Cartoon Wars Part II
"Cartoon Wars Part II" | |
---|---|
South Park episode | |
Episode no. | Season 10 Episode 4 |
Directed by | Trey Parker |
Written by | Trey Parker |
Production code | 1004 |
Original air date | April 12, 2006 |
"Cartoon Wars Part II" is the fourth episode in the
The episodes were inspired by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy, which began in response to a Danish newspaper's printing of cartoons depicting Muhammed in September 2005, leading to worldwide protests and occasionally violent demonstrations and riots in early 2006. It also came from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's general dislike of Family Guy, which they viewed as overly reliant on cutaway gags for humor and less so on story. During production, the duo ran into reluctance from Comedy Central and parent company Viacom, who felt their insistence to depict Muhammad disregarded concerns for public safety. Parker and Stone argued that the network was giving in to hypothetical violence, labeling them hypocrites due to their satirizing of other religions in the past. The network interference was written into the episode's storyline.
Comedy Central eventually aired the episode with a black title card during the Muhammad sequence, censoring the depiction. The episode received positive reviews from critics; while the episode's censorship did attract headlines, it received more attention for its lampooning of Family Guy. When the series was transferred to
Plot
Eric Cartman has an intense disdain for the television program Family Guy due to frequent comparisons between his sense of humor and that of the show by his peers. When Cartman learns that an episode of the show is to feature a depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, he exploits fears of retaliation to urge Fox, the network on which Family Guy airs, to pull the episode. Cartman pretends to be the sickly Danish son of a cartoonist with a broken leg, telling the Fox executives that his father was killed by terrorists during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and pleading that they pull the Family Guy episode. His story touches the executives, who encourage Cartman to try to persuade the writers to yield. Kyle, who enjoys Family Guy, arrives at the Fox Studio to foil Cartman's plans, though is knocked unconscious by an ally of Cartman's implied to be Bart Simpson who, also wanting to destroy Family Guy, restrains Kyle in a supply shed.
Cartman is introduced to the Family Guy writing staff: a group of manatees who live in a large tank, and construct the plot for each episode of the show by picking up "idea balls" from a large pile, each of which has a different noun, a verb or a pop culture reference written on it, and delivering them to a machine that then forms a cutaway gag. The manatees refuse to work if any idea ball is removed from their tank: making censorship unfeasible.
Cartman reunites with a restrained Kyle, praising his enraged reaction to the scheme: proclaiming it as "emotional character development based on what's happening in the storyline! Not at all like Family Guy" and reveals he plans to remove a ball from the manatee tank, which will cause them to cease working. This convinces the Fox president that the manatees are spoiled and abusive of the executives' generosity. The president decides to pull the new Family Guy episode shortly before airtime. Cartman feels victorious, but Kyle shows up, saying he convinced Cartman's coconspirator to set him free.
After a physical altercation between Cartman and Kyle, they both go to the Fox president's office. Kyle tells the president that Cartman has duped him into pulling the episode, and despite Cartman's brandishing of a gun, Kyle implores the president not to censor the episode. The network president ultimately decides, in spite of threats of violence from both Cartman and the terrorists, that Family Guy should be aired, and without censorship.
The Family Guy episode airs, and features a scene in which
Terrorist leader
Production
That's what we said to them, was, 'This is South Park, and we rip on absolutely everyone in really horrible, terrible ways. And if you're saying that this is the one thing we can't do, besides Tom Cruise, because they're threatening violence, well, then, I guess that's what everyone should do. Then if the Catholics don't want us ripping on Jesus anymore, they should just threaten you with violence, and they'll get their way.' That's why it is such a slippery slope and such a dangerous path to go down.
