Customer Reviews

South Park - Christmas in South Park [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The two previous reviews for this DVD are incorrect. Christmas in South will contain three episodes of the series: "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics", "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson", and "ChinpokoMon." It also contains a British documentary called "Goin' Down to South Park." Enjoy!

I bought this DVD thinking it would have the classic "Mr. Hankey" episode of South Park. It didn't. With all the space available on DVD's, I don't see why they couldn't have made a better, more comprehensive Xmas in South Park edition. It would have been nice, too, if they had included the infamous "Santa vs. Jesus" short from years ago, too, but I suppose that's asking too much.

What you do get is a hilarious montage of South Park characters singing Christmas & Hannakah songs that are of course brilliant. My personal favorites are the Dradle number, which is just as good as any number from "Bigger, Longer, & Uncut," Cartman singing "O Holy Night," and Jesus and Santa crooning Christmas carols at a nightclub.

You also get the serviceable "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson," which introduces us to Cartman's dysfunctional family in Nebraska and the funny but misplaced "Chimpokomon" episode (misplaced because other than the fact that it's about toys, it has nothing at all to do with Christmas.

All in all, you get some yuks, but I was disappointed because with all the excellent South Park Christmas material out there I've seen, I was expecting much, much better.

If you only buyone South Park DVD, this is the on to buy! I also reccommend Volume 1. On this DVD you get, Mr. Hanky's Christmas Classics, Merry Christmas Charili Manson, Chinpokomon (one of my favorites),and a great documentary that hasTrey Parker and Matt Stone talking about several South Park topics from their hot tub. The great documentary is worth the price o f the DVD alone. It shows many classic clips from the show, and almost the whole original short, "The Spirit of Christmas". Any South Park fan's DVD collection won't be complete with out this great DVD. I also reccomend picking up the Mr. Hanky's Christmas Classics CD when you buy this DVD also.

First off I think that the first South Park Christmas special (the first episode where Kenny didn't die) is the funniest Christmas special in TV history. But the first episode "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" is very close.This alone is 5 stars.
From the very well done "Dreidel,dreidel,dreidel"(eventual 5 part harmony) to Hitler singing a familiar Christmas carol in German while in Hell, to the very politically incorrect song by Mr.Garrison "Merry F**kng Christmas", there are plenty of laughs.
But the absolute highlight is a lounge act featuring Jesus and Santa doing Christmas songs (in the first person). The sight of Jesus taling his halo and swirling it around his finger and flipping it back over his head is woth theprice on admission.
The second episode "merry Christmas Charlie Manson" is not as good but definitley has its moments

The three episodes on this tape are as funny as most South Park material but the Christmas musical is by far the best. The collection of songs include Mr.Garrison singing "Merry ........ Christmas" and a priceless version of "Holy Night" sung by Eric Cartman. An interesting "sweetner" on this DVD is the BBC documentary about the South Park show, narrated by Trey and Matt together in a jacuzzi with a Japanese friend. If you have already bought the other South Park DVD's, this should be the next one on your list. Also,if you are a die hard fan, look into Cannibal: The Musical. It was Trey and Matt's first movie from their college years in Colorado. The Cannibal movie is terrible but the accompanying directors commentary alone is worth the price. You also can see long time friend Dean Bachar in that one.

I thought that from start to finish this was an excellent DVD. The first episode actually consists of 10+ full length music videos starring the South Park characters singing Holiday tunes. Episodes 2 and 3 are delightfully funny especially the spoof on Pokemon. After the three episodes, there is an hour long interview with the creators of South Park and about their history. This was a unexpected pleasure to watch, both informational and quite funny if you pay attention. For the price, you will have a hard time finding more laughs to the dollar!

Charles Manson finding self-redemption? The kids trying to keep up with the Joneses on the latest, hottest fad? A bowel movement hosting a Christmas special featuring singing by most of the `South Park' core characters? Could it be possible...?

No, probably not. But, then again, `South Park' has never been accused of being rooted in reality, except for when it comes to taking shots at the world's real-life absurdities. And with this release, one of the latest and greatest fads- the Pokemon craze- gets taken down hard. In `ChinPokomon' the crass commercialism, selfishness, and even the seizure-inducing properties of this unbelievable pop-culture trend gets its just desserts. And being someone who's worked in the retail toys and collectibles business, I've seen the effects of such fads first-hand. I loved the Japanese ChinPokomon execs' strategy of buttering up the American male ego by praising their-um, prowess `down south', if you catch my drift-to divert parents' concerns about what the craze is doing to their kids. Those shrewd and efficient business tacticians from the Land of the Rising Sun knew exactly where to hit us!

Then There's "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson", with the kids celebrating the Holidays with the Cartman clan. With the exception of Eric's mom, every Cartman is "big-boned", and have those distinctive accents. Manson's busted out with Eric's uncle from the klink, and as the episode plays, he makes the gradual change from the mad hellspawn you all know and love from his parole hearings to a touchy-feely New Age philosopher kinda guy. His shift to a `good guy' makes for one of the most bizarre `South Park' eppies I've ever seen. Well, at least more bizarre than usual, anyway. Is he gonna kill Kenny? You'll have to find out for yourself...

I don't care too much for `Mister Hankey's Xmas Classics', although a couple of the tunes were quite unforgettable. Hitler in Hell singing "Tannenbaum" was rather disquieting. Satan's crooning "Christmas time in Hell' along with several notable dead celebs is right up there with Red Peters' "Holy (oops!), It's Christmas" as the greatest subversive Holiday tune I've ever heard. If you want to see the spirit of Christmas perverted beyond recognition, this episode and especially "Charlie Manson" are right up your alley.

The last feature is a documentary on how `South Park' came to be and how it's made. Trey and Matt spend the entire show in a hot tub, looking all relaxed and content whilst they tell you how much of a hellish grind it is to produce the show. Snippets of the first production featuring the South Park tykes, "The Spirit of Christmas", intended as a video Christmas card to give to movie execs, are shown. Hopefully there'll be a day when the entire adventure will be available to view on DVD. I found this presentation somewhat interesting, as I'm always curious about how TV shows and movies are produced. However, it's not something I'd watch more than a couple times in my lifetime.

`Late

It is not bad, but almost all the same stuff as the other Mr. Hanky DVD.

If you only buyone South Park DVD, this is the on to buy! I also reccommend Volume 1. On this DVD you get, Mr. Hanky's Christmas Classics, Merry Christmas Charlie Manson, Chinpoko Mon (one of my favorites),and a great documentary that has Trey Parker and Matt Stone talking about several South Park topics from their hot tub. The great documentary is worth the price o f the DVD alone. It shows many classic clips from the show, and almost the whole original short, "The Spirit of Christmas". Any South Park fan's DVD collection won't be complete with out this great DVD. I also reccomend picking up the Mr. Hanky's Christmas Classics CD when you buy this DVD also.

If you are looking to buy one of the many South Park DVDs, this is the one to get. Two of the three episodes on it are in the top 5 episodes that exist, plus there is a documentary that is almost an hour long where Matt and Trey are in a hot tub the whole time, with a Chinese man behind them that they never mention. This is sure to be a classic.