26 Cartoon Wars Earned Simpsons Flowers
After South Park aired “Cartoon Wars: Part I” in 2006, its mockery of “Family Guy” drew praise from rival animation staffs. “The Simpsons” staff sent flowers, while members of the “King of the Hill” team called South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and told them they were “doing God’s work.” Parker said that despite the episode’s controversy over depicting Muhammad, the other animators mainly thanked them for attacking “Family Guy.”
27. South Park co-creator Trey Parker admitted on the DVD commentary for “Ginger Kids” that he harbored what he described as prejudice against gingers. He said he once ended a relationship with a woman whose mother had red hair because he wanted to avoid having redheaded children.
28. Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss began reducing scenes in which characters discussed political schemes during garden walks after seeing South Park’s 2013 parody episode “Black Friday.” The episode turned those conversations into a recurring “Garden of Betrayal” joke, with Cartman plotting against other children while strolling through a neighbor’s garden. Benioff and Weiss later confirmed in the Season 4 Blu-ray commentary that they consciously used such scenes less frequently because of the parody.
29. While producing South Park’s 2006 episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” Blizzard Entertainment gave the crew a private World of Warcraft server for filming the in-game scenes. During production, an unaffiliated player somehow entered the closed server and began attacking the crew’s characters. The disruption mirrored the episode’s plot, in which a rogue high-level player repeatedly kills the children’s characters.
30. South Park episodes “200” and “201” remain unavailable to stream or buy through Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video following controversy over their depiction of Muhammad. Comedy Central heavily censored “201,” bleeping Muhammad’s name and the entire closing speech after a radical Muslim website warned creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone that they risked being killed.
31 Kenny Inspired Fruit Fly Gene
A University of Strasbourg scientist named Sophie Rutschmann discovered that adult fruit flies with a faulty immune-system gene died within two days of infection by certain bacteria. She named the gene “Kenny” after the South Park character who repeatedly died in the show’s early episodes. Also known as NEMO or IKK gamma, the gene normally works with another gene called Relish as part of the fly’s immune response.
32. During the closing credits of South Park’s 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closet,” the show replaced every cast and crew name with either “John Smith” or “Jane Smith.” The gag followed an ending in which Stan repeatedly dared the Church of Scientology to sue him. It was another jab at Scientology’s litigious reputation.
33. After South Park mocked Scientology in the 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closet,” the church’s Office of Special Affairs allegedly hired private investigators to examine creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Former Scientology executive Marty Rathbun later published what he described as a 2006 internal memo showing that investigators searched for material they could use to discredit or pressure the pair. The investigation reportedly gathered details about their offices, cars, friends, and employees but found no vulnerabilities to exploit.
34. In 2001, Comedy Central rejected plans to let South Park use the word “shit” uncensored only a few times in “It Hits the Fan.” When creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone proposed using it about 200 times, the network approved the episode, making it the first South Park installment to broadcast the word uncensored. Viewers heard it 162 times and saw it written 38 times, bringing the total to exactly 200, while an on-screen counter tracked every spoken use.
35. In 1999, Electronic Arts recalled 100,000 PlayStation copies of “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 99” after an employee apparently hid an uncensored South Park short on the disc. Players could not access the 1995 “Jesus vs. Santa” video through normal gameplay, but inserting the disc into a computer revealed it as a QuickTime file named “ZZDUMMY.DAT.” EA called the unauthorized clip “objectionable to consumers” and replaced the affected discs with versions that removed it.
36 Saddam Reportedly Rewatched South Park
While former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein awaited trial and his eventual execution, U.S. Marines reportedly forced him to watch “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” repeatedly. The 1999 film portrayed Hussein as Satan’s homosexual lover and partner in a plot to conquer the world. South Park co-creator Matt Stone said Marines serving in Iraq provided him the information.
37. South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have no memory of making the 1999 episode “Sexual Harassment Panda” because they were exhausted and hungover after finishing “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.” The episode aired on July 7, 1999, as the first installment released after the film. Parker and Stone later revealed their complete memory lapse in the episode’s DVD commentary.
38. After Comedy Central censored the 2010 South Park episode “201” against the creators’ wishes, co-creator Trey Parker bought a plane ticket to South Africa and showed it to the network’s head. Parker used the ticket to threaten that he would “pull a Dave Chappelle” (referring to American comedian Dave Chappelle leaving his Comedy Central series and traveling to South Africa). South Park writer and producer Vernon Chatman later revealed the stunt and said Parker never actually went.
39. On October 27, 1999, American nu metal band Korn used the South Park episode “Korn’s Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery” to premiere “Falling Away from Me,” the lead single from their album “Issues.” The band appeared as themselves in the Scooby-Doo-style Halloween story and performed the song at the end. The song became one of Korn’s most popular singles, while its anti-child-abuse music video topped MTV’s “Total Request Live” for 10 days.
40. On April 30, 2003, a boy named Alex Glick voiced a one-off character named Alex in the South Park episode “Red Man’s Greed.” He secured the guest role as the highest bidder when co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker auctioned it during an AIDS benefit held by British singer Elton John, raising money for AIDS research. The episode dressed Alex in a red hoodie bearing his name and ended his appearance with a fourth-wall-breaking admission that he had come to “do the voice thingy.”
