"Sometimes he's nutty, sometimes he's corny. He can be brown or greenish brown, but if you eat fiber on Christmas Eve, he might come to your town." - the "Mr. Hankey" song
Christmas Time in South Park DVD Review
By Casey Richards
Ah, holiday specials. Filled to the brim with good tidings and joy, you've just gotta love 'em. Cute little reindeer who overcome their supposed handicaps to save Christmas. A furry green whatzit that learns the true meaning of Christmas by stealing-and then returning-all of the gifts from a village full of tiny vermin. A bald kid teaching us that Christmas is too commercial by having his friends tart up a scrawny Christmas tree so that it looks like something out of Macy's window. Bing Crosby beating up on a snowman.
Yes, holiday specials are squeaky clean fun. Well, not all of them. Watch the seven Christmas-themed episodes of Christmas Time in South Park and you just may end up on Santa's "Naughty" list. Of course, you'll have fun doing it, so it just may be worth taking the chance.
"Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo," from 1997, is the first of the holiday-themed episodes. South Park is aroar when various factions of the city want their views included in the school Christmas pageant or everyone else's views excluded. Soon, Jesus, Santa, stars, lights, and even trees are banned. Avant-garde composer Philip Glass is brought in to provide a minimalist score for the most undenominational holiday event ever, with the kids spazzing around the stage in leotards. In the meantime, Kyle-who is not allowed to participate because he is Jewish-tries to promote Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo as an alternative. Everyone is horrified. When Kyle is alone, fecal Mr. Hankey comes to life and jumps around the room (leaving little poo-prints behind him), but when Kyle tries to share Mr. Hankey, his friends and teachers simply see a shriveled up turd. Kyle ends up in a mental institution, but Mr. Hankey saves the day.
This episode is truly a South Park classic. A skewed riff on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, it provokes almost non-stop laughter.
The next year brought "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!," this time taking on Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. The boys pile in the car with Cartman's mother to celebrate the holidays with their family in the great state of Nebraska ("Home of Nothing!") where even the baby is as...big-boned...as Cartman. Uncle Howard usually joins the family via satellite from the state prison, but this year he decides to bust out and head home with his good pal Charlie Manson.
Will the state police kill Manson? Will they kill the entire Cartman family? Will they kill Kenny? How can Mr. Hankey appear at two shopping malls at once? All of these questions and more are answered in this funny, profane episode.
The little stinker himself hosts "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics," a collection of hilarious "Christmas" songs. Burning in hell, Hitler sings a tearful version of "O Tannenbaum" until Satan leads his minions in a rousing chorus of "Christmastime in Hell." Mr. Garrison leads a song celebrating religious intolerance in "Merry F*@#%n' Christmas." This episode isn't as cohesive as the others, but yule...ahem, you'll...still be laughing.
Christmas might be cancelled! In "A Very Crappy Christmas," it seems that Mr. Hankey is busy dealing with his new family-a soused wife and three little nuggets (including a slow one who was born with a peanut in his head). The boys venture into the sewer to convince Mr. Hankey that the world still needs him to dispense the true meaning of Christmas: commercialism. This episode has its amusing moments, especial the "Circle of Life" parody. It's also repetitive, with too many jokes about Mr. Hankey's sexual problems.
The remaining three episodes are minor. "Red Sleigh Down" is a mishmash about the then-impending Iraq war with the boys taking Mr. Hankey's Poo Choo Train to the North Pole so that Santa can deliver toys to the Iraqi girls and boys. Santa gets shot down and tortured. And the Iraqis kill Jesus. Subtle! "It's Christmas in Canada" and "Woodland Critter Christmas" are also included.
The seven episodes that make up Christmas Time in South Park are included on one disc. The disc is housed in a plastic tray designed to look like a Little Golden Book, albeit a feces-smeared Little Golden Book. The full-motion menus are simple and easy to use.
