid: The South Park Album
(1998)Chef Aid: The South Park Album1998
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
(1999)
Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
(1999)Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics1999

text:
"Mountain Town" – Stan Marsh (Trey Parker), Kenny McCormick (Matt Stone), Kyle Broflovski (Stone), Eric Cartman (Parker), Sharon Marsh (Mary Kay Bergman), Sheila Broflovski (Bergman)
"Uncle Fucka" – Terrance (Stone) and Phillip (Parker)
"Wendy's Song (There's the Girl That I Like)" – Stan Marsh (Parker)
"It's Easy, MMMKay" – Mr. Mackey (Parker), Stan (Parker), Cartman (Parker), Kyle (Stone), Gregory (Howard McGillin), South Park Elementary Students
"Hell Isn’t Good" – D.V.D.A. featuring James Hetfield
"Blame Canada" – Sheila Broflovski (Bergman), Sharon Marsh (Bergman), Liane Cartman (Bergman), Carol McCormick (Bergman), Citizens of South Park
"Kyle's Mom's a Bitch" – Cartman (Parker), South Park Elementary Students
"What Would Brian Boitano Do?" – Stan (Parker), Kyle (Stone), Cartman (Parker)
"Up There" – Satan (Parker with Michael McDonald on the high notes)
"La Resistance" – Gregory (McGillin), South Park Elementary Students, Shelia Broflovksi (Bergman), Soldiers (Parker and Stone), Satan (Parker), Terrance (Stone), Phillip (Parker), Stan (Parker), Kyle (Stone), Cartman (Parker)
"I Can Change" – Saddam Hussein (Stone), Satan (Parker)
"I'm Super" – Big Gay Al (Parker)
"The Mole's Reprise" – Christophe le Mole (Parker), Kyle (Stone)
"Mountain Town (Reprise)" – Chef (Issac Hayes), Stan (Parker), Kyle (Stone), Cartman (Parker), Sheila Broflovski (Bergman), Sharon Marsh (Bergman), Liane Cartman (Bergman), Citizens of South Park
"What Would Brian Boitano Do? Pt. II" (end credits) – D.V.D.A
"Eyes of a Child" (end credits) – McDonald

text: Release[edit]

text: Paramount Pictures won a jump ball with Warner Bros. (parent companies Viacom and Time Warner, respectively, jointly owned Comedy Central until Time Warner exited the venture in 2003) to release the film in the United States, with Warner Bros. getting the international rights. Viacom bought all of Comedy Central in 2004,[9] but Warner Bros. continued to distribute the film internationally.[29][30]

text: The film was rated R for "pervasive vulgar language and crude sexual humor, and for some violent images" by the Motion Picture Association of America; this rating did not come as surprise to most media outlets, as many had predicted long before that the film would likely be for ages 18 and over.[9] However, there was much more discussion within the MPAA than initially reported in the media. The board's objections to the film were described in highly specific terms by Paramount Pictures executives in private memos circulating at Paramount. For months the ratings board insisted on the more prohibitive NC-17.[31] South Park was screened by the MPAA six times—five times, the board returned the movie to Paramount with an NC-17.[21] The last submission the filmmakers received was an NC-17, two weeks before release. A marketing agent from Paramount called the two and explained that the studio "needed" an R. In response, Stone called producer Scott Rudin and "freaked out." Rudin then called a Paramount executive and, in Stone's words, "freaked out on them." The next day the film was changed to an R rating without reason, with the original film intact.[22] "The ratings board only cared about the dirty words; they're so confused and arbitrary," said Parker to The New York Times shortly before the release of the picture. "They didn't blink twice because of violence."[31] During production of the trailer for the film, the raters objected to certain words but had no problem with a scene in which cartoon bullets are killing soldiers. "They had a problem with words, not bullets," he said.[31] The MPAA gave Paramount specific notes for the film; in contrast, Parker and Stone's NC-17 comedy Orgazmo, released in 1998 by Rogue Pictures, was not given any specifications on how to make the movie acceptable for an R rating.[22] The duo attributed the R rating to the fact that Paramount is a member of the MPAA; the distributor dismissed these claims.[32] The film was given a 15 certificate by the British Board of Film Classification for "frequent coarse language and crude sexual references" with no cuts made.[1] It was rated MA15+ (Mature accompanied for those under 15) by the Australian Classification Board without cuts.

text: As predicted through the actions of the boys in the film, there were numerous news reports of underage South Park fans engaging in unsuccessful attempts to gain entrance to the film at theaters.[32] There were reports of adolescents purchasing tickets for WB's own Wild Wild West and instead sitting in to see South Park.[33] This came as a result of a movie-industry crackdown that would make it tougher for children to sneak into R-rated films, as proposed by President Bill Clinton at the time in response to the moral panic generated by the Columbine High School massacre, which occurred two months before the film's release.[34] South Park was cited, along with American Pie, as an explicit film released in the summer of 1999 tempting teens to sneak into theaters.[35] When the film was released in the United Kingdom in August 1999, there were similar reports of the film drawing an underage crowd.[36]

text: Hayes, voice of Chef in the film, responded to conservatives urging prudishness as a cure for society's ills: "If we give in to that and allow [entertainment] to become a scapegoat, you might wind up living in who-know's-what kind of state.... If you believe in [your artistic vision] and you've got a moral conviction, take it to 'em!"[37] The rating of film later brought comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, released in theaters in a digitally altered and censored version just two weeks after South Park.[38] Kubrick's original cut was given an NC-17 rating, but Warner Bros. then blocked out characters in an orgy scene so the film could be rated R. In response to these debates and controversy, Stone called the MPAA a "bumbling, irresponsible organization".[39]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: The licensing arm of Paramount took the step of significantly expanding retail distribution beyond specialty stores (Hot Topic, Spencer's) to big chains (Target, J.C. Penney), which involved carefully stripping T-shirts of racy slogans from the television show.[40] Licensing industry observers credited Comedy Central with carving out a profitable niche in an industry dominated by powerful partnerships that link fast-food chains and Hollywood movie studios, which was particularly tough for South Park, as no fast-food chains wanted to ally themselves with the show's racy content.[41] Eventually, J.C. Penney ended the tie-ins with the show in April 1999 as a result of customer complaints.[42] On July 7, 1999, Parker and Stone appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to promote the film's release. During the interview, Parker and Stone showed a clip of the film in which a caricature of O'Brien, played by Brett Spiner, hands over Terrence and Phillip to the US government and jumps to his death from the set of Late Night. Upon seeing the clip, a bemused O'Brien responded that his interns saw the film and thought it was "really funny", but were annoyed that the Late Night set was portrayed as on the top floor of the GE Building, when it was really on the sixth floor.[43] The film also suffered negative publicity before release. It was initially reported that on the day of the Columbine High School massacre, a friend of the killers (Chris Morris) was seen wearing a black T-shirt depicting characters from South Park.[44] Both Parker and Stone come from Colorado, and Stone went to Heritage High School, not far from Columbine High. He proceeded to take three days off from work following the shootings. "Nothing seemed funny after that," he said.[31] South Park was, at the time, generally waning in popularity: ratings dropped nearly 40 percent with the premiere of the series' third season and, according to Entertainment Weekly, "it [wasn't] the pop-culture behemoth it was last year [1998]."[21] In response to the decline, Parker commented, "Suddenly we suck and we're not cool anymore. The funny thing is, last year we were saying the same things and we were hip, fresh, and cute. Now they're telling us we're pushing 30, we're failures, and we're sellouts."[21]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The film was released on DVD in the US on November 23, 1999, with a VHS release initially for rental services only, such as Blockbuster.[45] A traditional retail VHS release followed on May 16, 2000.[46] The DVD contained three theatrical trailers for special features, which many criticized as being typical of "bare-bones" DVD releases.[47] There is also a NTSC laserdisc version that was released on January 18, 2000; copies are extremely rare.[48] The film was re-released on Blu-ray on June 30, 2009 in celebration of its decade-long anniversary. The film's 1080p AVC encode (at 1.78:1) was taken from the original film source as well with random audio sync issues, despite the fact the film was animated entirely digitally.[17] IGN's Scott Lowe explained, "Although clearly aged, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut looks great and is free of the washed out, compressed imperfections of previous standard definition releases of the film."[19] However, Michael Zupan of DVDTalk notes that an automatic digital scratch removal process may have inadvertently removed some intentional lines from the picture, notably during Cartman's first scene with the V-chip.[49] The disc contained a full-length audio commentary from Parker and Stone, as well as other crew members though most of them had no recollection of making the film due to heavy scheduling.[12][49]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text: The film has a "certified fresh" approval rating of 81% with an average rating of 7/10 based on 94 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; the site's consensus states: "Its jokes are profoundly bold and rude but incredibly funny at the same time."[50] It also has a 73 out of 100 rating based on 31 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", at Metacritic.[51] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post called the film "outrageously profane" and "wildly funny", writing that "While censorship is the filmmakers' main target […] [Parker and Stone's] favorite monster is the Motion Picture Association of America, self-appointed guardians of the nation's chastity. It's all in good dirty fun and in service of their pro-tolerance theme."[52] Stephen Holden of The New York Times heavily praised the film, regarding the film's "self-justifying moral" as "about mass entertainment, censorship and freedom of speech." He also praised Cartman's subjection to the V-chip, which he called "the movie's sharpest satirical twist, reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange".[53] Entertainment Weekly graded the film an A− and praised the film's message in a post-Columbine society, as well as Parker and Shaiman's musical numbers, which "brilliantly parody / honor the conventions of Broadway show tunes and, especially, the Disney-formula ditties that began with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman."[54] The Washington Post's Michael O'Sullivan neutrally regarded the offensive nature of the film, commenting "Yes, the lampooning is more broad than incisive, but under the bludgeoning of this blunt instrument very few sacred cows are left standing."[55] In a review that was later quoted on the film's original home video cover, Richard Corliss from Time warned viewers "You may laugh yourself sick – as sick as this ruthlessly funny movie is."[56] Corliss would later name the film his fifth favorite animated film of all time.[57] The film had its fair share of critical detractors, without noting the conservative family groups offended by the film's humor.[58][59] Jack Matthews of the Daily News suggested the film's running time made Parker and Stone "run out of ideas",[60] while Roger Ebert stated that the "vicious social satire" of the film both "offended" and "amazed" him. Ebert called the film "the year's most slashing political commentary", but also said, "It is too long and runs out of steam, but it serves as a signpost for our troubled times. Just for the information it contains about the way we live now, thoughtful and concerned people should see it. After all, everyone else will."[61]