41 British Cinemas Tightened Age Checks
In 1999, “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” used censorship and children’s exposure to mature entertainment as major themes, following its young characters as they sneaked into an obscene film. Britain gave the movie a 15 certificate, but cinemas expected younger fans to imitate its plot by evading the age restriction. Multiplex managers instructed staff to request photo identification from suspiciously young patrons.
42. On February 8, 2013, former Scientologist Jenna Miscavige Hill, the niece of Scientology chairman David Miscavige, said she first learned the story of Xenu by watching South Park’s 2005 episode “Trapped in the Closet.” The episode presented the secret Scientology narrative while displaying the caption “This is what Scientologists actually believe.” Despite growing up within Scientology, Hill learned the story from the cartoon because the church normally reserved it for members who reached advanced levels after making substantial payments.
43. South Park co-creator Trey Parker named Eric Cartman’s mother, Liane, after a woman named Liane Adamo, his former fiancee who cheated on him. Parker ended their engagement at age 21 after discovering her affair with a choir singer, then also gave her name to the unfaithful horse in “Cannibal! The Musical.” South Park portrayed Liane as sexually promiscuous and once called her a “crack whore,” while the 2010 episode “201” revealed that the earlier hermaphrodite claim had been a cover story.
44. In 2000, South Park cast storyboard artist Adrien Beard as the voice of Token Black because, as creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explained, he was “the only Black guy in the building at the time.” Token was the town’s only Black child until Nichole Daniels arrived in Season 16. Beard became the character’s regular voice, and South Park retconned Token’s name to Tolkien in 2022.
45. South Park co-creator Matt Stone summarized the show’s underlying philosophy by saying that people are born bad and society makes them good. In this view, society does not corrupt naturally innocent people; its rules restrain the harmful impulses they already possess. Stone called this “a sort of conservative way of looking at things.”
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
46 Comedy Central Bleeped 201’s Moral
South Park’s “201,” scheduled to air on April 21, 2010, showed American actor Tom Cruise trying to steal Muhammad’s supposed immunity from ridicule. Before the broadcast, New York-based radical Muslim organization Revolution Muslim warned creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone that they risked violent retribution and posted their work addresses. Comedy Central responded by covering Muhammad with a “CENSORED” bar and bleeping almost all of the closing speeches from Kyle, Jesus, and Santa. The removed moral argued that threats and violence, not magical immunity, made people surrender, even though Kyle’s speech never mentioned Muhammad.
47. Before South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone created the 1992 student short “Jesus vs. Frosty” at the University of Colorado. After Fox executive Brian Graden saw it, he paid them $1,000 to make “Jesus vs. Santa” as a video Christmas card for 80 friends in 1995. The pair spent about $750 and kept the remaining money, while bootleg copies turned the short into an early viral hit. Comedy Central noticed it and hired Parker and Stone to develop South Park, which premiered in August 1997.
48. Trey Parker and Matt Stone originally wanted to call their 1999 film “South Park: All Hell Breaks Loose,” but Parker said the MPAA rejected the word “hell” in the title. They responded with “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut,” which received approval despite its more suggestive meaning. Parker later explained that the replacement title referred to an uncircumcised penis and said the MPAA failed to recognize the joke.
49. On April 1, 1998, South Park viewers expected the Season 2 premiere to reveal the identity of Eric Cartman’s father after the previous season ended on a cliffhanger. Instead, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone aired “Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus,” an unrelated episode that immediately announced the promised answer would not appear. Comedy Central received more than 2,000 angry emails within a week. Fans waited another three weeks until “Cartman’s Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut” finally continued the story on April 22.
50. Contrary to a long-running fan claim, South Park does not hide an alien Visitor in every episode. The crew placed Visitors in many early installments, sometimes concealing them in posters, crowds, or single frames, but their appearances became more sporadic over time. They still surfaced in unexpected places, including behind the wheel of a limousine in “Cow Days” and disguised within a beauty-pageant crowd in “Dead Celebrities.”
RE: Fact #27 (Trey Parker’s Ginger Kids Prejudice) – I never had any trouble at school for having red hair until that episode came out.
RE: Fact #13 (South Park’s 399-Swear MPAA Battle) – I remember watching “This Film Is Not Yet Rated, ” where Matt Stone discussed the different experiences they had with the MPAA for Orgazmo versus South Park. When they had studio backing for South Park, the board was much more helpful about what could be cut, whereas they got zero feedback on the former. Also, an NC-17 rating is pretty much a career killer for a theatrical release, so avoiding that is a big deal.
It’s kind of a loophole, but you can basically get away with putting unrated movies into theaters nowadays.
What loophole? It wasn’t illegal to release NC-17 movies back then. I don’t think they’re really around anymore, but porn theaters were definitely a thing for a long time. Nobody released NC-17 films in mainstream theaters because the major studios and theater chains had an agreement against it, so the movie would have had zero chance of making any money.
