DVD Review: Imaginationland

Over the course of 11 seasons, Comedy Central's South Park has succeeded where other adult animated comedies have failed. And, after viewing South Park: Imaginationland, it's not hard to see why.

Parker and Stone had thought about making Imaginationland another movie like 1999's Bigger, Longer and Uncut. However, problems with the storyline (they got stuck for inspiration and improvised various plot twists) doomed the arc to becoming a three-part series that initially aired in October of 2007. Now Comedy Central has packaged those episodes into a stand-alone DVD.

South Park: Imaginationland: Imaginations running wild

Imaginationland follows the children of South Park as they grapple with the existence of leprechauns, attempting to save Imaginationland from Islamist terrorists, and Cartman trying to achieve his ultimate ambition.

In a scene that spoofs Saving Private Ryan (Parker and Stone parody many Hollywood movies during this trilogy), Stan, Kyle, Jimmy and Butters witness terrorists assaulting Imaginationland, where all the imaginary creatures live. Kyle, Jimmy and Stan escape the carnage, but they leave Butters behind to witness the ultimate atrocity: blowing up the wall separating the good and evil sides of Imaginationland. This frees the evil creatures (Cylons, Jason Voorhees, Aliens, et al) to wreak havoc, and the good creatures must fight back.

The Pentagon wants to stop "imaginations running wild," and the good creatures of Imaginationland need Butters to help defend themselves. But while Stan and Kyle simply want to save their pal, Cartman has a different agenda.

Kyle reneged on a promise to suck Cartman's balls, and Cartman is willing to do anything to engineer his friend's humiliation. Cartman's obsession with gaining testicular satisfaction, and his attempts to make it come true, gives the story many of its more bizarre moments.

Genuine intelligence and insight fuel South Park's raunchy comedy

Given that raunchy comedy can get old fast, how can South Park succeed where so many others (Lil' Bush, for instance) have failed?

Simple. It's easy for a comedy scribe to write some gags (pun intended) but it's a lot harder to show some genuine wit and insight into the target of said parody. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone don't just insult everything, they examine issues and people with a fierce intelligence that refuses to take anything for granted.

For example: At one point during Imaginationland, the Pentagon turns to famous Hollywood directors for help, but M. Night Shyamalan offers lame plot twists, and Michael Bay only wants to blow things up. When informed that "We want ideas, not special effects!" Bay responds with, "There's a difference?"

It's actually a nipple-twisting Mel Gibson who gives the U.S. military what they need.

"Say what you like about Mel Gibson, but he certainly knows story structure!" announces the commanding officer, paraphrasing Parker and Stone in the audio commentary.

South Park: Imaginationland DVD extras

There's not a lot here, but the extras are well worth the price of admission. Trey Parker and Matt Stone unleash another funny and insightful audio commentary, giving many behind-the-scenes details about how they developed the Imaginationland trilogy.

Along with storyboards showing the genesis of several scenes, there are a couple of related episodes: "Manbearpig," which features Al Gore attempting to destroy the mythical monster, and "Woodland Critter Christmas", where cute forest animals try to summon the Antichrist.

South Park: Imaginationland is a great week-long rental, and worth buying if you're already a fan of the series. One caveat: this DVD is completely uncensored, which means every four-letter word (and a few five, six and eight letter words as well) goes into the dialogue unbleeped. There are also a couple of extra sequences included, which even Comedy Central found too raunchy to allow when the episodes originally aired. A solid 7/10.

a scene from South Park: Imaginationland

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