Filth-mouthed foursome of pre-teen reprobates
The first time I saw South Park was on Australian television on SBS. The sound was off. It was late. I can't remember what I was doing but I was pre-occupied with something else while it was playing and I remember thinking, saying rather, to someone else that was in the room, "what's a kiddies show doing on this late at night?".
The artwork was crude... though when I say crude I mean rough. Very child-like. Low-budget animation. Though that style appeals to me.
I then turned the sound on, and was surprised. Shocked actually. Though the shock was soon visited by elation, rather than disgust.
And so I became one of teeming millions who feel in love with the crudely drawn, rude mouthed little boys from South Park.
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Seasons 6 to 10
About
South Park is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television comedy series about four third/fourth-grade school boys who live in the small town of South Park, Colorado. The series was created and is written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and has been distributed and aired by Comedy Central since 1997. It is well-known for its handling of current events and its pop-culture parody.
Since its premiere on August 13, 1997, 160 episodes have been created and animated over eleven seasons. One more season is planned, with an option for renewal at the end of Season 12. In recent years, each season has been aired in two halves, in Spring and in Autumn. The eleventh season began airing on March 7, 2007. The first half of the eleventh season ended on April 18, 2007. It is scheduled to begin again on Wednesday, October 3, 2007.
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Since its premiere on August 13, 1997, 160 episodes have been created and animated over eleven seasons. One more season is planned, with an option for renewal at the end of Season 12. In recent years, each season has been aired in two halves, in Spring and in Autumn. The eleventh season began airing on March 7, 2007. The first half of the eleventh season ended on April 18, 2007. It is scheduled to begin again on Wednesday, October 3, 2007.
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Origins
South Park began in 1992 when Trey Parker and Matt Stone, at the time students at the University of Colorado, met in a film class and created an animated short called Jesus vs. Frosty. They crudely made film featured prototypes of the main characters of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman, but referred to as "Kenny", and an unnamed character who resembled Kyle bringing a murderous snowman to life with a magic hat.
In 1995, FOX executive Brian Graden, after seeing the film, commissioned Parker and Stone to create a second short film to send to friends as a video Christmas card. Titled Jesus vs. Santa, it resembled the style of the later series more closely, and featured a martial arts duel and subsequent truce between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas. This video was later featured in the episode "A Very Crappy Christmas" in which Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny and Mr. Hankey "save" Christmas for the town. The video was popular and was widely shared, both by duplication and over the Internet. This led to talks to create a series, first with FOX, then with Comedy Central, where the series premiered on August 13, 1997. During the first four seasons of South Park, a clip of the short can be seen in the opening sequence within a billboard and an old television.
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In 1995, FOX executive Brian Graden, after seeing the film, commissioned Parker and Stone to create a second short film to send to friends as a video Christmas card. Titled Jesus vs. Santa, it resembled the style of the later series more closely, and featured a martial arts duel and subsequent truce between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas. This video was later featured in the episode "A Very Crappy Christmas" in which Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny and Mr. Hankey "save" Christmas for the town. The video was popular and was widely shared, both by duplication and over the Internet. This led to talks to create a series, first with FOX, then with Comedy Central, where the series premiered on August 13, 1997. During the first four seasons of South Park, a clip of the short can be seen in the opening sequence within a billboard and an old television.
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Over your moobs
History
South Park's early episodes tended to be shock value-oriented and featured more Pythonesque humor than later episodes. Although satire had been used on the show occasionally in its early and middle years, it became more evident around the eighth season.
The pilot episode ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe") required three months to produce using construction paper and traditional cut-out animation techniques. However the version that aired was different than the original version.
Current episodes duplicate the original, amateurish look using modern computer animation tools - first PowerAnimator and then Maya, which Parker and Stone described as "building a sandcastle with a bulldozer". This allows for a shorter production schedule, enabling the creators to respond quickly to current events.
The December 17, 2003 episode "It's Christmas in Canada" depicted the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere three days after the actual event, even referring to the "spider hole" in which he was found. In this instance -- as with the Elián González episode ("Quintuplets 2000") -- the creators changed the production of an episode at the last minute to focus on the new world event.
