ManBearPig
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (March 2011) |
| "ManBearPig" |
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"ManBearPig" is the sixth episode of the tenth season of Comedy Central's South Park. It originally aired on April 26, 2006. The episode parodies the film An Inconvenient Truth.
Plot
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore visits South Park Elementary School and warns the school's students about the terrible ManBearPig, a scary monster which is "half man, half bear, and half pig" and roams the Earth attacking humans for no reason at all. He also demands throughout the episode that people will take him "serial" or "cereal", which he uses apparently in place of the word "serious", referencing a real-life appearance Al Gore made on The Oprah Winfrey Show before the episode aired, where he misunderstood a question regarding his favorite cereal.[1]
Later, the boys' basketball game is interrupted by another visit from Al Gore, who is poorly disguised as the ManBearPig and claims to be "trying to spread ManBearPig awareness" by handing out flyers and bumper stickers. Stan's father Randy picks up the boys to drive them home, proclaiming that Gore is just desperate for attention because he has no friends. Al Gore telephones Stan in the middle of the night and begins pestering him about ManBearPig. Gore breaks down and whines on the phone, and Stan reluctantly agrees to go to a meeting, where Al Gore tells Stan and his friends that "MBP" is hiding in the Cave of the Winds. At first, the boys are reluctant to accompany him, but when he explains that he will excuse them from school, they agree to go.
In the cave, Gore first starts asking the tour guide illogical questions and begins moaning, trying to call ManBearPig. Gore forces the kids to follow him off the tour path. He begins firing a shotgun wildly after mistaking wind for ManBearPig, causing a cave-in that leaves the kids trapped in the caverns while Gore and all the other tourists evacuate the cave only moments before rocks come down, sealing off the cave entrance. Gore claims ManBearPig caused the cave-in and that the monster is still at large. While the boys search for a way out of the cave, Cartman discovers a small cavern filled with what appears to be gold coins, pearls, and other treasures. He hides the loot from the other boys and starts swallowing the treasure piece-by-piece to smuggle it out of the cave.
Outside the cave, a rescue team has been assembled to find the boys, despite Al Gore's whines and pleas that the caves be filled with molten lead in order to kill ManBearPig. When the rescue workers explain why they can not fill the cave with molten lead, Gore starts whining and crying like a baby. Gore then diverts the flow of a nearby stream in order to cause a flood which fills the cavern in an attempt to kill the still-unseen monster. Meanwhile, the boys think that Cartman, bloated with gold and jewels, has become severely ill, and carry him while trying to find a way out of the cave. As the cave floods, Kyle risks his life to get Eric to safety. The boys manage to escape just as a memorial service is being held for them. Al Gore is secretly celebrating the fact he "killed" ManBearPig, believing that he is a hero. When Gore claims he rescued them, Stan yells at him and calls him a jerk. Cartman tries to walk away but he does not get far before he begins painfully defecating pieces of treasure. It is revealed to Cartman that the treasure was a prop used for tourist photo ops and is only worth about 14 dollars. While Cartman continues to expel treasure in pain, Kyle angrily rebukes him for forcing the others to pull him to safety after eating the treasure, to which Cartman angrily retorts that he is already in enough pain. The episode ends with Cartman defecating pounds upon pounds of more fake treasure and Al Gore exclaiming his intention is to make a film starring himself. He ties a cape onto himself and "flies" away, exclaiming "Excelsior!" [the catchphrase of Marvel Comics' Stan Lee). Cartman then defecates a goblet.
Continuity
ManBearPig as well as his foil, Al Gore, appears in the South Park Season 11 episode "Imaginationland Episode II".
References in other media
On April 1, 2008 biotechnology news website Think Gene carried an April Fools Day story about the creation of a human-bear-pig chimera, complete with a picture and scientific description of the genes involved. The story concluded with "Al Gore could not be reached for comment".[2]
In the Season 10 DVD commentary, the creators talk about An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore's documentary film. Matt Stone states that Gore's movie should not have won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, charging "It wasn't a documentary. It was a PowerPoint presentation."
Marine Observation post ManBearPig in Treekha Nawa, Afghanistan is named after the fictional creature.[3]
In a November 7, 2008 interview on Current TV, Gore was asked about spreading "ManBearPig awareness", and he laughingly replied that he found it "unbelievable" how many comments he received from the episode.[4]
According to Eric Pooley in his 2010 book The Climate War, ManBearPig is "a common reference in the Denialosphere".[5][verification needed][6][failed verification]
References
- ^ Ferraro, Thomas (11 September 2000). "Gore shows his lighter side on 'Oprah'". Boston.com. Associated Press.
- ^ Hill, Josh (2008-04-01). "Scientists successfully create human-bear-pig chimera". Think Gene. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
- ^ Chivers, C. J. (2010-02-01). "As Marines Move In, the Taliban Fight a Shadowy War". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
- ^ "Current Presents Digg Dialogg: Al Gore on ManBearPig". Current TV. November 7, 2008. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ Pooley, Eric. The Climate War, Hyperion, 2010, p.426. ISBN 978-1-4013-2326-4
- ^ http://www.ericpooley.com/faq/
External links
- "ManBearPig" episode at South Park Studios
- "ManBearPig" in South Park's episode guide at South Park Studios