Ah, the holiday season, spending time with friends and families, making cookies, and sitting down to enjoy your favorite television shows’ holiday specials. Needless to say, we have come a long way since specials like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. In 1997, from the twistedly brilliant minds of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, came the first South Park Christmas episode, and the animated holiday special was never the same. 25 years and more than twenty seasons later, and South Park is as popular as ever and shows no signs of slowing down, widely considered to be one of the best modern sitcoms. In the spirit of the season, let us sit back, grab a cup of eggnog, and revisit our favorite South Park Christmas episodes.
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7 It’s Christmas in Canada (S7 EP15)
This season 15 Christmas special focuses on the Broflovski family, coincidentally one of the Jewish families residing in South Park. When it is revealed that his adopted brother Ike must be returned to his biological Canadian parents due to a new law set forth by the new Canadian Prime Minister. Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Kenny embark on a Wizard of Oz-parodied adventure through Canada in hopes of getting the Prime Minister to reverse his decision, all while trying to get home in time for Christmas Day, or else Kyle will face the wrath of Cartman. This hilarious and different take on the holiday is filled with a lot of comedy and a lot of heart as Kyle tries to save his brother and get his friends home in time for the holiday.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
6 A Very Crappy Christmas (S4 Ep17)
When Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo, a South Park character with quite the back story, fails to show up during the holiday season, the boys descend into the sewers of South Park to investigate his absence. There they find Hankey distressed with his family problems and a surface world lacking in Christmas spirit. The special follows the boys as they attempt to create a Christmas short film, akin to the holiday special created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that put South Park on the map. Where the episode succeeds the most is in its ability to comment on the spirit of Christmas from the point of view of animated, speaking, pieces of feces. That is the real Christmas miracle.
5 Red Sleigh Down (S6 EP17)
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Many seasons before Santa Claus dropped an unedited curse bomb in season 22, he was tasked with trying to deliver Christmas to a war torn Iraq. Meant to be a parody of the film Black Hawk Down, Stan, Kyle, and Cartman accompany Santa on his journey to Iraq as Cartman attempts to do the ultimate nice deed to counter his endless list of naughty ones. Things do not go as planned as the group enlists Jesus himself to help rescue them. After a climactic and bloody battle to escape Iraqi capture, Santa returns the boys to South Park and promptly delivers on his promise as he showers Iraq with Christmas decorations. The irony being lost on no one throughout the episode that a primarily Muslim country would be keenly interested in Christmas. Only in South Park…
4 Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics (S3 EP15)
“Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics” is a delightful holiday episode that plays more as a variety hour as some of our favorite characters entertain us with holiday songs. Such songs include; a heartfelt rendition of “O Tannenbaum” sung by Adolf Hitler; a Christmas medley by Santa Claus and Jesus Christ; and a stunning performance of “Oh Holy Night” by Eric Cartman. A companion album was even released, so fans could relive their favorites each holiday season.
3 Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo (S1 EP9)
Kyle, being one of the few Jewish kids, is feeling down in this first ever Christmas episode of the series. Enter, Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo, the unofficial Christmas mascot of the show, there to lift Kyle’s spirits and restore the meaning of Christmas to the town of South Park. An episode meant to parody A Charlie Brown Christmas, Mr. Hankey’s introduction is one of festive surprise, and he has had an endearing place in South Park ever since.
2 Woodland Critter Christmas (S08 EP14)
It may not be one of the most controversial episodes of the series, but it is certainly one of the most outrageous holiday specials ever put on air. “Woodland Critter Christmas” is South Park at it’s most over-the-top. The episode follows Stan as he befriends a group of animals in the woods outside of South Park. The critters need Stan’s help to defend them against a nearby mountain lion as one of the critters is pregnant. After Stan helps them to kill the lion, he shockingly discovers this troop of woodland critters are Satanists hellbent on birthing the antichrist, something the mountain lion has protected against. The insanity of the events wrapped in bright holiday lights and a festive bow help make this one of the all-time South Park Christmas episodes.
1 Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson (S02 EP16)
The best Christmas episodes include family coming together to celebrate the holiday. Putting aside differences, learning from one another, and believing in the spirit of Christmas. “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” has all of these classic holiday special elements. As Stan, Kyle, and Eric travel to visit the Cartman family in Nebraska, it is soon discovered that Eric’s Uncle Howard has escaped prison alongside his friend Charlie, who just so happens to be Charles Manson. As the escapees are soon discovered by the police and Stan’s disapproving parents, it is Manson himself that ironically explains the meaning of family. As the episode closes with Stan, Kyle, and the entire Cartman family singing a holiday tune to Manson in prison, it dawns on Stan just how messed up the events of the Christmas episode were, a nod to the audience from Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
