Customer Reviews

South Park - Imaginationland

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

SOUTH PARK has only been seen on the big screen once. Despite topically relevant humor and episodes that are large in scope, the series rarely even does two-part shows. In October 2007, the series gave fans the closest thing they are probably ever going to get to another SOUTH PARK movie with the three-part series originally titles as "Kyle Sucks Cartman's Balls" but is now being marketed as the "Imaginationland" trilogy.

This three-part series begins with Cartman and most of the rest of the crew hunting in the forest for a leprechaun. Cartman swears he saw a leprechaun and vows to catch it. Kyle doesn't believe him and signed a note that if a leprechaun actually existed, he would suck Cartman's balls. Sure enough a leprechaun is spotted and Cartman's crew attempts to capture it. However, leprechauns have magic powers and it escapes. It tells the boys that it was on a mission to warn them about a terrorist attack. Well, one thing lead to another and Stan, Kyle, Butters, Kenny, and Jimmy find themselves on a floating balloon with a strange man who takes them to Imaginationland. The boys are asked what the leprechaun told them, but just as they are about to speak, Imaginationland is attack by terrorists. The boys escape on a talking dragon, but Butters is left behind. They waken in the morning and when talking to each other realize they all had the same dream. Not only that, but Butters is missing. It's then that the boys realize that it couldn't have all just been a dream and that terrorists have actually attacked our imagination. What follows is an epic tale as the terrorist blow apart the wall that separates the good part of Imaginationland from the bad part. A massive war begins, the government captures Stan and Kyle to find out why Butters was talking about them, and Cartman sues to force Kyle to suck his balls.

The story is massive in scope and one of the more entertaining things to do is watch the scenes that take place in Imaginationland and try to spot the different characters. South Park does a lot of parodies and is often satirical so the show can get away with a lot more than many others. The show includes characters from television, films, comic books, and even advertising. I did notice that there were no Disney characters, Warner Brothers (such as Bugs Bunny), DC (Superman, Batman, etc.) or Marvel (X-Men, Spider-man, etc.) that I could see. I guess even Matt Stone and Trey Parker have certain legal boundaries that even they can't cross. Overall, the Imaginationland story-arc is one of the best SOUTH PARK episodes in the past three seasons.

The DVD includes a commentary with Matt and Trey. If you have any of the recent season releases of SOUTH PARK or the special episode DVDs, you're familiar with the mini-commentaries that the duo usually provides. With most episodes they talk for 3-8 minutes and that's it. On SOUTH PARK IMAGINATIONLAND the duo talks for almost forty minutes. The DVD also includes a few storyboards as well as two extra episodes "Woodland Critter Christmas" from season eight and "Manbearpig" from season ten. In the Imaginationland story, the Woodland Critters return to torture creatures in Imaginationland and Manbearpig escapes through a portal into the "real" world, causing Al Gore to go hysterical.

Overall, if you're a casual fan of SOUTH PARK or if you really, really, really liked the story arc, you may want to pick up IMAGINATIONLAND. If not, I'd wait until the Season 11 SOUTH PARK DVD set is released.

If anyone has ever had any doubt whatsoever of the sheer, underrated brilliance of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, then they must see the Imaginationland Trilogy. It all begins with a bet between Cartman and Kyle over the existance of leprechauns, and soon enough, all the boys find themselves transported to the mysterious land of Imaginationland; an alternate dimension where all the made-up characters from TV, cartoons, movies, video games, and comic books live. Everything goes well, until Imaginationland is attacked by terrorists, which leads to Butters being imprisoned, Stan racing against time, and Cartman going to great lengths to get Kyle to...well, you'll just have to see it if you didn't catch it when it originally aired. Possibly some of the funniest stuff you'll ever see on South Park, the Imaginationland Trilogy is shockingly brilliant to the point of almost being a satire. Other elements, such as the return of the demonic Woodland Christmas Critters and a Stargate spoof with a faux-Kurt Russell, will leave you rolling around on the floor laughing. Whether or not purchasing this DVD, or waiting for the entire season set, is entirely up to you, but make no mistake; the Imaginationland Trilogy is the most inspired, hysterical, and smart episodes to come from South Park in quite some time.

"The Imaginationland Trilogy" is a series of 3 eps from Season Eleven. These eps (especially the first) were a huge hit for Comedy Central & "South Park" which saw it's highest ratings ever.

These are the three shows that this DVD includes:

Imaginationland, 10/17/2007
The boys find out that it's not always fun in Imaginationland when some terrorists pop up.