In 2002, the episode "Free Hat" aired. In this episode -- inspired by Kyle's comment on Ted Koppel's Nightline that changing E.T. would be like changing Raiders of the Lost Ark -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decide to alter the first Indiana Jones film. Soon after the episode aired, Lucas and Spielberg announced that contrary to rumors they would not be altering Raiders of the Lost Ark for DVD release. Parker and Stone jokingly suggested that the episode prevented any alterations from happening. On September 10, 2005, Comedy Central committed to three more seasons of South Park, so the show will run until at least 2008.
Parker and Stone will continue to write, direct, and edit every episode of the show, bringing the series total to 181 episodes by the end of its twelfth season. Edited versions of South Park episodes, with the TV-14 rating, began broadcasting in syndication on September 19, 2005 on various local channels around the U.S.
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The pilot episode ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe") required three months to produce using construction paper and traditional cut-out animation techniques. However the version that aired was different than the original version.
Current episodes duplicate the original, amateurish look using modern computer animation tools - first PowerAnimator and then Maya, which Parker and Stone described as "building a sandcastle with a bulldozer". This allows for a shorter production schedule, enabling the creators to respond quickly to current events.
The December 17, 2003 episode "It's Christmas in Canada" depicted the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere three days after the actual event, even referring to the "spider hole" in which he was found. In this instance -- as with the Elián González episode ("Quintuplets 2000") -- the creators changed the production of an episode at the last minute to focus on the new world event.
In 2002, the episode "Free Hat" aired. In this episode -- inspired by Kyle's comment on Ted Koppel's Nightline that changing E.T. would be like changing Raiders of the Lost Ark -- George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decide to alter the first Indiana Jones film. Soon after the episode aired, Lucas and Spielberg announced that contrary to rumors they would not be altering Raiders of the Lost Ark for DVD release. Parker and Stone jokingly suggested that the episode prevented any alterations from happening. On September 10, 2005, Comedy Central committed to three more seasons of South Park, so the show will run until at least 2008.
Parker and Stone will continue to write, direct, and edit every episode of the show, bringing the series total to 181 episodes by the end of its twelfth season. Edited versions of South Park episodes, with the TV-14 rating, began broadcasting in syndication on September 19, 2005 on various local channels around the U.S.
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Characters
Prior to season four, the main characters of the show were four third grade students (often called "the boys" when as a group for easier reference): Stanley "Stan" Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Theodore Cartman and Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick. There are many recurring characters to the show, including the boys' families, school staff, other students such as Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Big Gay Al, Towelie, a talking towel who enjoys smoking pot, Jesus, and Satan. There are also many other minor characters and one-off characters.
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- Stanley "Stan" Marsh
Often the "straight man" of the group. Generally, Stan is good-natured, clear-thinking and a bit over-sensitive at times, but usually tries to come up with logical solutions to their outrageous situations. Designed as the alter-ego for co-creator Trey Parker, Stan often attempts to summarize the message or moral of the episode, though sometimes without success. His best friend is Kyle and their relationship is central to several episodes, such as when he saves Kyle's life in Cherokee Hair Tampons, Cartmanland and Super Best Friends - Kyle Broflovski
Easy-going, Jewish (but not particularly religious), skeptical and intelligent. He hates Cartman because Cartman constantly ridicules his ethnicity. Kyle is effectively the alter-ego of co-creator Matt Stone. Along with Stan, Kyle often provides a reasonable perspective on the crazy behavior of the adult world around them. Kyle is often depicted as the most moral member of the four. - Eric Theodore Cartman
Cartman commonly acts against the other boys. Cartman frequently derides Kyle for being Jewish and Kenny for being poor. His rude attitude often causes conflict with the other boys.
At times, he proves himself a remarkably capable businessman and leader.
Cartman sometimes serves as a mouthpiece for some of Parker and Stone's more extreme social commentary (three times he has dressed as Adolf Hitler). He loathes hippies above all else (Die Hippie, Die depicted his career as a 'hippie exterminator' ). Cartman is often referred to as a "fatass" by his friends, especially Kyle.
In the earlier episodes, Cartman would respond by saying, "I'm not fat! I'm big-boned!", "Don't call me fat, god damn it!", or, " Don't call me fat, you fucking Jew!"
Cartman's erratic and devisive behavior is perhaps explained by his unorthodox upbringing: he lacks a father-figure, and his mother (Lianne Cartman) is an intersexual and an acknowledged "crack whore". Liane spoils her only child with gifts and food, always conceding into his many irrational demands; she is the only person with whom Eric shares a mutually affectionate and loving relationship. - Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick
Kenny comes from a poverty-stricken family and is the most cosmopolitan of the four boys, who often turn to him when encountering an unfamiliar sexual term.
