"South Park" The Ring (2009)

Director:

Trey Parker

Writers:

Trey Parker (written by)
Trey Parker (creator) ...

TV Series:

"South Park" (1997)

Original Air Date:

11 March 2009 (Season 13, Episode 1)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

The boys discover that the Jonas Brothers' purity ring campaign is just part of Disney's plot to get away with marketing sex to pre-teen girls. |

Plot Keywords:

Purity | Disney | Hit In Crotch | Mickey Mouse | Syphilis

Cast

Trey Parker	...	Stan Marsh / Eric Cartman / Craig / Jimmy Swanson / Mickey Mouse / Pharmacy Clerk / Nick Jonas / Kevin Jonas / Band Official #1 / Band Official #3 / Fat Girl / Purity Ring Boy #1 / Purity Ring Boy #3 / Mr. Mouse / Good Morning Denver Announcer / Good Morning Denver Presenter / Dad / News Reporter (voice)
Matt Stone	...	Kyle Broflovski / Kenny McCormick / Leopold 'Butters' Stotch / Ticketmaxx Clerk / Nick Jonas / Band Official #2 / Purity Ring Boy #2 / News Presenter (voice)
April Stewart	...	Tammy Warner (voice)
Milan Agnone	...	(voice)
John 'Nancy' Hansen	...	Mr. Slave (voice) (as John Hansen)
Mickey Ramos	...	Tammy Warner (voice)

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Mickey Mouse erroneously refers to Michael Eisner instead of Jeffrey Katzenberg as the CEO of DreamWorks Animation.

Quotes:

Joe Jonas: Look, we just want our concerts to be about our music and not about purity rings.
Mickey Mouse: Oh gosh, fellas, let me explain this to you one more time. You have to wear the purity rings because that's how we can sell sex to little girls, haha! See, if we make the posters with little girls reaching for your junk, then you have to wear purity rings or else the Disney Company looks bad, haha!

Movie Connections:

References "Grey's Anatomy" (2005)

I feel, frankly, disappointed...

Premises for South Park have always been popular culture. However, one of the strengths of the series has always been the subtlety with which the writers showed their opinions towards the subject matter. This lacked both subtlety and real substance.

Amusing moments, no doubt. However, amusing in a chuckling way, not the 'laugh out loud' manner to which South Park fans have become accustomed. The last five minutes of the episode showed some depths of creativity and intelligence, however this did little to reflect the lack of depth of the rest of the episode. Caricaturing was grossly exaggerated, and not in an intelligent way. Over the top. Perhaps unnecessary.

A good idea ruined by an elongated beginning which never quite metamorphosised into a full episode. The major characters were marginalised, focusing too heavily on pop-culture references which could be lost on a large part of the audience.

However, let it be said that Cartman, albehim a peripheral character, was as ever amusing and insightful. What a shame that his intelligence was lost in a maelstrom of OTT zeitgeist humour.

5/10 - perhaps South Park has, as ever, set its standards incredibly high. However, most people should expect more from satirical writers.