Imaginationland: Episode II, 10/24/2007
Kyle and Stan are at the Pentagon. Carton will stop at nothing to get Kyle to "pay up" and give his balls a lick-job.

Imaginationland: Episode III, 10/31/2007
Stan and Butters fight against the evils of some of the most devious Imaginationland characters.

"The Imaginationland Trilogy" had some of my favorite eps from Season Eleven. Although my favorite "South Park" ep ever has to be "D-Yikes!" (aka "Les' Bos,") which is also from Season Eleven. Do you remember this one? Mrs. Garrison learned the fine art of scissoring.

Anway, I really liked these three eps because the stories were so detailed and varied. It wasn't a typical "to be continued" trilogy. But as you already know, there isn't anything typical about "South Park."

I love How Gore Is parodied for his whining, The whole ManBear Pig is real is Super Serial. Also the Disturbing Woodland Critters is Featured. It's Really Violent and disturbing, yet Very Funny(I do not condone) And Not shocking considering it's South Park. And Say What you Want about Mel Gibson but the Man knows about Good Story Structure!

In its DVD form it's presented as a feature length movie but within season 11 it's simply 3 epic South Park episodes. The story begins with Cartman trying to prove to Kyle that he saw a leprechaun, and he made a bet that if he can prove they exist Kyle has to suck Cartmans balls. After setting a number of traps Cartman does manage to catch his leprechaun and prove to Kyle their existence, but it's at a cost and that cost is our imagination. The Leprechaun that they caught was on his way to warn the Imaginationland residents about a planned terrorist attack on our imagination. The gang are picked up by an eccentric character who takes them to imaginationland; after a wonderful and annoying song which is the key to our Imagination, the boys are taken into this world with all characters ever created by our imagination including Popeye, Luke Skywalker & Jesus.

In my opinion these episodes were easily the best that South Park has to offer and they gave us some of the more witty one liners that we've ever heard from South Park. The imagery is brilliant as the imaginary characters have you roaring with laughter with the situations that they find themselves in. A Care Bear being shot in the head and decapitated & Jason from the Friday the 13th movies saying he wouldn't want to meet the guy who thought of the woodland critters (Cartman)

These were truly a hysterical set of episodes and I would have loved to have seen them put this on the big screen as a genuine sequel to their first movie. Whether this was a movie or just 3 great episodes, either way I would recommend this product as it will have you roaring with laughter from the very first minute.

I have been watching South Park ever since the pilot episode came out on the Internet when I was in the 6th grade, and I think I have seen every episode since. Needless to say, I'm a big fan. When the Imaginationland trilogy first aired, I thought to myself, "wow, they could easily just combine it all into a movie and sell it on DVD, I'd buy it". My thinking was on par with Matt Stone and Trey Parker, because sure enough a month or two later I saw the ad for the Imaginationland DVD, and bought it instantly. This movie has all the great elements of a South Park episode: Cartman going out of his way to get what he wants (Kyle as always being the culprit), countless allusions to current events (which is why the show has been so successful for so long), and of course any character you can think of that's ever been created as part of Imaginationland. The Woodland critters are back, which is incredible. To keep this short, if you like South Park, buy this...if you saw even one episode on the trilogy, buy this, if you've never heard of South Park, buy this..it's that good.

Wow. This was great. Can the South Park boys get any more creative or more funny? I think not.

Finally! Another South Park movie! I'm trilled and Imaginationland is great. The more you know about imaginary cartoons, villains and computer game heroes, the more you will get out of it. But, it's great and will be loved by anyone who likes South Park.

I am greatly gratified to see "Imaginationland" on DVD as a stand-alone feature. This originally aired as a three-part episode of South Park, and I felt at the time that it could easily have been the second threatrical release movie based on the series. The three episodes comprised my favorite television program of all 2007, and along with "Team America," stands as Matt and Trey's best work.

"Imaginationland" shares its basic premise with Clifford D. Simak's 1970 science fiction novel "Out of Their Minds." It's based on the concept that imaginary characters and beings from myth, legend, folklore, and fiction all exist in literal reality, co-existing together in some alternate dimension, owing to the power of the mental energy focused on them by the collective human imagination. South Park started out as simple shock-jock type humor and matured into genuinely brilliant social satire. With "Imaginationland," it offers some genuinely touching and moving moments and at times achieves an epic sweep and grandeur, all without sacrificing its characteristic laugh-out-loud raunchy humor. "Imaginationland" may not by South Park's funniest episode, but it is arguably its finest.

