Volcano (South Park)
"Volcano" | |
---|---|
disaster films such as Volcano and Dante's Peak. The animators had some trouble creating lava that resembled orange construction paper, but were proud of the result.[1] | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 2 |
Written by | Trey Parker Matt Stone |
Production code | 103[2] |
Original air date | August 20, 1997[2] |
"Volcano" is the second episode of the
The episode was written and directed by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It was inspired by the 1997 disaster films Volcano and Dante's Peak, both of which Parker and Stone strongly disliked. The plot was also based on the significant amount of hunting Parker and Stone witnessed while growing up in Colorado; Stan's hesitation about the sport mirrors Parker's real-life feelings about hunting. Parker and Stone felt the computer animation in "Volcano" had greatly improved compared to the early episodes; they were particularly pleased with the lava, which was made to resemble orange construction paper.
"Volcano" received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a 1997
Plot
During the hunting trip, Jimbo proclaims Kenny his honorary nephew, upsetting Stan. When night falls, Cartman tells the story of Scuzzlebutt, a creature that has a piece of celery in place of one of its hands and Patrick Duffy for a leg. The boys are skeptical, so Cartman decides to dress up as the creature the next morning in order to convince and scare them. When he disappears the next morning, the others set out to find him. They then see Cartman disguised as Scuzzlebutt and start shooting at him. When they catch up with him at the base of the mountain, Stan tries to shoot him in order to redeem himself in his uncle's eyes. However, he is unable to do so and the delay gives Cartman time to remove the costume. At a lower elevation, Randy orders the South Park residents to dig a trench to divert the lava away from the town.
Suddenly, the volcano erupts. The hunters try to flee, but find themselves trapped on the other side of the trench. The real Scuzzlebutt then appears, and Jimbo apologizes to the boys for their seemingly imminent deaths, just before realizing that Scuzzlebutt is weaving a wicker basket to carry the hunting party to safety. The lava then flows through the trench just as Randy planned, but due to a miscalculation he made, the trench leads the lava to Denver, destroying it. However, in a misguided attempt to prove he can kill something and impress his uncle, Stan kills Scuzzlebutt. Jimbo is less than impressed, telling Stan that "some things you do kill and some you don't". Ned states that he now understands the folly of guns and drops his rifle, which accidentally fires, killing Kenny. Stan does not understand, since Jimbo tried to kill Scuzzlebutt earlier and other animals and wanted to impress Jimbo like Kenny did, Jimbo points out that Kenny is dead and that Stan will always be Jimbo's nephew. The boys decide that hunting is stupid and confusing, and decide to go home and watch cartoons.
Production
Another influence on the plot was the amount of hunting Parker and Stone saw around them while growing up in Colorado. Neither of them were hunters, and Parker said Stan's hesitation about hunting was based largely on himself and his father, who hated the idea of killing an animal even though Parker's grandfather, like Jimbo, was enthusiastic about the sport. Parker said he feels many of the first-season episodes considered taboo in 1997 would have been considered less controversial five years later, but that "Volcano" is an exception. Since the episode involved children drinking beer and threatening each other at gunpoint during hunting trips, Parker said he did not believe Comedy Central would have aired it following the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. Parker said, "Back then, it was just sort of funny, kids pointing guns at each other, and it's just not so funny now."[1]
South Park animators spent the first four episodes of the show trying to perfect the animation of the characters.[4] By "Volcano" – which was produced after "Weight Gain 4000" –, Parker and Stone felt the textures were improved, as well as smaller details like the lines around the eyes of the characters. While the series pilot "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" was animated with construction paper, subsequent episodes were made using computers. Nevertheless, Parker and Stone wanted the show to maintain its crude paper look; for example, they specifically asked for the night sky in this episode to look like a black piece of paper with holes cut into it for stars, just as it was in the pilot episode. Stone and Parker were especially proud of the animation of the lava, which they said took hours to perfect, although they acknowledged it ended up simply resembling orange construction paper. The lava ball shooting out of the volcano and almost killing Kenny was directly inspired by the Volcano film.[1] Parker and Stone came up with the character of Scuzzlebutt during a random conversation with Comedy Central executive Debbie Liebling. While meeting with her, they simply started drawing the character, and decided to add a celery hand and Patrick Duffy leg for no particular reason.[1] Scuzzlebutt also appeared in a second episode, "City on the Edge of Forever" from the second season.[5] Scuzzlebutt turning out to be a real character rather than a ridiculous story was the first instance of a common characteristic of the Cartman character, in which Cartman says outrageous and completely unrealistic things that turn out to be true. Stone commented, "He's right more often than he's wrong."[1]