text: Box office[edit]

text: On a budget of $21 million, the film opened at number three with a gross of $14,783,983 over the four-day Independence Day weekend from 2,128 theaters for an average of $6,947 per theater ($11,090,000 and an average of $5,211 over three days) and a total of $19,637,409 since its Wednesday launch. It ended up with a gross of $52,037,603 in the United States and Canada, with the 3-day opening making up 22% of the final domestic gross. It made an additional $31.1 million internationally for a total of $83,137,603 worldwide.

text: It was originally the highest-grossing R-rated animated film until it was surpassed by Seth Rogen's Sausage Party in 2016, which grossed $140 million worldwide.[3]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Blame Canada". When the time came to perform the track live at the ceremony, as is customary for the Academy Awards, it ran into trouble with ABC's standards and practices department: censors demanded they write TV-friendly lyrics.[62] "It would be ironic to have to change the words in a movie about censorship," remarked Shaiman.[62] Censors were particularly unhappy with the use of the word "fuck" and allusions to the Ku Klux Klan. When Parker and Shaiman declined these requests, Robin Williams, a friend of Shaiman's, sang the song with black tape over his mouth and turning his back when curse words were to be sung.[63] Parker and Stone attended the ceremony in drag, wearing replicas of dresses previously worn at the Oscars by Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Lopez.[64] The two claimed years later that they took acid before the ceremony and were high while wearing the outfits.[65][66] The song ended up losing to "You'll Be in My Heart", a Tarzan song by Phil Collins (that film came from ABC parent Disney). In response, Parker and Stone ridiculed him in two consecutive episodes of the series' fourth season ("Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" and "Timmy 2000").[67] In DVD commentary, Parker states "we were fully expecting to lose, just not to Phil Collins".[68]

text:
List of awards and nominations

Award / Film Festival
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipient(s) and nominee(s)
Result

Academy Awards
March 26, 2000
Best Original Song

Trey Parker
Marc Shaiman

for "Blame Canada"
Nominated

Annie Awards
November 6, 1999
Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Theatrical Feature
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Mary Kay Bergman

Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production

Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Pam Brady

American Film Foundation
March 2, 2000
E Pluribus Unum Award for Feature Film
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Chicago Film Critics Association
March 13, 2000
Best Original Score

Trey Parker
Marc Shaiman

Won

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
January 10, 2000
Best Animated Film
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Nominated

Los Angeles Film Critics Association
January 19, 2000
Best Music

Trey Parker
Marc Shaiman

Won

MTV Movie Awards
June 3, 2000
Best Musical Sequence
Terrance and Phillip — "Uncle Fucka"

Motion Picture Sound Editors
March 25, 2000
Best Sound Editing - Music - Animation

Dan DiPrima
Tim Boyle
Dennis S. Sands
Brian Bulman

Best Sound Editing - Animated Feature
South Park: Bigger. Longer & Uncut
Nominated

New York Film Critics Circle Awards
January 9, 2000
Best Animated Film
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

OFTA Film Awards
2000
Best Music, Original Score

Trey Parker
Marc Shaiman

Won

Best Animated Picture
Trey Parker
Nominated

Best Music, Adapted Song
"Kyle's Mom's a Bitch"

Online Film Critics Society Awards
January 2, 2000
Best Original Score
Marc Shaiman
Won

Golden Satellite Awards
January 16, 2000
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Nominated

Best Original Song
"Quiet Mountain Town"

Village Voice Film Poll
2000
Best Film
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
10th Place

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"Blame Canada" – Nominated[69]

2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – Nominated[70]
2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:

Nominated Animation Film[71]

text: Lists and records[edit]

text:
The film has been nominated by the American Film Institute for their list of the Greatest American Musicals.[72]
In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted the film at No. 13 in the greatest comedy films of all time.
In 2001, Terry Gilliam selected it as one of the ten best animated films of all time.[73]
In 2006, South Park finished fifth on the United Kingdom Channel 4's "50 Greatest Comedy Films" vote.[74]
Readers of Empire Magazine, in a 2006 poll, voted it No. 166 in the greatest films of all time.
In 2008, the film was included in Entertainment Weekly list of the "25 Movie Sequels We'd Line Up to See"[75] and "The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years".[76]
The film is No. 5 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.
IGN named it the sixth greatest animated film of all time in their Top 25 list.[77]
In Guinness World Records 2001, this film was said to have the most profanity used in an animated film. It contained a total of 399 swear words (the word "fuck" was used 146 times), 199 offensive gestures and also contained 221 acts of violence.[78]

text: Legacy[edit]

text: Jack Valenti, former president of the MPAA, later said he regretted not giving the film an NC-17 rating.[38] In response to the film's controversy, the MPAA began backing up their ratings on print posters by posting reasons to explain them, beginning in 2000.[79] The film's use of profanity gained it a Guinness World Record in their 2001 edition for "Most Swearing in an Animated Film" (399 profane words, including 146 uses of "fuck";[78] 128 offensive gestures; and 221 acts of violence—in effect, one every six seconds).

text: In the song "Uncle Fucka", the curse word "fuck" is said 31 times. The pop punk band Blink-182 would often end songs on their The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show Tour with lines from "Uncle Fucka" throughout 2000. The lines can be heard on the band's live album, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!).[80] While the real Saddam Hussein was on trial for genocide charges in 2006, Matt Stone joked that the U.S. military was showing the movie repeatedly to the former dictator as a form of torture.[81] Parker and Stone were also given a signed photo of Hussein by the American soldiers.[82] In 2011, Time called South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut the sixth greatest animated feature of all-time.[27]

text: Possible sequel[edit]

text: Parker and Stone said in a 2008 interview that a theatrically released sequel would most likely be what concludes the series.[83]

text: In 2011, when the official South Park website FAQ was asked whether a sequel would be made, it was responded with "the first South Park movie was so potent, we're all still recovering from the blow. Unfortunately, at the current moment, there are no plans for a second South Park movie. But you never know what the future may bring, crazier things have happened..."[84]

text: In 2013, Warner Bros. relinquished to Paramount its rights to co-finance a potential future South Park movie, as well as a future Friday the 13th sequel, during their negotiations to co-finance the Christopher Nolan science fiction film Interstellar. Previous efforts to create a second South Park film were complicated due to both studios retaining certain rights to the property.[85]

text: In 2016, Trey Parker and Matt Stone expressed interest in using the plot of the upcoming video game South Park: The Fractured but Whole as the plot of a sequel film.[86]


document_title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

question_text: who blew up the bridge in harry potter

question_tokens: who blew up the bridge in harry potter

root

text: Plot[edit]

text: Lord Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, kidnapping Ollivander from Diagon Alley and destroying the Millennium Bridge. After the Malfoy family is disgraced when Lucius is apprehended and sent to Azkaban for his involvement with the Death Eaters, Voldemort chooses Draco to carry out a secret mission at Hogwarts. Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, seek help from Severus Snape, who claims to have been acting as a mole within the Order of the Phoenix all along. Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to protect Draco and fulfill the assignment if he fails.

