Persepolis, The South Park Movie and Fahrenheit 9/11 are all rolled into one in Bye-Bye Bin Laden!, an animated musical satire pitting First Daughter Jenna Bush (and her Pa) against Osama bin Laden (and Taliban topper Mullah Omar).
Realizing that press conferences won’t win hearts and minds, the Bushes go Hollywood, teaming up for "The George and Jenna Comedy Hour." Osama fights back with "Ask the Taliban … The Game Show Where the Taliban Supplies the Answers," and "I Love Prakhbar," which is "I Love Lucy" with Osama as "Ricky."
The ghost of Mark Bingham, gay hero of Flight 93, narrates the film and puts everything in perspective for Josh, the post-apocalyptic Roach Boy whose history paper on how the War in Iraq led to the Atomic War of 2012 is the impetus for the whole story.
Songs include "The Taliban Twist" and "Gimme That Hard Line Religion."
"Bye-Bye Bin Laden!" is based on underlying material that has proven itself with critics and audiences alike … the stage musical which the San Francisco Bay Guardian named "One of the Top Five Premieres of 2004," calling it a "smartly written, consistently funny, and well-acted romp — the lyrics are clever and engaging — an ultimately warm-hearted work whose simple moral about the dire necessity of laughter goes a long way toward reclaiming lives ruthlessly manipulated by fear on both sides of the theocratic divide." The San Jose Metro simply said, "Irreverent? Yeah. Sick? Yeah. Funny? Hell, yeah."
Contact Writer/Director Scott Sublett: