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Best of South Park is right. These two episodes--
Rainforest Schmainforest and
Chinpoko Mon--represent the potty-mouthed Colorado kids at their most hilarious and cutting, ruthlessly skewering politically correct environmentalism and toy-buying frenzy. In
Rainforest Schmainforest our heroic foursome is drafted into the environmentally conscious singing group "Getting Gay with Kids," who sing pop confections about saving the rainforests, complete with variety-show-caliber choreography. On a Central American field trip, escorted by their earnest group leader (voiced by Jennifer Aniston), the kids get lost in the rainforest they're supposed to be saving and find it filled with poisonous snakes and unfriendly natives. Needless to say, the rainforest sucks.
Chinpoko Mon, on the other hand, finds the kids in thrall of something that
doesn't suck--the immensely popular line of Japanese toys that bears not a little resemblance to Pokémon. In their fervor to collect them all, they don't realize they're falling prey to a Japanese plot to take over the United States, in retaliation for World War II. Chock-full of hilarious details--including market testing for rival toys, and the fact that one of the collectible toys is named "Shoe" (and is indeed just a plain shoe)--
Chinpoko Mon scored
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker an Emmy nomination and showcases the TV show at its satiric best. As always, the usual disclaimers apply--this cartoon isn't for kids (especially when the Japanese toy-makers try to distract the Americans by showing them their "very tiny penises--so small!") but for culturally savvy adults. Also includes part 2 of the British documentary
Goin' Down to South Park.
--Mark Englehart