— Trey Parker, 2006[2]
The episode was largely inspired by the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy,[3] in which twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, leading to protests around the world in early 2006, including violent demonstrations and riots in some Muslim countries. The duo had wanted to create an episode centering on Muhammad months before that particular controversy flared.[2] The episode's title was inspired by a headline on a television news broadcast of the controversy: "Breaking news: Cartoon wars. Muslims angered over cartoon."[4][5] After these incidents, Parker and Stone wanted to include Muhammad "just […] standing there", as a harmless and not overtly offensive depiction.[2] They assumed that Comedy Central would support their efforts, in light of their established practice of tackling serious subjects with satire.[2]
According to Parker, the network was troubled by the duo's stated intention to produce an episode on Muhammad, but nonetheless did not oppose it, in light of how lucrative the show was.
Part of Parker and Stone's anger came from the fact that "
Cultural references
"Cartoon Wars Part II" contains several cultural references. The episode parodies the Fox animated sitcom Family Guy, which was revived from cancellation the previous year and attracted immense popularity. Parker stated in the director's commentary for the episode that, "we totally understand that people love it, that's why we put it in the show, we understand that it speaks to some people and it can just be a simple laugh and that's great and we certainly don't think it should be taken off the air or anything like that, we just don't respect it in terms of writing", later referring to the writers behind the show as "smart" but emphatically criticizing their overuse of "gag-humor".[7] Stone added that the Family Guy writing staff "[needs] to work harder".
In referencing Family Guy, the episode also brings another Fox television sitcom into the equation:
The episode's opening is
Reception
Critical response
Despite the controversy surrounding the image of Muhammad, the episode received high acclaim. Eric Goldman of IGN gave the episode a perfect review, with a score of 10 out of 10, saying, "The really ironic thing here is that South Park already did show Mohammed prominently, in the "Super Best Friends" episode in 2001. Clearly Matt and Trey are also commenting on how times have changed, and how the acts of select extremists can create such specific fears in the powers that be; hammering home their point was the episode's conclusion, which featured terrorists responding to Family Guy with a cartoon of their own, showing Jesus defecating on George W. Bush and the American flag, which pointedly was shown without being censored." This episode also won an IGN Editors Choice Award.[8] A 2011 review of the episode from The A.V. Club is part of a series that examines episodes that "exemplify the spirit of its time and the properties that make television a unique medium". Noel Murray writes that the episode "slyly deals with censorship and public pressures of varying degrees—including some that are fairly discreet".[9]
Seth MacFarlane responded positively to the episode. During his "class day" address at Harvard University on June 7, 2006, he addressed Stone and Parker's criticisms in character as Stewie, stating that the "...cutaways and flashbacks have nothing to do with the story. They're just there to be 'funny'. That is a shallow indulgence that South Park is quite above, and, for that, I salute them."[10] In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2012, MacFarlane called the episode "funny and accurate".[11]
Controversy
The situation became one of life imitating art; in the week prior to the episode's airing, the teaser advertisement referenced the situation: "Will television executives take a stand for free speech? Or will Comedy Central puss out?"[5] Comedy Central's decision to censor the image was due to concerns for public safety. The network issued a short statement the day following the episode's airing: “In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision.”[3] "Cartoon Wars" followed only weeks after another religious run-in with the network, in which Comedy Central pulled a rerun of the season nine episode "Trapped in the Closet" due its apparent mocking of Scientology.[3] Stone publicly criticized Comedy Central executive Doug Herzog's decision as "cowardly" in Daily Variety.[2]
Following the episode's airing, the ending attracted publicity, often misrepresenting and simplifying the segment's theme and message and sensationalizing the appearances of Jesus and President George W. Bush.
