Come on down to south park! (South Park: Vol. 1 (DVD))

Member Name: wob1001

Product:	South Park: Vol. 1 (DVD)
Date:	14/08/08 (35 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny neyond belief

Disadvantages: Contraversial beyond belief

Its been over 10 years since South park was first released and its still going strong to this day.There have been a total of 174 episodes up to now and it is in its 12th season. There has also been a movie "Bigger longer and uncut" With this 3 disc DVD set however you are getting the original 13 episodes from season one. South park has changed a lot in its 11 years on tele but it was still as funny back then as it is now. It was originally created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker who have gone on to star in a few movies themselves, the best of which being "BASEketball".

South park began a few years before its release when Matt and Trey created a short animation called "Jesus vs Santa" which depicted some of the characters we have grown to love in a very low budget form. This animation became big on the net and between celebrities like Jay Leno and George Clooney who would then go on to help launch Sotuh Park and even provide voice talent for a few episodes!.

The show is set in the town of south park which resides in Colarado. It is always snowing and the town is quite isolated. The four main characters are Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. The show usually follows their exploits in or around their town as they do completely messed up stuff. The show will often mimmick celebrities or stories that have been in the news and basically make fun of them.

The animation style in tis first season is a bit different to later seasons. Everything is done using craft paper and some steady hands. The creators would cut out the characters and place them in the posistions, this gives a very disjointed style of animation that whilst original may annoy some people. I personally think it suits the quirky style of the humour. In later seasons they try to keep the style but use computer programmes to animate so the quality does get better!

CHARACTERS

Stan Marsh - He is almost like a protagonist of the serie but that is never really an issue. Trey Parker provides the voice for Stan and has often said that Stan is modelled on him. Stan is what you would call normal (for south park anyway), he isn't too great with the ladies but most seem to like him, His family are not heavily featured in the first season but in later episodes we learn more about them and his dad Randy has become a bit of a fan favourtie even having a few of his own episodes!

Kyle Broflovski - Kyle is Stans best friend and is modelled on Matt Stone. Matt also does the voice. Kyle is jewish and is often made fun of. He is the clever one and gets on with most people apart from Cartman! Again his family do not feature too much this early but characters like his mum become integral later on - she even has a song!

Eris Cartman - Eric is in his words "big boned". He isnt the easiest person in the world to get on with. He doesnt have a dad only a mum who spoils him to death. His cat, aptly named "kitty" is the voice of Jay Leno although you wouldnt know it! Cartman has become one of the most loved characters in South park and he is often the funniest. He will often go off on his own and usually get into some sort of trouble. Trey does the voice for Cartman aswel. Im not sure if he did in the early episodes. I remember hearning the lady that did the voices for all of the boys tragically died early on. Cartmans voice certainly has changed through the seasons.

Kenny McCormick - Kenny is the dude in the orange coat who's face you cannot see. He mumbles his words but it is Matt Stone that performs those mumbles. Even though it is hard for us to hear him the other boys always understand him and it is implied that whatever he is saying it is very rude! Kenny unfortunately dies....every single episode! His death is followed by Stan and Kyle saying
"Oh my god they killed kenny!"
and then kyle swears (so i wont write that!)
His deaths change from episode to episode but he always comes back so dont worry. In the movie you do see kennys face finally. When his hood comes off and he talks the voice is done by Mike judge, the creator of King of the hill.

Chef - I thought I would mention chef here although he isnt very important in the first series. He is voiced by Issak Hayes who as sadly just died. Chef is as you may have guessed a Chef at the boys school. He often gives the boys advice on life but his advice usually involves some inuendo as he is quite the ladies man! Everytime the boys see chef these lines follow:
All the boys toegtehr "Hey Chef"
Chef - " well hello there children"
Later on we meet chefs mum and dad who are memorable to me as I have never laughed so hard in my life!

Mr Garrison and Mr Hat - To say Garrison is cunfused is an understatement. He is a homosexual there is no denying that, he just never admits it. It seems he channels it into a hand puppet that he constantly wears called Mr Hat. He is performed by Trey again and is the boys teacher at school.

You will also come across many other characters in South park all of whom are insanely funny!

The music in south park has become famous. Infact when the movie came out it was a musical itself. In the first season there are a fews songs all of which are too rude to name but quite a few come from chef and one from Cartman. The actual music music for the series consists of all the boys singing about the town of south park and it has stuk for 12 seasons. Any music in the episodes is just simple jingles at scene changes.

In the first season boxset you get 13 episodes from the first season. You do not get any special features on this DVD however. I think a newer version is out where there are some and it may be worth investing in that but here it is simple interactive menus and a scene selector option.

The episodes will bring you stories like:
Cartman gets probed by aliens!
Stan learn his dog is gay but meets Big gal al who teaches him about homosexuality
The boys atempt to breed a pig and an elephant
A christmans episode featuring Mr hankey the christmas poo
Also the son of the devil himsef Damien pays a visit to the town.

From that I guess you could say South park is very contraversial. It has had its critism in its time and has to display a disclaimer at the start of the episode which advises no one should watch it as it could offend everyone! It deals with religious matters and Prejudice matters. It however works in a similar way to little britain. The creator are simply making fun of the people who are racist or sexist. If you are open minded and take everything (literaly everything) with a pinch of salt then this can be a very funny programme. I myself find it hard to be offended by a cartoon but I know that is just my opinion. I think the sucess of south park illustrates that most people can watch it with a sence of humour but it is always going to have its crtics. My advice is to watch it and see if its for you. It does get more contraversial as the episodes go on so watch out for that.

This is a really funny show. If you like family guy or similar shows then this is for you. It means no harm but may offend you. This season one boxset will set you back around "20 from somewhere like play.com or HMV. That is a good price for 13 great episodes.

Summary: I love it!