South Park volume 2 series 1 (South Park: Vol. 2 (DVD))

Member Name: butters

Product:	South Park: Vol. 2 (DVD)
Date:	28/04/06 (345 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great satire and humour

Disadvantages: Childish compared to later series

Another brilliant volume without butters, but it really is excellent without him still. This is the first series still, meaning that it is more childish humour and swearing than offensive humour such as taking the mick out or religions that caused Isaac Hayes to quit the series.


South Park information.
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This series is made in 1997 and written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It is 2D humour that is fantastic because it makes it unique due to the humour being crude but not going over the top (by my standards). There are quite a few adult cartoons around here but this one stands out as the rudest and funniest that I have seen due to this.
It is a 15 because of the adult theme, due to sex, violence and bad language. I think that this is quite just really due to the amount of swearing and sexual comments involved, though there's nothing too extreme.
The animation is extremely basic, though adds to the charm of the series. Characters don't walk, they wobble. You get used to it extremely fast though, and once you're used to it, you'll love it. It adds a charm to the series and makes it unique.

Story.
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Sine this is a series then I can not really explain the story except that South Park is a series that revolves around 4 little 8 year old boys in their home town of South Park, Colorado in the USA.
You have Kenny, Cartman, Stan and Kyle, all lovable characters and all which show how naive children can be. For example, Cartman with his racism, or all of the boys naivety when it comes to sex. They don't have the most depth but it's not really needed, they're all lovable characters.
This carries on to the extended cast, such as Chef, the school Chef who teacher the boys about anything to do with sex, or Mr Garrison, the homophobic teacher who is obviously gay. They do a good job of representing the extremes of society. And extreme is the word for it, if your sensitive South Park isn't for you.
This volume focuses on 4 episodes, and they're not too offensive when compared to some other South Park episodes.

Episodes.
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An Elephant making Love to a Pig.

A normal day for the boys as Kyle manages to get a pet elephant and gets the idea of breeding it with Cartman's pot bellied pig. Some boys believe it can not be done though, so aim to clone a human first. It's a humorous episode, if not a little childish, though that is something you expect in South Park.

Death.

Stan's grandpa wants to die so Stan has to deal with the prospect and morality of euthanasia. Whilst the kids parents are off protesting to protect their children from TV, Death comes to town and has other plans on who to kill. It's a good episode and though it doesn't deal with euthanasia in the fashion you'd expect from later episodes of South Park (which use satire a lot more effectively, and smartly), it does have a certain satire to it anyway.

Pinkeye.

Halloween special here and another good one as all of the kids get pinkeye, which transforms the South Park habitants into zombies due to a mishap that involves Kenny-creating a little thriller of an episode. The kids also try to win the school's costume contest. It has a couple of Scooby Doo references and is a decent Haloween episode, though doesn't contain the harsh satire you find in many episodes.

Tom's Rhinoplasty.

This episode explored the shallowness of society when Mr Garrison has some surgery, and to replace him the school has hired an attractive substitute teacher that has caught the boy's attention, annoying Stan's Girlfriend considerably.
It makes use of Wendy and Mr Garrison for a start which is a good thing, taking some attention away from the boys and satires society well in regards to shallowness.

Extras.
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Not many at all. As before, the creator's, Matt and Trey talk for five minutes before each episode.
You can also choose chapters to watch separately (like scene selection) and it has a series 1 trailer too. That is it but there normally aren't extras in a DVD series as far as I am concerned. Especially is the series is not that recent.

Voices.
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Cartman-Trey Parker.
Kenny-Matt Stone.
Stan-Trey Parker.
Kyle-Matt Stone.
Terrence-Trey Parker.
Philip-Matt Stone.

Disadvantages.

For a start, the extras are a little lacklustre. Having Trey and Matt talk at the start of each episode is okay, but it gets boring fast. It's fun to listen to the first few times, but you'll want to skip them eventually and just get to the episodes. The jokes get repetitive and though this is a laugh and done purposefully, it gets boring. An actual interview would have been good considering they've caused so much offence in the past. I'd like to hear their views on their humour.

My Opinion.
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Yet again Trey and Matt who do not seem to believe in any religion or even something called a 'conscience' because the humour is so offensive to some, but yet so brilliant in so many ways. This volume is a lot like the first which is to be expected because nobody would change a series after 4 episodes. This means that the humour is mainly childish humour but even after so little episodes, it seems to have got worse due to the slight extra humour that would offend the minority of us. The storylines are also hilarious and well thought out and I really do not think you'll find these storyline's anywhere else because the series itself, not just this volume is so unique and fantastic.
It is one of the few series that has got better over time though so it's not the strongest set of South Park episodes. Whilst it's incredibly funny if you like that type of humour, it pales in comparison to later South Park episodes which mange to satire society and current affairs a lot more effectively and a lot smarter. This seems childish in comparison.



www.amazon.co.uk price from £8.94 and the series is over £70 which is amazing because I paid £20 maximum. It must be rare now.
Buying alone, it comes in a case with the little gang of boys on, and it single disc considering that it is 95 minutes approximately.

Recommendation.
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I have to say that if you like South Park, you should maybe give 'Drawn Together' a go, which is a cartoon adult comedy which is worse than South Park in its humour-too rude for my liking.
Google search Happy Tree Friends too if you like South Park because it is a bit similar in that it is sick humour. Basically, it is about cartoon animals having accidents that lead to their death.

Summary: Good, not great