Official Synopsis:
The doors of a whole new dimension are thrown open and the boys of South Park walk right in. It all begins with Cartman's quest to find a leprechaun and in turn, win a bet with Kyle that would force him to suck Cartman's balls. The kids have just arrived in Imaginationland, a wondrous, magical place, when terrorist's attack, unleashing all of mankind's evil imaginary forces upon the world. With imaginations running wild, the government steps in and prepares to nuke Imaginationland thus eliminating further attacks on the country's most vulnerable spot. A crisis faces the nation and Stan and Butters remained trapped in Imaginationland. Kyle pleads with the Pentagon for his friends' lives and Cartman goes all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice for his dry balls.
Our Take:
Episodes like the Imaginationland trilogy are what make South Park worth watching.
In them, Cartman, Kenny, Kyle, Stan and Butters are whisked away to Imaginationland by the Mayor (who is a parody of the Dreamfinder from Disney World’s ride, The Land of Imagination) on the dream machine, a zeppelin of sorts. In Imaginationland, the kids discover it’s a place where every character created by human beings lives. Here we see characters from all different kinds of mythology, especially film and TV, with characters like Optimus Prime, Orko, and a Ninja Turtle, just to name a few. Not too long after the boys arrive however, terrorists attack and from beyond a great wall, all of the evil characters created by humans are unleashed, such as Storm Troopers, Jason Vorhees, Freddy Kreuger, The Joker, a Predator, Xenomorphs from Alien, Cobra Commander, Darth Maul, etc.
Imaginationland serves as a great example of how South Park can be both smart and crude at the same time. While on one hand, the entire feature is centered on Cartman’s quest to humiliate Kyle by performing a crude act, there’s also the whole Imaginationland aspect of the terrorists freeing the evil monsters that we all try to keep locked away.
As revealed in the commentary, this was originally intended to be released as a feature length film, but due to unexplained reasons it was simply aired on television. Extra features on the DVD include:
* Audio Commentary – Trey Parker & Matt Stone sit down and talk about the movie. Unlike previous South Park releases where we’ve only been given five minute mini-commentaries, here we’ve got one that is feature length. It’s pretty amusing to listen to; Parker & Stone really seemed to put a lot of hard work into this trilogy, so they’re never short of anything to say. Occasionally they get “censored” by the suits at Comedy Central for saying @#$% when they @$%*@# to the @$%**# but I never expected @*$*#$$# was such a @*$*%%@! which makes it even funnier.
* Bonus Episodes – Also included are “Manbearpig” and “Woodland Critter Christmas.” In “Manbearpig,” Vice President Al Gore comes to South Park elementary to warn the children about a horrible beast: part man, part bear, and part pig. In “Woodland Critter Christmas,” Cartman reads his sadistic, twisted, warped, perverse tale about the cute Woodland Critters who trick Stan into helping them bring forth the Antichrist
South Park: Imaginationland - Uncensored Director's Cut is highly recommended for both casual and die-hard fans of the show. Presumably it will be released on DVD with the rest of the season eventually, but in this set you get a full length commentary, which is rare for Parker & Stone, plus the two bonus episodes. As the unofficial follow-up to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut it may have left people wanting more if released theatrically, but on the small screen it really works.
RECOMMENDED!
Overall Picture:
Movie: A
DVD: B-
- Chris Lawrence
Staff Writer