tag: p

text: 16-year old Harry accompanies Albus Dumbledore from Surbiton to the village of Budleigh Babberton to visit former Potions professor Horace Slughorn. Professor Slughorn has been in hiding but agrees to return to teach at Hogwarts. Dumbledore then takes Harry to The Burrow, where Harry reunites with his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. When the three go visit  Fred and George Weasley's new joke shop at Diagon Alley, they see Draco entering Knockturn Alley with a group of Death Eaters including Fenrir Greyback. Harry believes Voldemort has made Draco a Death Eater, but Ron and Hermione are sceptical. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry hides in the Slytherin carriage using his Invisibility Cloak. Harry is spotted by Malfoy, who petrifies him and breaks his nose. Harry is found and saved by Luna Lovegood.

text: At Hogwarts, Harry and Ron borrow textbooks for Slughorn's Potions class, and Harry is stuck with a copy that turns out to be filled with helpful notes and spells left by the "Half-Blood Prince". Harry uses the book to excel in the class and impresses Slughorn, winning a vial of Liquid Luck. Ron becomes Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and forms a romantic relationship with Lavender Brown, upsetting Hermione. Harry consoles Hermione and admits that he now has feelings for Ron's younger sister, Ginny Weasley.

text: Harry spends the Christmas holidays with the Weasleys. On Christmas Eve, Harry discusses his suspicions about Draco to the Order of the Phoenix. Harry's suspicions are dismissed by the Order, but later on Arthur Weasley tells Harry privately that the Malfoys may have been interested in a Vanishing Cabinet. Bellatrix and Greyback attack the Burrow and burn it down, drawing Harry into a battle, trying to save Ginny, before the Order arrive and fight them off. At Hogwarts, Dumbledore reveals to Harry that Slughorn possesses a memory of Voldemort that Dumbledore needs desperately. Slughorn gave Dumbledore the memory, but it was an altered version that made it appear that Slughorn didn't know anything. Dumbledore shows Harry the altered memory and asks him to confront Slughorn and retrieve the real one, but when Harry brings it up Slughorn gets angry and refuses to talk any more about it. After Ron accidentally ingests a love potion, Harry brings him to Slughorn for a cure and to smooth over their argument from earlier. After curing Ron, the trio celebrate with mead that Slughorn had intended to gift to Dumbledore. The mead poisons Ron, and Harry is forced to save his life after Slughorn hesitates. Ron murmurs Hermione's name while recovering in the infirmary, causing Lavender to end their relationship. Harry confronts Draco about the poisoned mead and a cursed necklace, and the two duel. Harry uses a curse from the Half-Blood Prince's potion book to severely injure Malfoy, who is rescued and healed by Professor Snape. Fearing the potion book may be filled with more Dark Magic, Ginny and Harry hide it in the Room of Requirement and share their first kiss.

text: Harry decides to use his Liquid Luck potion to convince Slughorn to give up the memory Dumbledore needs. Harry views the memory with Dumbledore and learns that Voldemort wanted information for creating Horcruxes, magical objects that could contain pieces of a wizard's soul and save them from death. Dumbledore concludes that Voldemort successfully created seven Horcruxes, two of which have already been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary and Marvolo Gaunt's ring. Harry and Dumbledore travel to a seaside cave where Harry aids Dumbledore in drinking a potion that hides another Horcrux, Slytherin's locket. A weakened Dumbledore defends them from Inferi and apparates back to Hogwarts. Bellatrix, Greyback, and more Death Eaters enter Hogwarts with Draco's help through the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement that Draco managed to connect to the one he had been working on in Knockturn Alley.

text: Dumbledore instructs Harry to hide and not to interfere no matter what happens. Draco arrives in the Astronomy Tower and disarms Dumbledore revealing that he has been chosen by Voldemort to kill the headmaster. When Draco is unable to bring himself to do it, Snape casts the killing curse instead, killing Dumbledore, who falls from the tower. Harry confronts and attacks Snape, but Snape overpowers him, and reveals himself as the Half-Blood Prince before escaping. Harry returns to Hogwarts, where the students, staff, and a few guests mourn Dumbledore's death. Harry later reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket Horcrux was a fake. The locket contains a message from "R.A.B.", stating that he has stolen the real Horcrux with the intent of destroying it. Rather than returning for their final year at Hogwarts, the three decide to hold out, and track down the remaining Horcruxes.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's two best friends.
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's two best friends.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts.
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters and Draco Malfoy's aunt.
Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the newly appointed Potions master who held the position before.
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts.
Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, the Charms master and head of Ravenclaw.
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival and recipient of Voldemort's secret mission.
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the former Potions master, current Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of Slytherin.
Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor.
Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, the Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Pettigrew has no lines in this film, but appears as a servant at Snape's house.
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and Harry's ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: Before David Yates was officially chosen to direct the film, many directors had expressed an interest in taking the helm. Alfonso Cuarón, the director of the third film, stated he "would love to have the opportunity" to return.[14] Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film, and was not approached for this one.[15] Guillermo del Toro turned down the chance to direct the film in order to direct Hellboy II: The Golden Army.[citation needed] Terry Gilliam was Rowling's personal choice to direct Philosopher's Stone. When asked whether he would consider directing a later film, Gilliam said, "Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it."[16]

text: In an interview with Dark Horizons, Yates said that "I was still working on Order of the Phoenix when they asked me to do Half-Blood Prince. So they were really delighted with the material that they were seeing while we were in post-production, and the conversations happened before the movie was released, because I had to start pre-production on it while Order of the Phoenix was being promoted. It was just something they see in the work that they really liked, and responded to."[17] Yates described Half-Blood Prince as being "a cross between the chills of Prisoner of Azkaban and the fantastical adventure of Goblet of Fire."[18]

text: Emma Watson considered not returning for the film,[19] but eventually decided that, "the pluses outweighed the minuses," and could not bear to see anyone else play Hermione. Composer Nicholas Hooper returned from the last film; he included a reworking of John Williams's "Hedwig's Theme", which has recurred in all scores. Also maintained were costume designer Jany Temime, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, creature and make-up effects designer Nick Dudman, and special effects supervisor John Richardson from the third film.[20]

text: Yates and Heyman have noted that some of the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows influenced the script of Half-Blood Prince.[21]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Christian Coulson, who played the young Tom Riddle in Chamber of Secrets, expressed an interest in returning in the role for flashback sequences;[22] Yates responded that Coulson was too old, nearing 30, to be playing the role.[23] Jamie Campbell Bower, who appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, previously noted that he had his "fingers crossed" he would be cast as a young Riddle.[24] (Bower was, however, later cast as the teenage Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.) Thomas James Longley was the original choice to take on the role but Riddle was ultimately played by Hero Fiennes-Tiffin as a child and Frank Dillane as a teenager.[25][26]

text: Helen McCrory appears as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother and younger sister of Bellatrix. McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix in Order of the Phoenix, but had to drop out due to pregnancy.[27] Naomi Watts was previously reported as having accepted the role,[28] only for it to be denied by her agency.[29]

text: Both Clémence Poésy, who had played Fleur Delacour, and Chris Rankin, who had played Percy Weasley, were interested in returning, but did not appear in the film.[30][31] After Bill Nighy expressed an interest in appearing,[32] Yates confirmed that Nighy would be his first choice for the role of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour.[33] Scrimgeour's character was ultimately cut from the film, but Nighy appeared in his role in Deathly Hallows.[34]

text: Sets[edit]

text: Stuart Craig, the production designer of the first five films, stayed on to design all the sets in Half-Blood Prince.[35] Several new sets are introduced, including Tom Riddle's Orphanage, Astronomy Tower and the Cave. Craig noted that the film used several CGI sets, noticeably the interior of the Cave where Harry and Dumbledore both go to hunt Horcruxes. The exterior of the cave scene was filmed at the Cliffs of Moher in the west of Ireland, the only location to be filmed outside of the United Kingdom throughout the film series. The interior of the cave is made up of geometric crystal formations. Craig noted "Apart from the point at which Harry and Dumbledore first arrive and the island formation on which everything inside the cave happens, the set is entirely virtual, designed in the computer. We'd had our first totally virtual set on the last film, so we approached this one with a bit more confidence."[36]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Before filming began, there was belief that filming might move from the UK, where all previous films were shot. The crew also scouted around Cape Wrath in Scotland, for use in the cave scene.[37] Filming returned to Glen Coe and Glenfinnan, both which have appeared in the previous films, to preserve the continuity of the landscape.[38]

