Animation South Park: Imaginationland South

Animation

South Park: Imaginationland

South Park's "Imaginationland" trilogy is an ambitious project with a rich and well-crafted plot. Its bawdy humor belies the cleverness of the film, which is one of the most remarkable aspects of the "Imaginationland" trilogy. All the elements familiar to South Park are present including Cartman's over-the-top egomaniacal tyrannical homoerotic ranting. However, "Imaginationland" is more than just another South Park episode. The three-part series includes social and political commentary and touches upon metaphysical issues as well.

And encounter with a leprechaun eventually takes the boys to a parallel universe where human thoughts, powered by emotions and creative drive, are made manifest. The people are therefore portrayed as the creators of "Imaginationland." All sorts of characters are present in Imaginationland: from cereal box icons like Count Chocula to Ronald McDonald and the Smurfs. Just when I was starting to wonder where all the demons of our imagination are, the central conflict of the story emerged. Terrorists are attacking via the imagination. Their tactics are to break down the Barrier: the wall between the negative and the positive imagery.

The message of the film is that we feed our fears as well as our hopes. What we give power to becomes our reality. Imaginationland is itself a shared dream, a collective state of consciousness in which all human beings can work together to either benefit or destroy the world. The creators of South Park color such a meaty message with their characteristic toilet humor. Thus, "Imaginationland" comes across as being light even though the underlying message is heavy. The film is also directed extremely well: with lots of cuts and slow motion action sequences as well as allusions to popular culture and filmmaking techniques.

2. Drawn Together: Hot Tub episode

The pilot episode of "Drawn Together" introduces the characters of the show as well as its tone, theme, and style of humor. The basic premise of Drawn Together is a reality show for animated characters. The cast of characters lives in a giant mansion together with "a million" cameras on them at all times. They speak into the camera in the private room just like on real-life reality shows. Moreover, the interpersonal conflicts and melodrama is also integral to the show. The concept of Drawn Together allows for a great deal of irony, as the animated characters are aware they are animated and what their being animated makes them capable of doing.

One of the most striking features of the "Hot Tub" episode is how Drawn Together bases its humor on stereotypes and norms. The show milks stereotypes and social norms for jokes by creating the most offensive material possible. For example, the Princess character is a blatant bigot who spews oodles of racist bile when Foxy enters. Foxy is a stereotypical African-American female: a promiscuous, sex-hungry, big-booty, feisty young female. Her kissing the Princess also plays on the norm of lesbian love. The only other female character is a Betty Boop-like washed-up old actress with cellulite who is drawn in black and white. The animation is clever and executed well. The only "Asian" character is a Pokemon-like creature who needs subtitles and who wants to fight all the time. The two male characters include the jock and the closeted homosexual who pines for his girlfriend.

Their interactions are hilarious and so are their characters. Although the stereotypes are harmless, there is a level at which the show may lose its appeal. All the jokes are based on the stereotypes, which means there is little holding the show together beneath the superficial giggles.

3. Futurama: Godfellas

The title of this Futurama episode refers to the Scorsese movie Goodfellas, which is about the Italian mafia. Although "Godfellas" is not about the mafia, a brief scene in the episode does allude to gangsters. Otherwise, "Godfellas" is about the relationship between human beings and God, and the role of God in human affairs. The tone of the episode verges on being esoteric, but well-timed jokes prevent it from becoming bogged down.

Bender is thrust into the role of a god when a civilization starts growing on his body. His role is not totally omnipotent, since he did not purposefully create the creatures. What matters more is how he chooses to deal with the people, who view Bender as their god. Bender, almost acting out of character, tries to be benevolent. He appreciates the adulation. Unfortunately his efforts fail and his civilization annihilates itself. Bender then meets God, who speaks in binary. God informs Bender that "When you do things right, people will think you did nothing at all." That becomes a refreshing theme of the episode. I appreciated the lighthearted philosophical and insightful tone of "Godfellas."