[SPOILER ALERT: I found "Imaginationland" thought-provoking enough to critique at some length, but this does entail a brief synopsis of the main plot points.]

The story begins as Eric Cartman, the world's most malevolent 8-year-old, has enlisted the other boys to capture a leprechaun he has seen. Cartman has made a bet with Kyle that Kyle will such Cartman's balls if Cartman can prove leprechauns exist. The leprechaun does appear, to the amazement of all, and gives a warning about terrorists before vanishing. Cartman spends the rest of the story attempting to coerce Kyle into fulfilling the terms of the bet.

Later, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Jimmy, and Butters meet the Mayor of Imaginationland who is seeking the leprechaun. He takes the boys on a trip to Imaginationland. [Check out the Wikipedia entries for Imaginationland for a complete tally of the imaginary beings who appear in the saga.] Soon after they arrive, terrorists invade to sow death and destruction. The boys escape, but Butters is left behind. The terrorists wreck the wall that keeps out all the most evil beings ever imagined by humans, and these now threaten to overrun the good part of Imaginationland. Back in the real world, the US military has learned that "terrorists have seized control of our imagination" and contemplate attacking Imaginationland through a Stargate.

They are forestalled by Kyle, who makes a moving speech about how imaginary characters are "real" in the sense that they touch all our lives. Yet the real hero of the story is Butters. My favorite South Park character, Butters is the antithesis of Cartman; he is a sweet, good-natured little kid who is, sadly, not appreciated by his idiot parents. As a real human being in Imaginationland, Butters is a "creator," able to alter things in that world by using his imagination. Butters is able to raise Santa Claus from the dead and is soon bolstering the forces of good imaginary beings in their battle against the evil forces.

Which brings me to an important point: "Imaginationland" illustrates one of the key advantages Good enjoys over Evil. Cartman enters Imaginationland only at the end of the story. He is instantly able to use his imagination to create doppelgangers of himself and Kyle, so as to see Kyle fulfill the terms of the bet. Butters, on the other hand, had to slowly learn to use his power. Also, Cartman was the first of the boys to see an imaginary being (the leprechaun). The satanic Woodland Critters from Cartman's Christmas story in a previous episode are among the most formidable beings in the evil part of Imaginationland. Yet the Critters were created by Cartman, and known only to himself and his fourth grade class--whereas the other evil beings --Frankenstein, Alien, et al-- are part of the imaginary lives of millions. ALL THIS INDICATES THAT CARTMAN IS MORE POWERFUL THAN BUTTERS! Possessed of an extemely forceful personality, Cartman has swayed entire mobs of adults in past episodes. HAD THE EVIL FORCES OF IMAGINATIONLAND BEEN ABLE TO RECRUIT CARTMAN, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN TRIUMPHANT. However, Cartman remains totally fixated on his silly bet with Kyle and is unable to see beyond it, taking no notice of the momentous events that whirl about him. One of the weaknesses of evil is pettiness, and it is pettiness that nullifies Cartman's power full evil.

I posit that it is Butters, not Kyle, who is Cartman's true nemesis. Cartman is moved to attempt to humiliate Butters in many episodes because he subconsciously feels threatened by Butters' goodness. Butters is so nice that he can only express anger by creating a seperate persona, Professor Chaos. But that's another topic. Interestingly, Butters sometimes appears almost in the capacity of Cartman's sidekick. He is the only one of the boys to call Cartman "Eric." Perhaps Butters can, Christlike, steer Cartman onto a better path. Cartman has been shown to be effective when using his powers for good, as when he pulls Kyle back from the brink of death following an attack by ManBearPig.

Gripping, moving, and thoughtprovoking as it is funny, "Imaginationland" is epic in its scope. It's great to see it on DVD, packaged as a stand alone feature, and I honestly feel that it rated a theatrical release.

This "movie" was made in HD, and actually aired in HD, but what does Paramount give us...Letterboxed Full Screen!!! I want to personally find the person who encoded / authored this DVD and expel them from life! To that person: If you don't know your aspect ratios and what ANAMORPHIC widescreen is by now, you have no business authoring DVDs. Go back to working at McDonald's or join the Army!!!

For the people who don't author DVDs or work in video...basically this disc is giving you two thirds the resoultion you should get if it was made properly. If you have a standard definition TV with 4:3 aspect ratio, you most likely won't notice anything. If you have a 16:9 aspect ratio TV (standard definition OR high definition) this disc will look like poop.

Great little mini movie though!!!