It seems the Christmas spirit is vacant in South Park this year. Nobody is shopping or celebrating as they once did. What's more, when Kyle leaves milk and cookies on the toilet for Mr. Hankey, he doesn't come. So he wakes Stan, Cartman and Kenny out of a sound sleep and drags them into the sewers to find him. Turns out Hankey has settled down and started a family, complete with drunk lush wife Autumn, and three kids, though only one of them serve any purpose in the story. The Hankey kids go with the boys to try and spread Christmas cheer, but no luck. So the boys go home and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas, or a very twisted facsimile. They find this classic cartoon to be lame, but then Kyle hits upon the brilliant idea of making their own animated Christmas special. They take their idea to the mayor and ask for a $300 budget...construction paper must be pretty expensive now adays. She thinks the idea is stupid, but is desperate enough to try it, and so the boys commission Butters to create little paper cut-outs of them, plus Jesus and Santa, and even a little version of Butters for good measure. And so, the boys commence on their stop-motion cartoon, finding it simple and enjoyable, but tedious as all hell. After berating Cartman for sneezing on their scene, he walks. At this point, it seems hopeless, but Kyle sings about how even a miracle needs a hand, so they ship their materials off to Korea to finish, and get the final film soon after. Oh, and Kenny dies during the song, so they decide to kill off his character in the special.
Hankey's son Cornwallis is having an existential crisis, so his father sings about how crap isn't a part of life, but that it IS life. Circle of life...I advise you not to eat while watching this part. Then after that, the premiere of the boys' animated Christmas card, "The Spirit of Christmas." They set it up in the old drive-in, despite the fact nobody was driving a car. While the animation was crappy and the voice acting amateur, the special seemed decent enough, but sadly, the projector catches fire, ending the show early. It seemed that Christmas was doomed. But then, Cornwallis reminds Mr. Hankey of the lesson he taught him, and so they somehow repair the projector and the film. The Spirit of Christmas was one weird, but intriguing special: Jesus and Santa fight, then the boys learn the true meaning of the holiday: presents. The folks of South Park take the meaning to heart and begin shopping. So all was well again.
Have to say, this one is my least favorite of the South Park Christmas specials. Maybe it has to do with Mr. Hankey's uninteresting family. Seriously, his wife is horrible to him and only one of his kids serves any purpose, which is ironic because he feels he has no purpose. Or maybe we're familiar with the history of The Spirit of Christmas, so that was nothing new to us. It does give a good insight into how something like that was made. Stop-motion animation is simple and cheap, but it is extremely tedious, especially if you're working solo, not like Rankin/Bass who had a whole team of animators in Japan making their specials. Anyway, it's still an enjoyable episode if you look past Hankey's family. Also, I have seen The Spirit of Christmas in full...both of them. Poorly animated, but the story is decent enough and it's got it where it counts, which is really all that matters.
Hankey's son Cornwallis is having an existential crisis, so his father sings about how crap isn't a part of life, but that it IS life. Circle of life...I advise you not to eat while watching this part. Then after that, the premiere of the boys' animated Christmas card, "The Spirit of Christmas." They set it up in the old drive-in, despite the fact nobody was driving a car. While the animation was crappy and the voice acting amateur, the special seemed decent enough, but sadly, the projector catches fire, ending the show early. It seemed that Christmas was doomed. But then, Cornwallis reminds Mr. Hankey of the lesson he taught him, and so they somehow repair the projector and the film. The Spirit of Christmas was one weird, but intriguing special: Jesus and Santa fight, then the boys learn the true meaning of the holiday: presents. The folks of South Park take the meaning to heart and begin shopping. So all was well again.
Have to say, this one is my least favorite of the South Park Christmas specials. Maybe it has to do with Mr. Hankey's uninteresting family. Seriously, his wife is horrible to him and only one of his kids serves any purpose, which is ironic because he feels he has no purpose. Or maybe we're familiar with the history of The Spirit of Christmas, so that was nothing new to us. It does give a good insight into how something like that was made. Stop-motion animation is simple and cheap, but it is extremely tedious, especially if you're working solo, not like Rankin/Bass who had a whole team of animators in Japan making their specials. Anyway, it's still an enjoyable episode if you look past Hankey's family. Also, I have seen The Spirit of Christmas in full...both of them. Poorly animated, but the story is decent enough and it's got it where it counts, which is really all that matters.
