Cartoon Wars Part I
| "Cartoon Wars Part I" |
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"Cartoon Wars Part I" is episode 142 of South Park which aired on April 5, 2006. It is part one of a two-episode story, which concludes with "Cartoon Wars Part II".
Plot
South Park is in a panic when Family Guy shows an episode featuring the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a character. The townspeople hide in the Community Center for fear of a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists. It turns out that Muhammad only appears in a brief "cutaway gag" and also ends up being censored. It is revealed, however, that a second half of the two-parter, without censorship, will follow. Kyle, who likes the show, finds no problem and thinks the censorship is wrong, but Cartman disagrees, declaring that it is wrong to do this. Kyle thinks that he is faking, but, when Cartman gives an impassioned speech about keeping people from getting hurt, he is guilt-ridden. After a terrible dream in which he and his little brother Ike are killed by a terrorist bomb, Kyle agrees to go with Cartman to get the episode pulled.
The people of South Park, meanwhile, decide literally to bury their heads in the sand, so as to show Islamists that they have no part in the insult. On the way to Hollywood, Kyle discovers something shocking: in his rambling, Cartman accidentally reveals that he only wants to get Family Guy canceled, that he does not care about the Muslims, and that he is only using them as a means to get the episode pulled thus setting off a chain of events and causing other episodes to get pulled until Family Guy is taken off the air altogether, endeavoring to use fear to destroy Freedom of speech. Cartman reveals that people always assume that he loves Family Guy when in fact he hates it since he believes it employs jokes without a point or relation to the main plot. Kyle tells Cartman that it is not right to have Family Guy taken completely off the air, even though he agrees on the content of the Muhammad-depicting show. Knowing that Kyle will not be helping now, Cartman decides to go at it alone, but Kyle insists he will not let that happen. The two start racing one another on their Big Wheels to Hollywood in order to decide the fate of the show.
In an exaggeratedly dramatic (owing the fact that Big Wheels move slowly) car chase, a police vehicle loses control and Kyle rides his Big Wheel over a ledge after various objects are thrown at it by Cartman. After falling down a steep hill, Kyle's Big Wheel explodes. Cartman laughs manically and bids his friend farewell: "So long, Kyle!" Kyle angrily yells back at him, swearing that he will not let him win. Cartman, riding into the distance, tells Kyle, "Suck my balls, Kyle!".
President Bush meets with the FOX executives. Bush and the Fox president call each other "Mr. President" back and forth. The Fox president says that there is something secret about the Family Guy writers that must be revealed.
At this point, it is revealed this is a two-part episode and that the conclusion will be given in the next episode. According to the ending and the "Next Week On South Park" segment, President Bush and Cartman will learn a horrible secret about the Family Guy writers that supposedly "explains everything", while the entire nation buries its head in sand. The "Next Week On South Park" segment hints that Cartman and Kyle are finally going to have a fight, at last venting years of hatred against each other.
Influence
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have stated for the record their opinions on Family Guy. They say that although they respect it for its fans and making people laugh, and having some smart humor, they ultimately hate the show itself and have no respect for its writing, especially for its overuse of "gag-humor".[1] They have also cited their dislike of people comparing "Family Guy" to their show.
According to Parker and Stone, following the airing of this episode, they were contacted by the producers of both The Simpsons and King of the Hill, praising their work. This inspired the addition of Bart Simpson as a character in the second part of this two-part episode as well as a brief scene in which the King of the Hill animation staff can be seen in the background.[2]
References
- ^ Parker, Trey, and Stone, Matt. Audio commentary. South Park The Complete Tenth Season. Dir. Parker, Stone. DVD. Paramount Home Video/Comedy Central, 2007, 1:07, "We can tell that Family Guy writers are intelligent, but we have no respect for them because they tend to over use 'gag-humor'"
- ^ Parker, Trey, and Stone, Matt. Audio commentary. South Park The Complete Tenth Season. Dir. Parker, Stone. DVD. Paramount Home Video/Comedy Central, 2007, 2:10, "After the first episode aired the producers from The Simpsons contacted us and said we were doing the work of God... [the makers of] King of the Hill felt the same way. We were so inspired by these conversations that we decided to include Bart Simpson and the King of the Hill staff in the next beast episode."
See also
External links