text: Following a week of rehearsals, principal photography began on 24 September 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008.[39] Though Radcliffe, Gambon and Broadbent started shooting in late September 2007, some other cast members started much later: Grint did not begin until November 2007, Watson did not begin until December 2007, Rickman until January 2008, and Bonham Carter until February 2008.[40][41]

text: On the weekend of 6 October 2007, the crew shot scenes involving the Hogwarts Express in the misty and dewy environment of Fort William, Scotland.[38] A series of night scenes were filmed in the village of Lacock and the cloisters at Lacock Abbey for three nights starting 25 October 2007. Filming took place from 5 pm to 5 am daily, and residents of the street were asked to black out their windows with dark blinds.[42][43][44] On set reports indicated that the main scene filmed was Harry and Dumbledore's visit to Slughorn's house.[44] Further filming took place in Surbiton railway station in October 2007,[45] Gloucester Cathedral, where the first and second films were shot, in February 2008,[46][47] and at the Millennium Bridge in London in March 2008.[48]

text: Cinematography[edit]

text: Due to cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel's use of de-focussing and soft wipes in the digital grade, Warner Bros. asked director David Yates to add more colours to the film. Yates didn't want to lose the "very European look" of the film, but after retouching the picture, he said, "It's not what you wanted, but we're happy with it." After five minutes of watching the film, the studio were pleased with the changes.[49][50] In an interview with Total Film, Yates said that "the choice of angles, the extreme close-ups, [and] the pacing of the scenes" made the film "incredibly rich".[51] The palette and lighting was heavily inspired by the Dutch painter Rembrandt.[52] Half-Blood Prince is the only film in the series to be nominated for the Best Cinematography accolade at the Academy Awards.[12]

text: One of the major challenges for Delbonnel was lighting the film. In an interview with the Academy, he said, "Some of the sets are there since the very first Potter. How could I light them in a different way? This question brought another one based on the series itself… I thought it would be interesting to have those very intimate stories amidst this very dark mood. As if the school was a dark character. That's when I suggested to go for this (again) dark moody variations of greys. Fortunately David Yates, and the producers liked the idea." In reference to the cave scene Delbonnel said, "I wanted to have some kind of 'dynamism' with the light. I thought it could be interesting and more dramatic if the light was floating, circling above the characters faces: sometimes lighting them, sometimes hiding them in a very random and unpredictable way."[53]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: Tim Burke and Tim Alexander were the visual effects supervisors for the film. Tim Alexander said that completing the Inferi-attack scene took several months. He said, "It's certainly much bolder and scarier than we imagined that they'd ever go in a 'Potter' movie. Director David Yates was cautious of not making this into a zombie movie, so we were constantly trying to figure out how not to make these dead people coming up look like zombies. A lot of it came down to their movement – they don't move fast, but they don't move really slow or groan and moan. We ended up going with a very realistic style." He also noted that Inferi are skinnier than zombies, waterlogged and grey.[54]

text: About Dumbledore's ring of fire, he noted that the effect would look as if someone sprayed propane and then lit it. He added, "We did a lot of research on molten volcanoes, which have a lot of heat going on but no actual flames, and collected a bunch of other references, including flares that burn underwater, and showed them to the Potter folks." The visual effects team emulated these six fire parameters: heat ripples, smoke, buoyancy, viscosity, opacity, and brightness. Since the whole fire scene was very time consuming, computer graphics artist Chris Horvath spent eight months finding a faster way to conjure flames.[55][56]

text: The opening scenes of the Death Eaters' attack on Diagon Alley and London was created by Double Negative, led by VFX Supervisor Paul Franklin.  Double Negative spent six months surveying and documenting the environment around the River Thames and Trafalgar Square to create the swooping views of the city.  Double Negative also contributed the Pensieve sequences, developing complex directed fluid simulations to realise the swirling world of memory and the past.[57]

text: Music[edit]

text: The film's score was composed by Nicholas Hooper, who also composed the music for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The soundtrack was released on an Audio CD format on 14 July 2009, a day before the film was released in cinemas.[58]

text: The album debuted at number twenty-nine on the Billboard 200 chart, thus making it the highest-charting soundtrack among all the six movie soundtracks released.[59] It was nominated for the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.[60]

text: Differences from the book[edit]

text: While at the middle of the series in length, the film Half-Blood Prince did add or change events in the literary canon. The book begins with a scene involving the Muggle Prime Minister. Yates and his crew debated over this scene, as well as the character Rufus Scrimgeour, but gave up the beginning of the movie to events described but not seen in the book.[61] Yates thought it would give the audience a feel for what the Death Eaters were doing if they showed the collapse of the Millennium Bridge rather than simply describe it[62] (as was done with the Brockdale Bridge in the book). As with Goblet of Fire, the Dursleys were cut, which Steve Kloves did to "break the pattern".[61] Further background of Tom Riddle was removed, such as the Gaunts because they felt it more important to concentrate on Riddle as a young boy, and an additional action scene at the Burrow was added to keep with the tone of the franchise.[61] Yates felt that they needed "an injection of jeopardy and danger" and that without it there was too much comedy and lightness.[63] A small battle scene at Hogwarts which happened during the end of the book was cut; Heyman commented that it was removed to "[avoid] repetition" with the forthcoming adaptation of the Battle of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows.[61] Dumbledore's funeral was removed as it was believed it did not fit with the rest of the film.[64]

text: Distribution[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: Warner Bros. has spent an estimated $155 million to market and distribute the film.[65] The special-edition two-disc DVD for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contained two sneak peeks of the film,[66][67] while the US edition included an additional clip.[68] A 15-second teaser for the film was shown alongside the IMAX release of The Dark Knight.[69] The first full-length US teaser trailer was released on 29 July on AOL's Moviefone website.[70] An international teaser was released on 26 October[71] and another teaser trailer was released. The US theatrical trailer was released on 14 November.[72] Another trailer was screened on the Japanese TV station Fuji TV during a screening of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on 18 January 2009.[73][74] Scenes from the film were aired during ABC Family's Harry Potter marathon which took place 5–7 December 2008.[75] On 5 February 2009, the first three promotional teaser posters were released, featuring Dumbledore and Harry.[76] On 5 March and 16 April 2009, new trailers were released by Warner Bros.[77]

text: Warner Bros and MSN ran an online Order of the Phoenix quiz, with the prize being a walk-on part in the Half-Blood Prince.[78] As with the previous films, EA Games produced a video game based on the film.[79] On 10 March 2009, it was announced that there would be a video game soundtrack, which was released on 17 March 2009.[80] On 27 March six character posters were released: Harry, Dumbledore, Ron, Hermione, Draco and Professor Snape.[81] An English version of the international trailer and a Japanese version of the international trailer were released online 10 April.[82] On 8 May, CW Channel aired a 30-second TV spot, which focused on the romantic side of the film.[83] On 20 May, first clip from the film was released through The Ellen DeGeneres Show's official website, showing love-struck Ron.[84] Another clip of the film, showing Dumbledore visiting Tom Riddle's Orphanage was released on 31 May 2009, at MTV Awards.[85]

text: Theatrical release[edit]

text: The film was released in the United Kingdom, United States, France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, New Zealand, India, Brazil, Spain and Mexico on 15 July 2009.[86] It was originally set to be released on 21 November 2008,[87] but was pushed back by eight months to 17 July, despite being completed. Warner Bros. executive Alan F. Horn noted that the move was meant "to guarantee the studio a major summer blockbuster in 2009," with other films being delayed due to the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.[88] The box-office success of summer WB films Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and The Dark Knight also motivated the decision.[89] An unnamed rival studio executive told Entertainment Weekly that the move was to "stop next year's profits from looking seriously underwhelming after the phenomenal success of The Dark Knight," as "they don't need the money this year anymore."[90] Dan Fellman, WB head of distribution, said that the studio had considered the date change for three to four weeks prior to the announcement, but gave it serious consideration a week before they came to their final decision.[91] Three months before its release in July, the date was again changed by 2 days from 17 to 15 July, so it could open on a Wednesday like most tentpole summer movies.[92]

text: The date change was met with a heavily negative reaction by Harry Potter fans, as the Los Angeles Times noted: "Petitions were circulating, rumors were flying and angry screeds were being posted on Internet sites within minutes of the Thursday announcement."[89] The move was mocked by Entertainment Weekly which had Half-Blood Prince on the cover on its "Fall Preview Issue". Despite each being owned by Time Warner Inc., EW was unaware of the change until it was publicly announced by WB and noted that readers would now be in possession of a "Dewey Defeats Truman collectible".[90] Several days after the announcement, Horn released a statement in response to the "large amount of disappointment" expressed by fans of the series.[93] Following the date change, Half-Blood Prince's release slot was taken by Summit Entertainment's Twilight[94] and Walt Disney Pictures' Bolt.[95]