In recent years, the episode has become notorious not for its lampooning of censorship and the Muhammad controversy, but for its criticism of Family Guy.[6] "You’d think [Muhammad] would be the flashpoint. But no. It’s Family Guy everyone’s talking about (at least, in this hemisphere)", said Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly.[13] The duo were disappointed upon their realization that fans cared less about their opinions on censorship and freedom of speech, but rather, were fixated on Tom Cruise and the controversy surrounding "Trapped in the Closet".[6]
Following the episode's broadcast, Harper's Magazine approached the duo to print their uncensored, original image of Muhammad in an issue, but Comedy Central would not approve of the request.[2] "Harper's is in every Barnes & Noble, every Borders in the country now. I saw it in the airport. It has all the Danish cartoons, and nothing happened. The risks were totally overestimated, I thought", said Stone.[2]
At a Television Critics Association (TCA) discussion in July 2006, Herzog responded to criticism directed at him:
I don't feel unlike Matt and Trey to a certain degree. You feel bad, but it's a big judgment call made on behalf of, as Matt said, a big media company. The ramifications are Matt and Trey being pissed at you and Matt calling you a coward in Daily Variety. […] But you know, it's just a tough [situation]. Did we over react? For sure. And I think history will probably show that, we hope. We'd like to think. And in a perfect world we would have liked to have done it -- [It was] a judgment call; one of the very few, although there seem to have been a lot over the last six months. Matt and Trey enjoy, I think, a very fair amount of creative freedom. But it really just comes down to a judgment call. And like I said, I think history might show we overreacted, but we're willing to live like that.[2]
Stone referred to the episode's censorship as "really, beyond creatively disappointing […] because we thought we could do something really important."[2]
Home media
"Cartoon Wars Part II", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park's tenth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on August 21, 2007. The set includes brief audio commentaries by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for each episode.[14] "Cartoon Wars Part II" was also released as part of The Cult of Cartman, a 2008 DVD compilation of Cartman-centric episodes.[15]
See also
- "200" and "201", episodes of South Park from season fourteen that also center on Muhammad and drew a similar response
- Criticism of Family Guy
- Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
References
- ^ Haring, Bruce (June 24, 2020). "'South Park' Missing Five Episodes From HBO Max Offerings Because Of Prophet Muhammad Depictions". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Eric Goldman (18 July 2006). "South Park: Matt and Trey Speak Out, Part 2". IGN. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Today.com). Associated Press. Archived from the originalon October 20, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
- ^ a b Eric Goldman (18 July 2006). "South Park: Matt and Trey Speak Out, Part 1". IGN.com website. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Gillespie, Nick; Walker, Jesse (December 2006). "South Park Libertarians - Trey Parker and Matt Stone on liberals, conservatives, censorship, and religion". Reason. Archived from the original on December 31, 2006. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Parker, Trey and Stone, Matt. (2007). Commentary for "Cartoon Wars Part I", in South Park: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. Paramount Home Video/Comedy Central.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Parker, Trey and Stone, Matt. (2007). Commentary for "Cartoon Wars Part II", in South Park: The Complete Tenth Season [DVD]. Paramount Home Video/Comedy Central.
- ^ "Eric Goldman "South Park: 'Cartoon Wars, Part 2' Review"". IGN.com website. 13 April 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Noel Murray (May 12, 2011). "South Park, "Cartoon Wars"". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
- ^ Seth Macfarlane: 'I created a TV show where a vaudeville-era barbershop quartet sings a song about AIDS' Harvard, 2006
- ^ "Q&A: Seth MacFarlane on Hosting the Oscars, Being Hated by 'South Park' "
- ^ Vitello, Paul (May 15, 2009). "A 'Marine' for Catholics Sees a Time of Battle". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2011-12-04. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Scott Brown (12 April 2006). "Steel Cage: South Park vs. Family Guy". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 6, 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
- ^ Iverson, Dan (November 22, 2006). "South Park: The Complete Tenth Season DVD Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
- ^ "You Know Him. You Love Him. Now Follow Him. 'South Park: Cult of Cartman' DVD Hits Stores on Tuesday, October 7" (Press release). New York: Comedy Central. October 2, 2008. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
External links
- "Cartoon Wars Part II" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Cartoon Wars Part II" at IMDb
- AP story about the episode "'South Park' aims at censors, hits Bush, Jesus"