25 Crazy True Facts About South Park

Posted by , Updated on March 24, 2024

Offending and humoring every one since 1997, the creators of South Park have been experts at pushing people’s buttons. Pushing the envelope with their crude language, fart jokes, and bombastic violence is likely one key to their success. However, like all good adult animated cartoons, they’ve acutely satirized modern society with witty and ridiculous commentary. It’s also an Emmy award-winning show, taking home four awards in its running. But, what makes South Park so great? Here are 25 Crazy True Facts About South Park.

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25

It takes roughly 5 days to create a South Park episode.

fiveSource: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/6-days-to-air-reveals-south-parks-insane-production-schedule-67657.html

The creators of South Park are put under a crazy 6-day production schedule where the episode is written, animated, and recorded before it airs. It’s allowed them to remain timely and relevant.

24

An alien is hidden in every episode of South Park.

aliensSource: http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/01/alien-in-every-episode-of-south-park-72.html

One easter egg that always seems to pop up on South Park episodes is an alien figure in the background. Sometimes it’s difficult to spot him. They like to hide him and blend him into things like trees and crowds. He’s practically the show’s “Where’s Waldo?”

23

Kyle was going to be killed off in season 5.

kyle and kennySource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Kenny_Dies/Trivia

Killing Kenny has become a popular gag on the show, but few know that in Season 5, they planned to kill Kyle off for good. The creators thought Kyle and Stan shared similar personalities and was redundant, but as the show went on, they diverged their personalities instead.

22

Mr. Mackey is based on Trey Parker's school counselor.

trey parkerSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Mackey

In the DVD commentary on Season 1, Trey Parker stated that Mr. Mackey is based on his school counselor, Mr. Lackey.

21

South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut was originally issued an NC-17 rating.

nc17Source: http://ew.com/article/1999/07/09/putting-r-south-park/

When they were trying to release their film, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut the creators got an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. Each time they submitted a new edit of the movie, they added something even more vulgar. The MPAA screened the movie six times, and the studio had to have frequent negotiations to bring the rating down to “R.”

20

Tiger Woods '99 was recalled because somebody hid an entire episode of South Park inside it.

tiger woods 99Source: https://kotaku.com/5818372/when-south-park-got-an-ea-sports-game-pulled-off-the-shelves

Released on both PC and PlayStation 2, EA hoped Tiger Woods ’99 would revitalize a dying genre. Instead, it became steeped in controversy and was pulled from shelves when it was discovered someone from EA thought it would be funny to slip in the South Park episode “Jesus vs. Satan.”

19

The Tourette Syndrome Association praised the episode "Le Petit Tourette."

touretteSource: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1o2qqm/til_that_the_tourette_syndrome_association/

South Park usually receives much more criticism than praise. However, after they released their episode “Le Petit Tourette,” the Tourette Syndrome Association complimented the show as “well researched” and served as a clever device to get information to the public.

18

They assumed Barack Obama would beat John McCain.

obamaSource: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/11/south-park-crea.html

In the 2008 election, the creators of South Park were going to make two different episodes of Barack Obama winning and another of John McCain winning. But, because it was a daunting task, they decided to just roll the dice and make only one with Barack Obama winning. They were elated when Obama ended up winning.

17

The creators received flowers from The Simpsons.

family guySource: http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/07/17/south-park-matt-and-trey-speak-out-part-1?page=4

In the episode “Cartoon Wars,” the creators specifically go after Family Guy, satirizing the show. After it was released, they got flowers from the people at The Simpsons.

16

"Imaginationland" was originally going to be a movie.

imaginationlandSource: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/uncategorized/south-park-movi/

They came up an idea for a new South Park movie but were running out of ideas during a television run. So, instead of using the idea for the movie, they made it into the “Imaginationland” episodes.

15

South Park movie holds the Guinness World Record for “Most Swearing in an Animated Film.”

south park movieSource: http://ew.com/article/2000/11/10/guinness-book-world-records-2001/

It probably shouldn’t come as much as a surprise that South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut contains 399 swear words, 128 offensive gestures, and 221 acts of violence.