text: The sixth film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3D everywhere but the United States, due to a conflicting agreement in which Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen was given a four-week window by itself in IMAX in that country. Therefore, the IMAX 3D version of the film was released on 29 July 2009 there.[96] The film's opening sequence featuring the destruction of the Millennium Bridge was in 3D.[97] The film had been chosen to be screened at the 2008 Royal Film Performance on 17 November,[98] but was not shown. Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund chief executive Peter Hore noted he was "very disappointed" with Warner Bros' decision.[88]

text: Advance ticket sales on Fandango.com for Half-Blood Prince surpassed advance ticket sales for Transformers 2 at the same point in sale cycles. It is also in MovieTickets.com's top 25 advance sellers of all time.[99]

text: Running 153 minutes (2 hours 33 minutes and 19 seconds) long,[100] Half-Blood Prince is the third-longest film in the series, behind Chamber of Secrets (161 minutes)[101] and Goblet of Fire (157 minutes).[102]

text: Home media[edit]

text:
Like the previous films, a 1-disc and 2-disc special edition for the film was released on Blu-ray with a Digital Copy and DVD on 7 December 2009 in the United Kingdom,[103] and 8 December 2009 in the United States.[104]
The Blu-ray and DVD includes an 11-minute, 38-second feature on the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter mini theme park[105] which opened on 18 June 2010 at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. Also included are deleted scenes comprising 8 scenes with a running length of 6 minutes and 31 seconds,[106] and a sneak peek of the next Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).[107] The Blu-ray and DVD released in India,[108] the Philippines, South Africa, Czech Republic and Israel on 16 November 2009, making them the first countries to get the Half Blood Prince DVD release before the UK and the US. The release date for Australia and New Zealand was 18 November and for Brazil[109] and Chile, 19 November. The Blu-ray and two-disc DVD editions in North America includes a digital copy of the film.[104]
In the United Kingdom, the DVD release became the fastest-selling DVD of the year with an estimated 840,000 copies of the film sold in a few hours.[110] In the US, the DVD made a strong debut at number one in both the DVD and Blu-ray markets widely beating out any competition with sales of 4,199,622 copies. Worldwide DVD and Blu-ray sales of the film show that it is the fastest-selling film of 2009.[111]

text: On 14 June 2011, an Ultimate Edition was released simultaneously with the Ultimate Edition of the Order of the Phoenix film on both Blu-ray and DVD, containing new bonus features, documentaries and collectables.[112]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince broke the then-record for biggest midnight showings, making $22.8 million in 3,000 cinemas; The Twilight Saga: New Moon bested this with $26.3 million. Half-Blood Prince opened in the same Wednesday slot that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix did in 2007, which grossed $12 million in midnight runs, on its way to $139.7 million in its five-day debut in the US.[113] The film's box office run was over on 17 December 2009.[114]

text:
The film opened in 4,325 cinemas (rising to 4,455 three weeks later, becoming the largest number of cinemas until The Twilight Saga: Eclipse surpassed it with the 4,468 cinemas)[115] and grossed $58.2 million on its opening day at the top of the United States and Canadian box office, the third-highest Wednesday opening of all time behind Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. It is also the nineteenth-highest single-day gross of all time and the third-highest for a film in the Harry Potter franchise behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2's $91.1 million[116] and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, which made $61.1 million.[117] It earned an additional $46 million overseas for a worldwide total of $104 million, breaking the record for highest single-day worldwide gross, previously held by The Dark Knight.[118]
By 20 July, the film had taken in $158.7 million in the US and $236 million from 85 other markets, for a worldwide tally of $394.7 million.[119] This broke the record for biggest-ever worldwide five-day opening, surpassing Spider-Man 3's $381 million; this makes the film the fastest to reach the $350 million mark in worldwide box office of all time. In the US, it surpassed all of its predecessors by a wide margin, achieving the sixth-largest-ever five-day opening in that country.[120] The film held this record for two years until it was topped by Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($483.2 million).[121] In the UK, the film grossed £19.75 million (equivalent to about $38.13 million), the highest opening for both the series and releases of 2009.[122] At the end of the film's US and Canadian box office run the total ticket sales of the film were $302 million,[3] making it the third most successful film in the franchise, after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,[123] as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2009 in these regions behind Avatar and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.[124] As with all of the previous films in the franchise, Half-Blood Prince proved to be extremely successful globally with an estimated non-US total gross of $632.5 million, totalling approximately $934.4 million worldwide,[3] making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2009, behind Avatar, and the 34th-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation. It is the fifth-highest-grossing film in the franchise, behind Philosopher's Stone, both parts of Deathly Hallows, and Order of the Phoenix.[8]

text:
In South Africa the film opened with the number one position grossing $789,176,[125] it maintained a number one position during the second week, too, with a total of $242,336.[126]
In Australia, as in most of the world, the film broke records with a debut of $11,492,142 and opening at number one, maintaining a second week at number one with a total of $5,278,096 (down 54%), and grossed a total of $24,208,243.[127]
In France the film debuted at $20,541,239 from 949 cinemas.[128]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 271 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Dark, thrilling, and occasionally quite funny, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is also visually stunning and emotionally satisfying."[129] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[130] The film scored an 87 from professional critics at the Broadcast Film Critics Association; it is the first Harry Potter film to receive a Critic's Choice certificate.[131] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[132]

text: The first review of the film came three weeks before the official release. Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com ranked the film with The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and called the film a "possible Oscar contender". He highly praised the performance of Sir Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman and Daniel Radcliffe. He commented, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a tour-de-force that combines style and substance, special effects and heart and most importantly great performances from all of the actors young and not-so-young".[133] Another early review came from the UK tabloid The Sun, whose anonymous reviewer called the film "masterful" and "very emotional". The reviewer praised David Yates's directing and called Jim Broadbent's portrayal of Horace Slughorn "perfect".[134] Devin Faraci of Chud.com called the film not only the best Harry Potter film yet, but also one of the best films of the year.[135]

text: Andrew Pulver of The Guardian wrote a positive review, and gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars rating.[136] Todd McCarthy of the trade magazine Variety said that the film is "dazzlingly well made" and "less fanciful than the previous entries". He praised Alan Rickman's performance and he described Helena Bonham Carter as "mesmerising" and Jim Broadbent as a "grand eccentric old professor".[137] BBC News's Tim Masters praised the film's cinematography, visual effects, production design, improved acting and darker plotline.[138] The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt noted that the film's first half is "jerky and explosive", but in the second half, the film finds better footing. He adds, "Composer Nicholas Hooper, cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel and designer Stuart Craig deliver a singularly muscular and vigorous chapter".[139] Screen Daily called the film "[s]tunningly shot by Bruno Delbonnel in metallic hues leavened by buttery tones and the thumping beats of Nicholas Hooper's score bear little resemblance to the original and the overall effect is much less tween, much more grown-up".[140]

text: Chris Tilly of IGN UK commented on the length of the film, saying "while on occasion it drags, the 153-minute run-time never feels too long, thanks in no small part to the astonishing visuals and (largely) marvellous performances," and goes on to say, "This is by far the best-looking of the Potter films thus far," commending the "beautiful" Quidditch match and the "stunning" finale.[141] However, Dave Golder of SFX magazine found some aspects of the film to be a disappointment, largely due to the large number of opportunities the director and screenwriter had sacrificed to devote "huge swathes of the film to subplots of Harry and his chums' teenage romances," but nevertheless found the film to be a large enjoyment, praising the performances of Jim Broadbent and Alan Rickman.[142]

text:
David Stratton, of Margaret and David at the Movies, gave the film a 2.5 out of a possible 5 stars, remarking, "For non-readers [of the Harry Potter series] the films are now borderline incomprehensible", and that the film was "a little tedious" and "generally less interesting visually than its predecessors." He praised the cast, describing them as "consummate", adding Sir Michael Gambon "really makes Dumbledore an imposing character" and Jim Broadbent was "wonderful".
Margaret Pomeranz, the co-host of the television show, gave the film 3 out of 5 stars.[143]

text: At the time of its release, Rowling stated that Half-Blood Prince was her "favourite one" of the six film adaptations.[63] Radcliffe, however, was critical of his own performance in the film, stating in an interview in 2014 that he was "just not very good in it", and calling it "hard to watch".[144]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: The film was nominated for BAFTA Awards in Production Design and Visual Effects,[13] and was in the longlists for five other categories, including Best Supporting Actor for Alan Rickman.[145] Bruno Delbonnel was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography at the 82nd Academy Awards.[12] The film was also one of the final seven contenders for Best Visual Effects.[146]

text:
showList of awards and nominations

Award

Category

Result

Recipient

Source

82nd Academy Awards

Best Cinematography

Nominated

Bruno Delbonnel

[12]

