Team America: World Police /

Team America: World Police is a 2004 action comedy film written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated series South Park. The film is a satire of big-budget action films and their associated clichés and stereotypes, with particular humorous emphasis on the global implications of US politics. The title of the film itself is derived from domestic and international political criticisms that the U.S. frequently and unilaterally tries to "police the world". The film features a cast composed of marionettes (except for two live cats, two nurse sharks, a cockroach, and a man dressed as a giant statue of Kim Il-sung). Team America focuses on a fictional team of political paramilitary policemen known as "Team America: World Police", who attempt to save the world from a violent terrorist plot led by Kim Jong-il. The film was primarily inspired by Thunderbirds, a popular British TV show created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson which also featured an all-marionette cast, though Stone and Parker were not fans of the show.