14

George Clooney has guest starred as Stan's dog.

clooneySource: https://unrealfacts.com/george-clooney-played-stans-dog-south-park/

George Clooney has been a big fan of South Park since the first season. He loved it so much, he requested a role. You’d think someone like George Clooney would get a big role. Nope. Clooney was given the role of Stan’s dog with no dialogue other than barking and snuffling.

13

The Church of Scientology spied on the creators.

south park creatorsSource: https://www.inquisitr.com/153535/church-of-scientology-spied-on-southpark-creators/

Because the creators of South Park released an episode called, “Trapped in the Closet,” a satire of the church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology spied on the creators to try to find dirt on them. However, they came up with nothing, finding they were actually pretty normal guys.

12

Chewbacca makes an appearance every Halloween.

ChewySource: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/feature/a662888/18-of-the-most-fascinating-south-park-facts-to-celebrate-its-18th-birthday/

In each South Park Halloween episode, at least one character wears a Chewbacca costume.

11

The "Chocolate Salty Balls" song reached #1 on UK Charts.

chefSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Chocolate_Salty_Balls_(song)

In 1998, South Park released the song “Chocolate Salty Balls” sung by the character Chef. By 1999, the song had reached #1 on the UK charts.

10

Cartman's mom was inspired by a real-life cheating ex.

liane cartmanSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Liane_Cartman

Cartman’s mom, Liane, was named and inspired after Trey Parker’s cheating ex-fiancee, Liane Adamo. They broke up their engagement when he found out about her multiple infidelities. In the show, Cartman’s mom is very promiscuous.

9

The creators don't remember making a certain episode.

south park creators 2Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/southpark/comments/3yxgos/til_that_trey_parker_and_matt_stone_have/

Because they were exhausted and hungover from making the South Park movie, Trey Parker and Matt Stone don’t remember making the episode, “Sexual Harassment Panda.”

8

In "Trapped in the Closet," all the credits read John Smith or Jane Smith.

Church_of_ScientologySource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Trapped_in_the_Closet/Trivia

Because the Church of Scientology is notorious for lawsuits, the creators of South Park put John Smith and Jane Smith.

7

Kenny is based on an actual person.

kenny south parkSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Kenny_McCormick

Kenny is based on a childhood friend of Trey Parker’s. He was the poorest kid in town, wore an orange parka, and skipped school a lot. Many kids made up the rumor that Kenny had died, but he’d always come back.

6

Blizzard provided the gameplay footage in the Warcraft episode.

blizzardSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Make_Love,_Not_Warcraft/Trivia

In order to make the World of Warcraft scenes in the episode, “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” Blizzard provided the gameplay footage.

5

Trey Parker plays with Legos when he has writer's block.

legoSource: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbau9UXNbxw

Since they have to churn out an enormous amount of content in a short period of time, it’s likely the creators will run into writer’s block from time to time. Trey Parker says he’ll play with Legos to help shake him out of it.

4

The Game Of Thrones writers were influenced by the South Park parody.

game of thronesSource: http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Friday#Game_of_Thrones_references

South Park specifically satirizes Game of Thrones in their episode “Black Friday.” One of the running jokes in the episode is how frequently people discuss political intriguing while walking through a garden. After watching the episode, the writers of Game of Thrones consciously stopped doing this.

3

Butters was originally named Puff Puff.

Butters_from_South_ParkSource: http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Butters_Stotch

Originally, in the early scripts and storyboards, Butters was referred to as “Puff Puff” and “Swanson,” but he was later renamed.

2

Cartman's lines are mostly ad-libbed.

cartmanSource: http://www.overentertainment.com/secret-facts-about-south-park/7/

Everybody loves to hate Cartman. He’s a big jerk that says and does whatever he wants. Most of this comes from Trey Parker who frequently ad-libs his lines.

1

The term "derp" was coined by the creators.

derpSource: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/06/derp-meaning-origin.html

First introduced in their movie “BASEketball,” the term “derp” lived on in a new South Park character called Mr. Derp and gained a lot more traction. According to Google, the term “derp” reached its highest peak in 2012.



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