Art Directors Guild Award

Excellence in Production Design For a Feature Film

Nominated

Stuart Craig

[147]

63rd BAFTA Awards

Best Production Design

Nominated

Stuart CraigStephenie McMillan

[13]

Best Special Visual Effects

Nominated

John RichardsonTim BurkeTim AlexanderNicolas Aithadi

BAFTA Britannia Awards

Artistic Excellence in Directing

Won

David Yates (for Harry Potter films 5–8)

[148]

BAFTA Kids' Vote

Best Film

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[149]

Digital Spy Movie Award

Best Family Film

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[150]

Golden Reel Award

Best Sound Editing: Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue and ADR in a Foreign Feature Film

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[151]

Grammy Award

Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture

Nominated

Nicholas Hooper

[60]

IFTA Award

Best Supporting Actor

Nominated

Michael Gambon

[152]

IGN

Best Fantasy Movie

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[153]

MTV Movie Awards

Best Movie

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[154]

Best Female Performance

Nominated

Emma Watson

Best Male Performance

Nominated

Daniel Radcliffe

Best Villain

Won

Tom Felton

Best Global Superstar

Nominated

Daniel Radcliffe

National Movie Awards

Best Family Movie

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[155]

Best Performance

Nominated

Rupert Grint

Nominated

Daniel Radcliffe

Nominated

Emma Watson

People's Choice Awards

Favorite Movie

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[156]

Favourite Franchise

Nominated

Harry Potter

Best On-Screen Team

Nominated

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson

Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards

Best Live Action Family Film

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[157]

RAAM Awards

Film of the Year

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[158]

RAFA Awards

Alan Titchmarsh Show British Film of the Year Award

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[159]

Classic FM Film Music of the Year Award

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Use of UK Locations in a Film

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Film of the Year sponsored by The List

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Satellite Awards

Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[160]

Saturn Awards

Best Fantasy Film

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[161]

Best Costume

Nominated

Jany Temime

Best Production Design

Nominated

Stuart Craig

Best Special Effects

Nominated

Tim BurkeJohn RichardsonNicholas AithadiTim Alexander

Scream Award

Best Fantasy Film

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[162]

Best Fantasy Actress

Nominated

Emma Watson

Best Fantasy Actor

Nominated

Daniel Radcliffe

Best Supporting Actor

Nominated

Rupert Grint

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated

Evanna Lynch

Best Villain

Nominated

Helena Bonham Carter

Best F/X

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Best Sequel

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Holy Shit! Scene of the Year

Won

"Death Eaters Attack London" Scene

Best Ensemble

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

SFX Awards

Best Film

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[163]

Switch Live Award

Favourite Flick

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[164]

2009 Teen Choice Awards

Choice Summer Movie: Action Adventure

Won

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[165]

2010 Teen Choice Awards

Choice Movie: Fantasy

Nominated

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

[166]

Choice Movie Actress: Fantasy

Nominated

Emma Watson

[166]

VES Awards

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture

Nominated

David BasallaEmily CobbTania Richard

[167]

Young Artist Award

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated

Evanna Lynch

[168]

tag: table


document_title: NBA Conference Finals

question_text: how many games are in the eastern conference finals

text: NBA Conference Finals

text: Overview[edit]

text: Initially, the BAA teams were aligned into two divisions, the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The Divisional Finals were first played in 1949, the league's third season. The first two seasons used a playoffs format where Eastern and Western Division teams would face each other before the BAA Finals, hence there were no divisional finals. In the 1949–50 season, the league realigned itself to three divisions, with the addition of the Central Division. However, the arrangement was only used for one season and the league went back into two divisions format in 1951. The two divisions format remained until 1970, when the NBA realigned itself into two conferences with two divisions each, which led to the renaming to Conference Finals. The finals was a best-of-3 series from 1949 to 1950 to; a best-of-5 series from 1951–56, and a best-of-7 series since 1957. Currently, the Conference Finals are played in a best-of-7 series like the NBA Playoffs and Finals. The two series are played in late May each year after the first and second rounds of the Playoffs and before the Finals. At the conclusion of the Conference Finals, winners are presented with a silver trophy, caps, and T-shirts, and advance to the NBA Finals.

text: The Los Angeles Lakers have won the most conference titles with 31, which consists of 30 Western Conference titles and one title in the now-defunct Central Division. They have also made 40 appearances in the Conference Finals, more than any other team. The Boston Celtics have won 21 Eastern Conference titles, the second most of any team. The Celtics also hold the record for consecutive titles; they won 10 consecutive Eastern Division titles from 1957–66. The Golden State Warriors and the Detroit Pistons hold the distinction of being the only teams to have won both East and West titles. Twenty-three of the 30 active franchises have won at least one conference title. The Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors have each played in at least one Conference Finals (Denver has played in three), but they have each failed to win their respective conference title. Three other franchises, the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, and New Orleans Pelicans have never appeared in the Conference Finals. Of the 143 conference and divisional champions, 46 were won by the team who had or tied for the best regular season record for that season.

text: Key[edit]

text:
^
NBA champion, winner of the NBA Finals

†
Team with the best regular season record, or tie for best

text: Eastern Division/Conference[edit]

text: NBA history officially begins with three Basketball Association of America (BAA) seasons. In its first two postseason tournaments, BAA Eastern and Western Division champions were matched in a long first-round series while four runners-up played off to determine the other finalist.

text:
1946–1947: Washington Capitols(), lost to the Western champion
1947–1948: Philadelphia Warriors, defeated the Western champion, lost the BAA Finals

text: Eastern Division Finals[edit]

text: Line "1949" refers to the last BAA Playoffs. In its inaugural 1949–50 season only, the NBA used a three-division arrangement. Syracuse won the Eastern Division championship in the first two rounds of the 1950 NBA Playoffs and advanced to the Finals as the one of three division champions with the best regular season record.[3]

text:
Year
Champion
Coach
Result
Runner-up
Coach

1949
Washington Capitols
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
2–1
New York Knicks
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick

1950
Syracuse Nationals†
Cervi, AlAl Cervi
2–1
New York Knicks
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick

1951
New York Knicks
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick
3–2
Syracuse Nationals
Cervi, AlAl Cervi

1952
New York Knicks
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick
3–1
Syracuse Nationals
Cervi, AlAl Cervi

1953
New York Knicks
Lapchick, JoeJoe Lapchick
3–1
Boston Celtics
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach

1954
Syracuse Nationals
Cervi, AlAl Cervi
2–0
Boston Celtics
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach

1955
Syracuse Nationals†
Cervi, AlAl Cervi
3–1
Boston Celtics
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach

1956
Philadelphia Warriors†
Senesky, GeorgeGeorge Senesky
3–2
Syracuse Nationals
Cervi, AlAl Cervi

1957
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
3–0
Syracuse Nationals
Seymour, PaulPaul Seymour

1958
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–1
Philadelphia Warriors
Senesky, GeorgeGeorge Senesky

1959
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–3
Syracuse Nationals
Seymour, PaulPaul Seymour

1960
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–2
Philadelphia Warriors
McGuire, FrankFrank McGuire

1961
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–1
Syracuse Nationals
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum

1962
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–3
Philadelphia Warriors
McGuire, FrankFrank McGuire

1963
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–3
Cincinnati Royals
Wolf, CharlesCharles Wolf

1964
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–1
Cincinnati Royals
McMahon, JackJack McMahon

1965
Boston Celtics†
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–3
Philadelphia 76ers
Schayes, DolphDolph Schayes

1966
Boston Celtics
Auerbach, RedRed Auerbach
4–1
Philadelphia 76ers†
Schayes, DolphDolph Schayes

1967
Philadelphia 76ers†
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum
4–1
Boston Celtics
Russell, BillBill Russell

1968
Boston Celtics
Russell, BillBill Russell
4–3
Philadelphia 76ers†
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum

1969
Boston Celtics
Russell, BillBill Russell
4–2
New York Knicks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman

1970
New York Knicks†
Holzman, RedRed Holzman
4–1
Milwaukee Bucks
Costello, LarryLarry Costello

text: Eastern Conference Finals[edit]

text:
Year
Champion
Coach
Result
Runner-up
Coach

1971
Baltimore Bullets
Shue, GeneGene Shue
4–3
New York Knicks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman

1972
New York Knicks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman
4–1
Boston Celtics
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn

1973
New York Knicks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman
4–3
Boston Celtics†
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn

1974
Boston Celtics
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn
4–1
New York Knicks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman

1975
Washington Bullets†
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
4–2
Boston Celtics†
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn

1976
Boston Celtics
Heinsohn, TomTom Heinsohn
4–2
Cleveland Cavaliers
Fitch, BillBill Fitch

1977
Philadelphia 76ers
Shue, GeneGene Shue
4–2
Houston Rockets
Nissalke, TomTom Nissalke

1978
Washington Bullets
Motta, DickDick Motta
4–2
Philadelphia 76ers
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham

1979
Washington Bullets†
Motta, DickDick Motta
4–3
San Antonio Spurs
Moe, DougDoug Moe

1980
Philadelphia 76ers
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham
4–1
Boston Celtics†
Fitch, BillBill Fitch

1981
Boston Celtics†
Fitch, BillBill Fitch
4–3
Philadelphia 76ers†
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham

1982
Philadelphia 76ers
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham
4–3
Boston Celtics†
Fitch, BillBill Fitch

1983
Philadelphia 76ers†
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham
4–1
Milwaukee Bucks
Nelson, DonDon Nelson

1984
Boston Celtics†
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
4–1
Milwaukee Bucks
Nelson, DonDon Nelson

1985
Boston Celtics†
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
4–1
Philadelphia 76ers
Cunningham, BillyBilly Cunningham

1986
Boston Celtics†
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
4–0
Milwaukee Bucks
Nelson, DonDon Nelson

1987
Boston Celtics
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones
4–3
Detroit Pistons
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly

1988
Detroit Pistons
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly
4–2
Boston Celtics
Jones, K. C.K. C. Jones

1989
Detroit Pistons†
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly
4–2
Chicago Bulls
Collins, DougDoug Collins

1990
Detroit Pistons
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly
4–3
Chicago Bulls
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson

1991
Chicago Bulls
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–0
Detroit Pistons
Daly, ChuckChuck Daly

1992
Chicago Bulls†
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–2
Cleveland Cavaliers
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens

1993
Chicago Bulls
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–2
New York Knicks
Riley, PatPat Riley

1994
New York Knicks
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–3
Indiana Pacers
Brown, LarryLarry Brown

1995
Orlando Magic
Hill, BrianBrian Hill
4–3
Indiana Pacers
Brown, LarryLarry Brown

1996
Chicago Bulls†
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–0
Orlando Magic
Hill, BrianBrian Hill

1997
Chicago Bulls†
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–1
Miami Heat
Riley, PatPat Riley

1998
Chicago Bulls†
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–3
Indiana Pacers
Bird, LarryLarry Bird

1999
New York Knicks
Van Gundy, JeffJeff Van Gundy
4–2
Indiana Pacers
Bird, LarryLarry Bird

2000
Indiana Pacers
Bird, LarryLarry Bird
4–2
New York Knicks
Van Gundy, JeffJeff Van Gundy

2001
Philadelphia 76ers
Brown, LarryLarry Brown
4–3
Milwaukee Bucks
Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl

2002
New Jersey Nets
Scott, ByronByron Scott
4–2
Boston Celtics
O'Brien, JimJim O'Brien

2003
New Jersey Nets
Scott, ByronByron Scott
4–0
Detroit Pistons
Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle

2004
Detroit Pistons
Brown, LarryLarry Brown
4–2
Indiana Pacers†
Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle

2005
Detroit Pistons
Brown, LarryLarry Brown
4–3
Miami Heat
Van Gundy, StanStan Van Gundy

2006
Miami Heat
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–2
Detroit Pistons†
Saunders, FlipFlip Saunders

2007
Cleveland Cavaliers
Brown, MikeMike Brown
4–2
Detroit Pistons
Saunders, FlipFlip Saunders

2008
Boston Celtics†
Rivers, DocDoc Rivers
4–2
Detroit Pistons
Saunders, FlipFlip Saunders

2009
Orlando Magic
Van Gundy, StanStan Van Gundy
4–2
Cleveland Cavaliers†
Brown, MikeMike Brown

2010
Boston Celtics
Rivers, DocDoc Rivers
4–2
Orlando Magic
Van Gundy, StanStan Van Gundy

2011
Miami Heat
Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra
4–1
Chicago Bulls†
Thibodeau, TomTom Thibodeau

2012
Miami Heat
Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra
4–3
Boston Celtics
Rivers, DocDoc Rivers

2013
Miami Heat†
Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra
4–3
Indiana Pacers
Vogel, FrankFrank Vogel

2014
Miami Heat
Spoelstra, ErikErik Spoelstra
4–2
Indiana Pacers
Vogel, FrankFrank Vogel

2015
Cleveland Cavaliers
Blatt, DavidDavid Blatt
4–0
Atlanta Hawks
Budenholzer, MikeMike Budenholzer

2016
Cleveland Cavaliers
Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue
4–2
Toronto Raptors
Casey, Dwane Dwane Casey

2017
Cleveland Cavaliers
Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue
4–1
Boston Celtics
Stevens, BradBrad Stevens

2018
Cleveland Cavaliers
Lue, TyronnTyronn Lue
4–3
Boston Celtics
Stevens, BradBrad Stevens

text: Western Division/Conference[edit]

text:
1946–1947: Chicago Stags, defeated the Eastern champion, lost the BAA Finals
1947–1948: St. Louis Bombers(), lost to the Eastern champion

text: Division Finals[edit]

text: Line "1949" refers to the last BAA Playoffs. In its inaugural 1949–50 season only, the NBA used a three-division arrangement. Anderson won the Western Division championship in the first two rounds of the 1950 NBA Playoffs but did not thereby advance to the Finals as every other Western playoff champion has done, and it was defeated by the Central champion in their semifinal series.[3]

text:
Year
Champion
Coach
Result
Runner-up
Coach

1949
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
2–0
Rochester Royals†
Harrison, LesLes Harrison

1950
Anderson Packers[a]
Moore, DoxieDoxie Moore
2–1
Indianapolis Olympians
Barker, CliffCliff Barker

1951
Rochester Royals
Harrison, LesLes Harrison
3–1
Minneapolis Lakers†
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla

1952
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
3–1
Rochester Royals†
Harrison, LesLes Harrison

1953
Minneapolis Lakers†
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
3–2
Fort Wayne Pistons
Barker, CliffCliff Barker

1954
Minneapolis Lakers†
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
2–1
Rochester Royals
Harrison, LesLes Harrison

1955
Fort Wayne Pistons
Eckman, CharlesCharles Eckman
3–1
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla

1956
Fort Wayne Pistons
Eckman, CharlesCharles Eckman
3–2
St. Louis Hawks
Holzman, RedRed Holzman

1957
St. Louis Hawks
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum
3–0
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla

1958
St. Louis Hawks
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum
4–1
Detroit Pistons
Rocha, RedRed Rocha

1959
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
4–2
St. Louis Hawks
Macauley, EdEd Macauley

1960
St. Louis Hawks
Macauley, EdEd Macauley
4–3
Minneapolis Lakers
Pollard, JimJim Pollard

1961
St. Louis Hawks
Seymour, PaulPaul Seymour
4–3
Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus, FredFred Schaus

1962
Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus, FredFred Schaus
4–2
Detroit Pistons
McGuire, DickDick McGuire

1963
Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus, FredFred Schaus
4–3
St. Louis Hawks
Gallatin, HarryHarry Gallatin

1964
San Francisco Warriors
Hannum, AlexAlex Hannum
4–3
St. Louis Hawks
McGuire, DickDick McGuire

1965
Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus, FredFred Schaus
4–2
Baltimore Bullets
Jeannette, BuddyBuddy Jeannette

1966
Los Angeles Lakers
Schaus, FredFred Schaus
4–3
St. Louis Hawks
Guerin, RichieRichie Guerin

1967
San Francisco Warriors
Sharman, BillBill Sharman
4–2
St. Louis Hawks
Guerin, RichieRichie Guerin

1968
Los Angeles Lakers
Breda Kolff, Butch VanButch Van Breda Kolff
4–0
San Francisco Warriors
Sharman, BillBill Sharman

1969
Los Angeles Lakers
Breda Kolff, Butch VanButch Van Breda Kolff
4–1
Atlanta Hawks
Guerin, RichieRichie Guerin

1970
Los Angeles Lakers
Mullaney, JoeJoe Mullaney
4–0
Atlanta Hawks
Guerin, RichieRichie Guerin

text: Conference Finals[edit]

text:
Year
Champion
Coach
Result
Runner-up
Coach

1971
Milwaukee Bucks†
Costello, LarryLarry Costello
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers
Mullaney, JoeJoe Mullaney

1972
Los Angeles Lakers†
Sharman, BillBill Sharman
4–2
Milwaukee Bucks
Costello, LarryLarry Costello

1973
Los Angeles Lakers
Sharman, BillBill Sharman
4–1
Golden State Warriors
Attles, AlAl Attles

1974
Milwaukee Bucks†
Costello, LarryLarry Costello
4–0
Chicago Bulls
Motta, DickDick Motta

1975
Golden State Warriors
Attles, AlAl Attles
4–3
Chicago Bulls
Motta, DickDick Motta

1976
Phoenix Suns
MacLeod, JohnJohn MacLeod
4–3
Golden State Warriors†
Attles, AlAl Attles

1977
Portland Trail Blazers
Ramsay, JackJack Ramsay
4–0
Los Angeles Lakers†
West, JerryJerry West

1978
Seattle SuperSonics
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens
4–2
Denver Nuggets
Brown, LarryLarry Brown