The parka hood closed around his face renders his speech nearly incomprehensible, but all of his lines are real dialog and Stan, Kyle and Cartman can understand him. In some episodes Kenny's dialog is accompanied by subtitles. Two of his lines in The Jeffersons and the phrase "Goodbye, you guys" from the South Park movie are not muffled because his hood is removed.
During the first five seasons Kenny played the eternal victim, routinely killed in a plethora of shockingly grotesque ways each episode only to inexplicably reappear in the next. The show's oldest gimmick (a carryover from the initial cardboard concept video) was Stan's cry of "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" in response to his death, with Kyle adding, "You bastards!" whenever Kenny is killed. This is sometimes parodied, being applied to other characters (such as Chef in "The Return of Chef") or by a variation on the theme.
At the end of the fifth season, Kenny died again and remained dead for the entire sixth season, ultimately returning at the end of the season's last episode, Red Sleigh Down (the other boys ask him where he's been, to which he replies in his muffled tone, "I've just been hanging out"). Parker and Stone explained this was due to their feeling creatively boxed-in by the requirement to kill Kenny in each episode.
In Season 6, he was replaced by Butters, and later Tweek as the boys' "fourth friend". He did appear in one episode when his soul became trapped in Cartman's body after Cartman had drunk Kenny's ashes (believing them to be chocolate milk mix); Kenny returned permanently in the seventh season and his deaths have since been much more rare.
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On your ass
Animation style
One of the most notable features of the South Park animation style is that the characters tend to move their limbs as little as possible, except when they need to do actions other than walking.
Construction paper cut-outs were used in the original pilot animation and in the first episode made for Comedy Central. Subsequent episodes have been produced by computer animation that provides the same look, although the appearance of the characters and scenes has become less crude over time largely in order to enhance the comedic effect.
Special effects such as prepackaged explosions have replaced cardboard-style fires, and light shading has been used to highlight "sappy" or movie-like moments and Eric Cartman's propensity for striking dramatic poses. Some episodes also contain sections of live action as well, such as Tweek vs. Craig, Cat Orgy and Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina
CorelDRAW is used to create the characters, which are animated using Maya, or in early episodes, PowerAnimator. The style of animation used for South Park was inspired by the paper cut-out cartoons made by Terry Gilliam for Monty Python's Flying Circus, of which Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been lifelong fans.
For perspective, the average episode of The Simpsons takes six to eight months to create., while episodes of South Park are usually completed in six days (although some, such as AWESOM-O or Woodland Critter Christmas have taken only three or four)
This enables the show to keep up with current events, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Source
Construction paper cut-outs were used in the original pilot animation and in the first episode made for Comedy Central. Subsequent episodes have been produced by computer animation that provides the same look, although the appearance of the characters and scenes has become less crude over time largely in order to enhance the comedic effect.
Special effects such as prepackaged explosions have replaced cardboard-style fires, and light shading has been used to highlight "sappy" or movie-like moments and Eric Cartman's propensity for striking dramatic poses. Some episodes also contain sections of live action as well, such as Tweek vs. Craig, Cat Orgy and Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina
CorelDRAW is used to create the characters, which are animated using Maya, or in early episodes, PowerAnimator. The style of animation used for South Park was inspired by the paper cut-out cartoons made by Terry Gilliam for Monty Python's Flying Circus, of which Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been lifelong fans.
For perspective, the average episode of The Simpsons takes six to eight months to create., while episodes of South Park are usually completed in six days (although some, such as AWESOM-O or Woodland Critter Christmas have taken only three or four)
This enables the show to keep up with current events, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein.
Source
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Controversy
Stone and Parker are self-described "equal opportunity offenders" and episodes often lampoon all sides of a contentious issue, rather than taking a concrete position.
In the episode "It Hits the Fan", South Park broke the swearing record by using the word shit a total of 162 times uncensored.
Also, in the episode entitled "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", the word nigger was used throughout the entire episode for a total of 42 times.
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In the episode "It Hits the Fan", South Park broke the swearing record by using the word shit a total of 162 times uncensored.
Also, in the episode entitled "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson", the word nigger was used throughout the entire episode for a total of 42 times.
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