They kept repeatedly getting an NC-17 from the MPAA and kept on resubmitting it (6 times) until just before release when they just relented, gave it an R and released it as-is.
They didn’t just keep resubmitting it. The first four times, changes were made (mostly around language and Saddam Hussein/the Devil). The final time, they felt the changes were arbitrary (it was just more language censoring) and so an exec told the board to hurry up as they had a release around the corner and it was just silently rubber-stamped.
They kept repeatedly getting an NC-17 from the MPAA and kept on resubmitting it (6 times) until just before release when they just relented, gave it an R and released it as-is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park:_Bigger,_Longer_%26...