1979
Seattle SuperSonics
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens
4–3
Phoenix Suns
MacLeod, JohnJohn MacLeod

1980
Los Angeles Lakers
Westhead, PaulPaul Westhead
4–1
Seattle SuperSonics
Wilkens, LennyLenny Wilkens

1981
Houston Rockets
Harris, DelDel Harris
4–1
Kansas City Kings
Fitzsimmons, CottonCotton Fitzsimmons

1982
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–0
San Antonio Spurs
Albeck, StanStan Albeck

1983
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–2
San Antonio Spurs
Albeck, StanStan Albeck

1984
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–2
Phoenix Suns
MacLeod, JohnJohn MacLeod

1985
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–1
Denver Nuggets
Moe, DougDoug Moe

1986
Houston Rockets
Fitch, BillBill Fitch
4–1
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley

1987
Los Angeles Lakers†
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–0
Seattle SuperSonics
Bickerstaff, BernieBernie Bickerstaff

1988
Los Angeles Lakers†
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–3
Dallas Mavericks
MacLeod, JohnJohn MacLeod

1989
Los Angeles Lakers
Riley, PatPat Riley
4–0
Phoenix Suns
Fitzsimmons, CottonCotton Fitzsimmons

1990
Portland Trail Blazers
Adelman, RickRick Adelman
4–2
Phoenix Suns
Fitzsimmons, CottonCotton Fitzsimmons

1991
Los Angeles Lakers
Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy
4–2
Portland Trail Blazers†
Adelman, RickRick Adelman

1992
Portland Trail Blazers
Adelman, RickRick Adelman
4–2
Utah Jazz
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan

1993
Phoenix Suns†
Westphal, PaulPaul Westphal
4–3
Seattle SuperSonics
Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl

1994
Houston Rockets
Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich
4–1
Utah Jazz
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan

1995
Houston Rockets
Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich
4–2
San Antonio Spurs†
Hill, BobBob Hill

1996
Seattle SuperSonics
Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl
4–3
Utah Jazz
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan

1997
Utah Jazz
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan
4–2
Houston Rockets
Tomjanovich, RudyRudy Tomjanovich

1998
Utah Jazz†
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan
4–0
Los Angeles Lakers
Harris, DelDel Harris

1999
San Antonio Spurs†
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–0
Portland Trail Blazers
Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy

2000
Los Angeles Lakers†
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–3
Portland Trail Blazers
Dunleavy, MikeMike Dunleavy

2001
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–0
San Antonio Spurs†
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich

2002
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–3
Sacramento Kings†
Adelman, RickRick Adelman

2003
San Antonio Spurs†
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–2
Dallas Mavericks†
Nelson, DonDon Nelson

2004
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–2
Minnesota Timberwolves
Saunders, FlipFlip Saunders

2005
San Antonio Spurs
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–1
Phoenix Suns†
D'Antoni, MikeMike D'Antoni

2006
Dallas Mavericks
Johnson, AveryAvery Johnson
4–2
Phoenix Suns
D'Antoni, MikeMike D'Antoni

2007
San Antonio Spurs
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–1
Utah Jazz
Sloan, JerryJerry Sloan

2008
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–1
San Antonio Spurs
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich

2009
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–2
Denver Nuggets
Karl, GeorgeGeorge Karl

2010
Los Angeles Lakers
Jackson, PhilPhil Jackson
4–2
Phoenix Suns
Gentry, AlvinAlvin Gentry

2011
Dallas Mavericks
Carlisle, RickRick Carlisle
4–1
Oklahoma City Thunder
Brooks, ScottScott Brooks

2012
Oklahoma City Thunder
Brooks, ScottScott Brooks
4–2
San Antonio Spurs†
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich

2013
San Antonio Spurs
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–0
Memphis Grizzlies
Hollins, LionelLionel Hollins

2014
San Antonio Spurs†
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich
4–2
Oklahoma City Thunder
Brooks, ScottScott Brooks

2015
Golden State Warriors†
Kerr, SteveSteve Kerr
4–1
Houston Rockets
McHale, KevinKevin McHale

2016
Golden State Warriors†
Kerr, SteveSteve Kerr
4–3
Oklahoma City Thunder
Donovan, BillyBilly Donovan

2017
Golden State Warriors†
Kerr, SteveSteve Kerr
4–0
San Antonio Spurs
Popovich, GreggGregg Popovich

2018
Golden State Warriors
Kerr, SteveSteve Kerr
4–3
Houston Rockets
D'Antoni, MikeMike D'Antoni

text: Central Division[edit]

text: Before the 1949–50 season, the BAA merged with the NBL and became the NBA. The number of teams competed increased to 17 and the league realigned itself to three divisions, creating the Central Division. In that season, 4 teams with the best win–loss records from each division advanced to the divisional playoffs. Then, the winner of the Western and Central Division Finals met in the NBA Semifinals in order to determine who would face the Eastern Division champion Syracuse Nationals in the NBA Finals. The Minneapolis Lakers defeated the Western Division champion Anderson Packers in the best-of-3 series 2–0 to advance to the Finals. The Lakers eventually won the Finals against the Nationals. It disbanded before the 1950–51 season, after 6 teams folded and the league realigned itself back into two divisions. It returned in 1970 as one of the divisions in the newly formed Eastern Conference.[4]

text: Division Finals[edit]

text:
Year
Champion
Coach
Result
Runner-up
Coach

1950
Minneapolis Lakers
Kundla, JohnJohn Kundla
2–0
Fort Wayne Pistons
Mendenhall, MurrayMurray Mendenhall

text: Results by team[edit]

text: Stats updated through May 28, 2018

text:
Team
East
West
Total
East
West
Total
Total
appearances

Champions
Runner-up

Minneapolis / Los Angeles Lakers
0
30
31[a]
0
9
9
40

Boston Celtics
21
0
21
14
0
14
35

Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers
9
0
9
12
0
12
21

Fort Wayne / Detroit Pistons
5
2
7
6
3
10[a]
17

New York Knicks
8
0
8
7
0
7
15

Philadelphia / San Francisco / Golden State Warriors
1
7
8
3
3
6
14

San Antonio Spurs
0
6
6
1
7
8
14

St. Louis / Atlanta Hawks
0
4
4
1
8
9
13

Chicago Bulls
6
0
6
3
2
5
11

Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder
0
4
4
0
6
6
10

Phoenix Suns
0
2
2
0
7
7
9

Cleveland Cavaliers
5
0
5
3
0
3
8

Houston Rockets
0
4
4
1
3
4
8

Milwaukee Bucks
0
2
2
5
1
6
8

Indiana Pacers
1
0
1
7
0
7
8

Rochester / Cincinnati Royals /
Kansas City / Sacramento Kings
0
1
1
2
5
7
8

Miami Heat
5
0
5
2
0
2
7

Portland Trail Blazers
0
3
3
0
3
3
6

Utah Jazz
0
2
2
0
4
4
6

Baltimore Bullets / Washington Wizards
4
0
4
0
1
1
5

Dallas Mavericks
0
2
2
0
2
2
4

Orlando Magic
2
0
2
2
0
2
4

Denver Nuggets
0
0
0
0
3
3
3

New Jersey / Brooklyn
2
0
2
0
0
0
2

Anderson Packers[b] (folded in 1950)
0
1
1
0
0
0
1

Washington Capitols (folded in 1951)
1
0
1
0
0
0
1

Indianapolis Olympians (folded in 1953)
0
0
0
0
1
1
1

Memphis Grizzlies
0
0
0
0
1
1
1

Minnesota Timberwolves
0
0
0
0
1
1
1

Toronto Raptors
0
0
0
1
0
1
1

Charlotte Hornets
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Los Angeles Clippers
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

New Orleans Pelicans
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

text:
13 Boston Celtics: (1957–1969)
8 Los Angeles Lakers: (1982–1989)
6 St. Louis Hawks: (1956–1961)
6 Los Angeles Lakers: (1968–1973)
6 New York Knicks: (1969–1974)
6 Detroit Pistons: (2003–2008)
5 New York Knicks: (1949–1953)
5 Minneapolis Lakers: (1951–1955)
5 Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers: (1959–1963)
5 Boston Celtics: (1984–1988)
5 Chicago Bulls: (1989–1993)
5 Detroit Pistons: (1987–1991)