RE: Fact #23 (Avenue Q Inspired Mormon Musical) – This reminds me of the history between The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The Beatles dropped Rubber Soul, and when The Beach Boys heard how cohesive that album was, it pushed them to create Pet Sounds. Then, after hearing the experiments on Pet Sounds, The Beatles were inspired to record Sgt. Pepper.
RE: Fact #24 (South Park’s Cardboard Became Digital) – Only the pilot was actually made by hand. Every episode after that used computer animation.
RE: Fact #11 (Sia Secretly Voiced Randy’s Lorde) – It was great that Lorde actually loved it and said she and her friends would do the “ya ya ya I am Lorde” bit. My favorite part of that episode is the joke that Randy doesn’t actually know Lorde’s uncle, so he has to dress up as her at the end. Apparently, a journalist missed the joke and thought they were implying Lorde looked like a man. The journalist wrote a hit piece on South Park, which Matt and Trey found hilarious, so they just changed the story to make Randy actually “be” Lorde. They even put the journalist in the episode.
RE: Fact #5 (Casa Bonita Tracked Episode Reruns) – Casa Bonita has a special spot in my heart and I visit every year. I do miss that guy in the gorilla suit who used to run around messing with everyone, though.
RE: Fact #35 (South Park Triggered PlayStation Recall) – I was working at an Electronics Boutique back then. I actually went over to the Sears in the mall and checked all their preowned copies of Tiger Woods 99 on one of the floor model PCs. Four of them had the file. I grabbed them all for 99 cents each. I’ve given two away as gifts and kept two for myself. It’s a neat piece of gaming history, though the copies with the file aren’t really worth much beyond the novelty.
RE: Fact #8 (Timmy Burch Survived Network Objections) – They definitely treat him as an equal. In the episode where they visit Hell, everyone helps Timmy because they worry he won’t be able to confess his sins. In the condom episode, they don’t even hesitate when Stan says they need to help Timmy. It’s not a big deal to them that he’s different; they just accept him as Timmy. That’s why he’s always been my favorite.
RE: Fact #5 (Casa Bonita Tracked Episode Reruns) – Some fun facts: it’s about a 30ft drop from the cliff to the pool, and the pool itself is 14ft deep. There are air pockets under the rocks where you can hide to freak people out. The actors clean Black Bart’s cave, so please don’t spit off the bridge. The gorilla suit smells like a mix of chlorine, B.O., and filth because it gets washed once a year. I once caught two of the performers hooking up behind the waterfall, which was pretty wild. Also, if you jump in the pool, you’ll definitely end up with a night in jail for trespassing, if they catch you. I worked there as an actor during college and don’t get to tell these stories often.
RE: Fact #19 (Jennifer Lopez’s Alleged Taco-Joke Firings) – I can’t hear the words ‘taco’ or ‘burrito’ without doing that hand bit, which is a problem because everyone around me thinks I’m crazy or racist since they don’t get the reference.
RE: Fact #3 (Trey Parker Feared Warcraft Episode) – It’s fascinating that they actually had Blizzard employees working with them in their fast-paced studio to build those WoW scenes inside the game itself.
RE: Fact #18 (Seinfeld Rejected Turkey No. 2) – Meanwhile, George Clooney showed absolutely no fear in playing Sparky the Gay Dog.
RE: Fact #4 (Tourette Association Praised South Park) – My daughter has Tourette’s with both vocal and motor tics. It really pisses me off that it isn’t classified as a disability. She constantly gets let go from jobs because people get annoyed by her noises, and there’s nothing we can do until the Tourette Association of America can get it officially classified as a disability.
RE: Fact #30 (Muhammad Controversy Removed Two Episodes) – When I first watched those, I couldn’t tell if the censorship was real or just another South Park bit. It’s impossible to tell with them.
RE: Fact #23 (Avenue Q Inspired Mormon Musical) – Even if you aren’t big on Broadway musicals, you should definitely check out both of those original cast albums. They are genuinely hilarious and a blast to listen to.
RE: Fact #39 (Korn’s South Park Single Premiere) – Did they ever clear up whether pirate ghosts are pirates who died and became ghosts, or actual ghosts who decided to become pirates?
RE: Fact #2 (Chewbacca Defense Entered Legal Language) – Ladies and gentleman, this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk. But Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now think about that. That does not make sense. Why would a Wookiee, an 8-foot-tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor with a bunch of 2-foot-tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: “What does this have to do with this case?” Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me, I’m a lawyer defending a major record company, and I’m talkin’ about Chewbacca. Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you’re in that jury room deliberating and conjugating the Emancipation Proclamation… does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests.
RE: Fact #28 (Thrones Showrunners Reduced Garden Walks) – Some of the best lines were in those scenes. Lady Olenna: “Oh no, please, seduce away it’s been so long. Although I rather think it’s all for naught. What happens when the non existent bumps against the decrepit?” Then Varys looks down at his crotch and she says, “A question for the philosophers.”
RE: Fact #12 (South Park’s Butthole Became Wordplay) – This is why censorship can actually drive creativity. It’s the reason the Spike TV adult version of Ren and Stimpy was so terrible.