South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

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After the hit or miss season 11, I was really worried that South Park was going to follow the path of The Simpsons, which also turned south around this time in their run. Well after watching these fourteen episodes, any trepidation has been completely blown to smithereens just like the top of Britney’s head (if you’ve seen the episode you know what I’m talking about.)

The season opens strong with Cartman getting AIDS then giving it to Kyle for laughing at him then plows through relentlessly laying into everything and anyone from Britney Spears, High School Musical, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to the presidential election and Cloverfield. And that’s just a couple of episodes.

As in seasons past with “Good Times With Weapons” and “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” Matt and Trey push their animations boundaries with “Major Boobage”. In a parody of the 80’s cartoon Heavy Metal they actually introduce Ralph Bakshi style hand drawn rotoscoped animation for the very stylized drug trips that Kenny goes one when he huffs cat piss.

Then there is the two-parter “Pandemic” and “Pandemic 2: The Startling” which pokes fun at films like Cloverfield and Quarantine. Here we see the town of South Park being over run by giant Guinea Pigs, which are shot live action and introduced to the animation.

As if all that weren’t enough, this is the first season to get packed with DVD extras. Add that to the near perfect season of episodes (completely uncensored) and what you have here is easily the best DVD collection South Park has ever put out.

Oh, and you get to see Wendy kick Cartman’s ass. Hard.

Episodes:

Disc 1:

Tonsil Trouble 3/12/2008

During a routine tonsillectomy Cartman winds up with AIDS. Kyle finds this ironic and can’t stop laughing. Mad Cartman gives Kyle AIDS. Now Cartman must find a cure for them or Kyle is going to smash Cartman’s Xbox.

Britney’s New Look 3/19/2008

In hopes of hiding for the public eye Spears holds up in South Park, but the cameras track here there as well. When the boys try to get a piece of the action she can’t take anymore and blows her head off and lives! Guilty, the boys do what they can to help her.

Major Boobage 3/26/2008

A new drug fad has hit South Park: Cat piss, and Kenny is hooked. Every time he does it he is whisked off to a Heavy Metal-esque land littered with boobs. The other boys are worried and do what they can to save their friend.

Canada On Strike 4/2/2008

When “Canada Appreciation Day” goes unnoticed, the country goes on strike, including Ike. Worried about his brother Kyle and the boys do what they can to end the strike.

Eek, A Penis! 4/9/2008

Mrs. Garrison decides she wants to be a man again and with the help of science is able to grow a new penis on the back of a mouse. But the mouse escapes and she has to track it down before it’s too late.

Disc 2:

Over Logging 4/16/2008

Suddenly one day all the Internet is South Park is gone. Randy really needs his Internet porn and learns there might be some out “Californy way.” So he packs up the family and goes out in search of the World Wide Web where they wind up in a refugee camp with a small ration of Internet a day. But is it enough?

Super Fun Time 4/23/2008

The kids go on a field trip to a living museum where the people that work there don’t break character. Cartman and Butters escape to go to the Super Fun Time next door. While they are gone thieves seize the museum after a big heist and take everyone hostage.

The China Problem 10/8/2008

After watching the opening to the Summer Olympics, Cartman is convinced that China is trying to take over the U.S. So he gets Butters and they dress up (ala Mickey Rooney) like Chinese people and infiltrate the local P.F. Chang’s to find out the secret plot. Meanwhile the other boys are still traumatized after watching George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg rape their best friend, Indiana Jones, with the new movie and decide to press charges.

Breast Cancer Episode Ever 10/15/2008

During a presentation on breast cancer, Cartman keeps making fun of Wendy. She’s finally had enough and challenges Cartman to a fight. Throughout the day Cartman realizes he might not win and does everything in his power to weasel his way out of the fight.

Disc 3:

Pandemic 10/22/2008

The boys notice the influx of Peruvian Pan Flute bands and how much money they make so they decide to get in on the action. Only they need Craig’s money to do so. Things turn bad when the government rounds up all the Pan Flute bands and plans to send them to Guantanamo Bay. Meanwhile things are getting strange in South Park and Randy is recording it all with his new video camera.

Pandemic 2: The Startling 10/22/2008

It turns out the Peruvian Pan Flute music was keeping giant Guinea Pigs away and with the music gone, the Guinea Pigs begin to rampage. In South Park Randy is filming everything, while in South America the boys learn they may have the secret to save the world.

About Last Night 11/5/2008

Barack Obama is our president now. Now what? In this Ocean’s 11 style heist movie we see the real reason Obama and McCain ran against each other. Meanwhile the citizens of South Park are rampaging through the night, half excited that Obama won, the other half worried the world is now going to end because of it.

Elementary School Musical 11/12/2008

The boys come to school way day to learn that all the kids have bit onto the newest fad: High School Musical and everyone’s singing! The boys refuse to be apart of it until Stan is worried that he might loose Wendy because of it.

The Ungroundable 11/5/2008

After the release of the film Twilight more and more kids are coming to school dressed like vampires, which upsets the Goth Kids. So they do what they can to put a stop to it. Meanwhile, Butters wants more than anything to be a vampire and really believes that he is.

The show is presented in fullscreen 1:33.1. Sound is in Dolby Digital Stereo. Like all their other DVD’s this looks and sounds fantastic. No problems here and now that it is no longer censored it sounds even better.

Mini Commentaries with Matt Stone and Trey Parker: You should know the drill by now. The guys talk about each episode for about five minutes giving you the essential information about the episode and cracking a few jokes before moving on. As always these are great.

Digital Copy of the entire Season

Disc 1:

The Making Of “Major Boobage: (13 min.) Being that so much more work had to be put into this episode it makes sense that it would get a making of. Animation Producer Eric Stough talks to us about how each of the drug trip scenes came together and we get to see them go from sketch drawings up to final product ending with a four-way split screen that shows the different stages of production. Very fascinating and entertaining.

Disc 2:

6 Days To South Park: (82 min.) It turns out most episodes of South Park are cranked out in six days! This near hour and a half behind the scenes look at the process explores the construction of one episode, “Super Fun Time.” Here we see the episode as it stands at the end of each day with the animation team talking about the process and what they do to fix problems and evolve the episode to the final product as well as how they deal with Matt and Trey’s last minute additions to the show. Very fascinating and in depth, however it does get a little repetitive towards the end.

Disc 3:

Behind-The-Scenes “About Last Night “: (22 min.) Kind of like the previous featurette only covering the last 14 hours. Again, interesting look at how this fantastic show gets made.

This really is the most solid season of South Park yet. If you only buy one season, it should be this one. Every episode is laugh out loud hilarious and totally uncensored so it’s definitely not for your little ones. Add in the great behind-the-scenes look at how the show is made and this is a must own for fans and people just getting into the show.

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Comedy Central presents South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season. Created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Starring Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Running time: 308 minutes on 3 discs. Not Rated however this show contains themes and language not suitable for kids. Released on DVD: March 10, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years