The "Volcano" episode was in production when South Park debuted on August 13, 1997. Comedy Central executives did not object to most of the content of the episode, but said the scene in which Kyle farted while talking to Stan should have been removed because nothing happened after the fart, and they said it was not funny. Parker and Stone, however, insisted it stay in the episode, and they said the lack of any reaction whatsoever to the fart was what made it funny. During close-ups of Cartman's face while telling the story of Scuzzlebutt around the campfire, the flames from the fire stop moving. Parker and Stone noticed the consistency error after the episode was filmed, but they did not have enough time to go back and fix it before the broadcast date, so it was left in. A cat featured in the background of one of the outdoor scenes was designed to look exactly like Parker's cat, Jake. The scene in which Ned catches fire was based on an experience Parker had during a Colorado camping trip where he tried to do an "Indian Fire Trick", in which one pours gasoline onto a fire to create large flames. Although nobody caught fire, Parker said the trick misfired, and he nearly burned down the forest. After finishing the episode, Parker and Stone realized "Volcano" was about two minutes shorter than the time length required for the episode. In order to add time to the episode, Parker and Stone added the scene with Ned singing the song "Kumbaya" around the fire, as well as the long freeze-frame on a shocked Chef and Mayor McDaniels reacting to the news of the volcano's imminent eruption.[1]
In addition to Scuzzlebutt, "Volcano" included the first appearances of recurring characters Randy Marsh and Ned Gerblanski. In this first appearance, Randy is identified only as the South Park geologist,
"Volcano" was released alongside five other episodes in a three-VHS set on May 5, 1998, marking the first time South Park was made available on video. The episode was released on the "Volume I" video along with "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"; other featured episodes included "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig", "Death", "Weight Gain 4000", and "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride".[7] "South Park: The Complete First Season", a DVD box set featuring all thirteen episodes, including "Volcano", was released on November 12, 2002.[8] Parker and Stone recorded commentary tracks for each episode, but the tracks were not included on the DVDs due to "standards" issues with some of the statements; Parker and Stone refused to allow the tracks to be edited and censored, so they were released on a separate CD.[4][9]
Cultural references and impact
The episode features a fictional education film called Lava and You, which says lava will pass harmlessly over potential victims who duck and cover their heads. The film was inspired by actual "
The scene where Scuzzlebutt puts a star on top of a tree is a reference to a similar scene in the 1964 television special
Several lines of dialogue from "Volcano" became especially popular among South Park fans, including "It's coming right for us!" by Jimbo,[10][13] and the two Cartman lines, "Democrats piss me off!"[14] and "Cartoons Kick Ass!", the last of which was featured on T-shirts.[15] Despite the relatively small role Scuzzlebutt played in the series, he nevertheless became a popular minor South Park character.[16] He was included in the South Park video games South Park 10: The Game and South Park Rally.[17] The song "Hot Lava", sung by the Chef in the episode, was featured on the 1998 soundtrack Chef Aid: The South Park Album.[18]
A recreation of the episode serves as the
Reception
"Volcano" originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. The
"Volcano" received generally positive reviews.
References
- ^ South Park – The Complete First Season: Audio Commentary for Volcano (CD). Sunset Strategic Marketing; Comedy Central.
- ^ a b "South Park: no. 103, Volcano". United States Copyright Office. August 29, 1997. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Danielsen, Shane (1997-12-29). "That's not all, folks". The Australian. p. 14.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-932916-01-0.
- ^ Stone, Matt; Parker, Trey; Pimental, Nancy M. (1998-06-17). "City on the Edge of Forever". South Park. Season 2. Episode 7. Comedy Central.
- ^ Stone, Matt; Parker, Trey; Sterling, Dan (1997-09-10). "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig". South Park. Season 1. Episode 5. Comedy Central.
- ^ "Comedy Central's South Park – Three Collectible Videos Available For The First Time With Made-For-Video Footage Featuring Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone". Business Wire. Burbank, California. 1998-03-26.
- ^ Lawson, Terry (2002-11-12). "4-disc "Rings" could take up a whole weekend". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan.
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. p. 39.
- ^ The Sunday Star-Times. Auckland, New Zealand. p. F7.
- ^ Grennan, Karin (1998-02-13). "Going down to "South Park": The most talked about 30 minutes on television are also the most offensive. But fans like it that way". Ventura County Star. Ventura County, California. p. TO18.
- ^ a b Roush, Matt (1997-08-20). "Critic's Corner". USA Today. p. 10D.
- ^ Lethbridge, Maria (2000-03-26). "Dozy Parkers such a scream; Video view; Film". News of the World. Wapping, London.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (2004-10-18). "Par's attack of the Puppet People". Variety. p. 32.
- ^ Martin, Helen (2001-06-25). "Why I back Jack's uniform approach". Edinburgh Evening News. Edinburgh, Scotland. p. 13.
- ^ Casimir, Jon (1998-07-25). "Kidnapped". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. p. 4.
- ^ "Comedy Central Mobile and RealNetworks Launch South Park 10: The Game". Associated Press Financial Wire. 2007-03-28.
- ^ Vognar, Chris (1998-02-01). "Brats entertainment; South Park' creators potty hardy on Comedy Central show". The Dallas Morning News. Pasadena, California. p. 1C.
- Omaha World Herald. p. 49.
- ^ Harris, Dana (1997-11-04). "EMA honors for Home, Travolta". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Martinez, Judy (1997-09-30). "Environmental Media Award Nominations In; Home Improvement Singled Out". City News Service.
- ^ "Adult cartoon with attitude". The Advertiser. Adelaide, Australia. 1997-12-31.
- ^ Shales, Tom (1997-08-13). "South Park Falls Flatulent". The Washington Post. p. C10.
- ^ "Babes need laughs, not good looks; Yesterday's view – Babes in the Wood, ITV". Daily Record. Glasgow, Scotland. 1998-07-24. p. 38.
External links