Imaginationland
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"Imaginationland" (the first part of the trilogy titled "Kyle Sucks Cartman's Balls") is episode 1110 (#163) of Comedy Central's South Park. It premiered on October 17, 2007. [1]
Plot
The episode begins in the woods, with Cartman directing the other boys in setting up traps and spying on the surroundings, searching for a leprechaun. Cartman claims to have seen it in the woods for several days in a row, and a skeptical Kyle is there, having made a bet with him---if Cartman can prove leprechauns exist, Kyle will suck his balls, but if not, Cartman will owe Kyle $10. As the two are arguing, Butters suddenly does spot a leprechaun, and as it flees, the boys chase it, and eventually catch it in a trap. The leprechaun warns the boys of a terrorist attack, before vanishing with magic.
Cartman, triumphant, declares that Kyle must now suck his balls, but Kyle refuses, insisting that the leprechaun could not have been real. This leads to a confrontation between Kyle and Cartman at the Broflovski house, where Gerald Broflovski insists that his son should not renege on promises and then is informed by Cartman about the contract the boys signed. The next day, as Kyle is discussing the leprechaun with the other boys, a strange man suddenly appears, asking them if they have seen it. When Kyle argues that leprechauns are just imaginary, the man tells him that just because something is imaginary doesn't mean it isn't real. He then invites the boys for a ride in his magical "Imagination Flying Machine" (prompting Butters' suspicion that the man is a pedophile who intends to rape them). On board the flying machine, the man sings the Imagination Song (which consists of him saying the word "imagination" repeatedly to various tunes) until Kyle finally gets irritated and demands to know where he is taking them. They arrive in a bizarre place called Imaginationland, where all the beings created by human imagination reside.
The imaginary creatures are all fascinated by the presence of the "creators," and ask them about the leprechaun. Just as they are about to tell them, however, a band of Muslim terrorists suddenly appear and set off a series of bombs, which quickly kill hundreds of the imaginary creatures and destroy most of the city. The boys flee, and a passing dragon tells them to climb on its back so it can fly them to safety. Butters, however, is left behind, attacked by terrorists at the last minute, and the others fly away without him.
The next morning, Kyle wakes up in his bed, and is at first sure the whole thing must have been a dream---until he calls Stan, and discovers that he had the same dream. They also soon discover that Butters is missing. Meanwhile, Cartman, angry that Kyle has refused to fulfill his part of their agreement, takes Kyle to court, where the judge, seeing the written contract the two made, orders Kyle to suck Cartman's balls within twenty-four hours.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has learned about the attack on Imaginationland, and is horrified to discover that terrorists have managed to take over "their imaginations" and carried out "imaginary attacks." They receive a video from the terrorists, showing that they have the survivors of the attack, including Butters, hostage. Butters reads a note from the terrorists, and calls out to Stan and Kyle as the video ends. Unsure of how to counter such a move, they turn to Hollywood film makers, hoping that they can use their creativity to get ideas.[2] At first M. Night Shyamalan and Michael Bay are consulted, but when their ideas are considered stupid (Shyamalan comes up with plot twists and Michael Bay only does special effects), the advice of Mel Gibson is sought. Following the suggestion of torturing himself and arousing his own nipples, he suggests making sure all the characters in the video are imaginary. The officials at the Pentagon rewatch the video and realize that Butters is not an imaginary character and head out to locate both Stan and Kyle.
In Imaginationland, the terrorists take one of the creatures, Rockety Rocket, and begin to modify him, planning to use him to blow up "the Barrier" - the wall that separates the good and evil halves of Imaginationland; this would allow the most evil beings of the human mind to come forth and rule the entire world. The imaginary creatures urge Butters to stop them. Butters stands in front of the wall just as the terrorists are about to do it, and urges them not to, arguing it won't make them "feel any better" and that they should learn to live in peace with other people. The terrorists simply blow the Barrier up anyway; the explosion causes it to begin to crack.
Cartman, meanwhile, throws a huge party, during which the other boys are supposed to watch Kyle come over and suck his balls. Kyle and Stan are about to walk into Cartman's house, when the members of the military suddenly show up and take the two of them away for questioning about what they know about Imaginationland. Cartman, furious at being foiled, quickly leaves and begins to hitchhike to Washington, D.C. to force Kyle to fulfill his obligation.
The episode ends in to be continued.
Reception
IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.1/10 and praised it for being "smart, inventive and provides a number of moments that'll stick with you long after it's over. [3] 411Mania also gave the show a positive review, calling it "a great episode", praising it as an improvement over what the site perceived to be two weak episodes, and awarding it 7/10[4].
The episode currently has a score of 9.5 on TV.com, as voted for by viewers.[5]
Allusions
- The title sequence that takes place after the Leprechaun's warning is in reference to the title sequences from the Superman and Star Wars films.
- The man who brings the boys to Imaginationland and his balloon are a parody of the once popular Dreamfinder character from the now extinct attraction Journey Into Imagination at EPCOT Center's Journey Into Imagination pavilion.
- The scene in which Stan is crouched under the giant mushroom is an almost shot-by-shot recreation of a scene from Saving Private Ryan, in which Stan plays the part of Captain John Miller during the landing at Omaha Beach. The scene is spoofed right down to Ronald McDonald re-enacting the infamous shot of a man picking up his own dismembered arm off the ground.
- In the last scene of the episode where Cartman is getting a ride from the trucker, Cartman is dressed exactly like Sylvester Stallone's character Rambo in the movie "First Blood" with the trademark green Army jacket, red undershirt, and brown traveling bag. This also refers to the way he is hitchhiking and the words he speaks at the end "When a man has been wronged, he no longer cares about danger." and "You go through life being told there's justice, then you learn the only real justice...is the justice you take." Rambo Cartman Comparison
Continuity
- Over the course of the show's history, Cartman has told various people to "suck his balls". However, this is the first time he has ever attempted to put this deed to practice.
- Mel Gibson appears as he did in Passion of the Jew.
- Buddha, Krishna, Joseph Smith and Lao Zi all appear as part of Imaginationland, despite the fact that they were all said to be real in Super Best Friends and, for Smith, All About Mormons.
- Keeping in with Matt Stone's and Trey Parker's views of Michael Bay and his films ("The End of an Act", often referred to as Pearl Harour sucks, from Team America soundtrack), Bay's penchant for action over content is parodied here.
Character references in Imaginationland
Numerous fictional characters are present in Imaginationland, all of which are outlined in the following list.
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References
- ^ Episode guide. South Park Studios. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
- ^ Peter Bart. "Pentagon calls for rewrites on war script". Variety. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Travis Fickett. "South Park: "Imaginationland" Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Jerome Cusson. "Goin' Down to South Park 10.17.07: Imaginationland". 411mania.com. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "South Park: Imaginationland Episode Reviews". Tv.Com. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ Kelly Hagen. "Reality check for 'Peanuts'". Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "Mario Makes It To South Park". Kotaku. Retrieved 2007-10-19.