A Very Crappy Christmas
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| “A Very Crappy Christmas” | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Mr. Hankey, his wife, and kids celebrate Christmas in the sewer. |
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| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 65 |
| Written by | Trey Parker Matt Stone |
| Directed by | Adrien Beard |
| Production no. | 417 |
| Original airdate | December 20, 2000 |
| Season 4 episodes | |
| South Park - Season 4 April 5, 2000 – December 20, 2000 |
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| ← Season 3 | Season 5 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"A Very Crappy Christmas" is episode 65 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on December 20, 2000.
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[edit] Synopsis
After Mr. Hankey fails to show up on Hanukkah, Kyle leads Stan, Cartman and Kenny into the sewers to investigate, this is the first scene where you get to see any part of Stan's hair until season 5. When they find him, Kyle questions him, stating that nobody seems to have the Christmas spirit anymore. Mr. Hankey reveals that he hasn't surfaced due to issues with his family: his dissatisfied wife Autumn, and their children Cornwallis, Amber and Simon.
The boys, along with Mr. Hankey's kids, attempt to revive the Christmas spirit by singing carols on the sidewalk, but are totally ignored. While they lament not getting any presents, Cornwallis begins to wonder about his significance in the world as a piece of poo.
While watching a Peanuts Christmas special, where Snoopy is seen beating a naked Charlie Brown with a board, the boys get the idea to create a short animation to show the townspeople at the local drive-in. With backing from Mayor McDaniels, worried about South Park's economic state, the boys set about using cut-out animation to create their cartoon.
Meanwhile, Cornwallis, who has sunk further into depression, reveals his feelings to his father, who comforts him by singing "The Circle of Poo", based on Disney's The Circle Of Life song. This shows how poo is the lifeblood of the whole planet, and the song even finishes with Mr. Hankey holding Cornwallis over a cliff, like Simba is held over in The Lion King. Rejuvenated, Cornwallis and the others begin preparing the dilapidated drive-in for the screening.
After Cartman destroys a frame of the cartoon and quits the project, and Kenny is run over, Stan and Kyle proceed with the project themselves, with Stan dubbing Cartman's voice over (taking extra opportunities to poke fun at his weight in the meantime), Kenny being killed off in the cartoon as well, and sending their cut outs to get made in Korea.
Finally the film is ready and the whole town gathers to see it, including Cartman, who joins in getting credit for the movie, and claims he never quit in the first place. Only a few seconds in, though, the film breaks up.
As everyone sits at home, forcing the children of South Park to celebrate a Christmas with no presents, Cornwallis and Mr. Hankey fix the projector and the film restarts playing. Upon seeing the film, the townsfolk finally come to realize that the true spirit of Christmas is commercialism, and rush to the shops for last minute presents. Finally content, the boys head off to open their presents, turning down an offer to make a cartoon show out of their film.[1]
[edit] References to The Spirit of Christmas
This episode heavily parodies the original productions made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, named The Spirit of Christmas. The boys' ideas of making a video Christmas card references how Fox executive Brian Graden paid Parker and Stone to make a video Christmas card to send to his friends, hence the creation of the second short, Jesus vs. Santa, which was partly shown at the end of this episode. The boys also used the same materials that Parker and Stone used to make the first short, Jesus vs. Frosty, and the design style is shown accurately in this episode as well. Also, during the final airing of the animation, cartoon-Kyle says,"We actually spoke to the true Brian Boitano." Boitano was referred to earlier in the second Spirit of Christmas short, Jesus vs. Santa, and in the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut in the song "What Would Brian Boitano Do?". The ending of this episode also matched the ending of Jesus vs. Santa, with Kenny's body being nibbled at by rats, and all of the boys becoming Jewish to get presents for eight days.
[edit] References to Twas the Night Before Christmas
The song Kyle sings in the episode is from the animated short Twas the Night Before Christmas. In fact at one point during the song his face changes to that of Joshua Trundle, one of the main characters from the special. Other elements of the episode, such as Mr. Hankey and Cornwallis fixing the projector before it’s too late, are similar to Twas The Night Before Christmas.
[edit] References
- ^ Mayor: Kids, that cartoon was fabulous. How would you like to have your own show and make 100 more of them? / Stan: Are you kidding? I think we'd rather stab ourselves in the head. / Cartman: Yeah. Let's just go home and open our presents. "A Very Crappy Christmas". Trey Parker (writer), Adrien Beard (director). South Park. Comedy Central. 2000-12-20. No. 65, season 4. Transcript.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by “The Wacky Molestation Adventure” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Scott Tenorman Must Die” |
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