South Park is a show that has managed to remain fresh for its over 20-season-long run. Part of the reason for why this may be is because the show always remains topical. It will often make fun of current trends, so the show can always grow and adapt to what is being talked about, today.
One of the ways it does this is by parodying movies in ways that either criticizes the movie itself or pairs the ideas and narrative of the film with a specific aspect of society. These parodies are often very funny and place the movie in a new light. Here are 10 hilarious South Park movie parodies.
World War Z
Many of the ideas of this parody remain relevant today. This episode, titled "World War Zimmerman," is a commentary on the shooting of Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman's acquittal, and the protests that emerged from this event. While the issue itself is not funny, the episode provides humorous satire through the perception of Eric Cartman, who is known to be an unashamed racist throughout the show.
Cartman sees the protestors as zombies and his overreaction is often what causes the chaos, not the protests themselves. It is a very clever way of critiquing people's fears of protestors and the flaws of the U.S. justice system itself. The way this episode recreates scenes from World War Z will make anyone laugh who has seen the movie.
The Silence Of The Lambs
In an episode called "Toilet Paper," a parody of The Silence of the Lambs was surprising. After the gang toilet papers the house of their art teacher, it leads to a hunt to catch whoever did this crime.
To get more of a lead on the suspect, Officer Barbrady asks a kid, who is a convicted T.P. prankster, to get inside the mind of the culprit. The kid himself speaks exactly like Hannibal Lecter, but with exaggerated dialogue, to fit how ridiculous the concept of this episode is. The idea of a kid talking with the same sinister mannerisms and dialect that was perfected by Anthony Hopkins makes this episode hilarious.
The Shining
This Halloween episode titled, "A Nightmare on Face Time," pokes fun at many modern-day technological advancements, such as Facetime and streaming services. When Randy buys a Blockbuster, he works the night away in the abandoned building of the once-popular video rental company. As the night goes on, his isolation takes him down a path of insanity, similar to Jack Torrance in The Overlook Hotel.
What makes this episode funny is Randy's refusal to accept that Blockbuster has been rendered useless by popular streaming services. Many people had a special attachment to their local video rental store, but Randy's attachment is one that leads to a tragically comical end.
Inception
Inception is a movie that has become iconic, from its innovative effects and booming score from Hans Zimmer. In "Insheeption," Randy and Stan are brought to a doctor who tries to help them dive deep into their subconscious to stop their chronic hoarding issue.
This episode not only parodies the dream within a dream idea from Inception, but it also criticizes the movie itself. The film directly makes fun of the overly complicated plot, claiming that "complicated" does not necessarily equal "genius." There is even a character who is providing beatboxing of the Hans Zimmer theme to parody the movie further.
The Wizard Of Oz
The Wizard of Oz is one of the most parodied movies ever, as many TV shows will often have an episode with their version of the classic film. In "It's Christmas in Canada," South Park parodies the movie in their own goofy and crude way.
After Ike is forced to go back to his birth parents in Canada, the gang makes a journey to Canada to speak to the Prime Minister to have this law reversed. Throughout the episode, the characters are joined by versions of the tin man and scarecrow, however, here as people that represent stereotypes of Canadian culture. South Park has many episodes where they roast Canada and this is one of the best.
Scarface
Only a show like South Park can turn Colonel Sanders into a vicious drug lord. In "Medicinal Fried Chicken," KFC's around South Park and Colorado have all been shut down due to new laws.
Cartman, who has an unhealthy addiction to KFC, finds a cartel that is smuggling KFC into the area. He becomes a highly trusted member of this cartel until his addiction to the chicken gets the better of him. South Park tends to take goofy, immature ideas and making them overly dramatic. That is a lot of the humor here as the episode follows Cartman's rise and fall through the fried chicken cartel.
Cloverfield
In this part episode titled "Pandemic," South Park is not dealing with a virus, but instead an infestation of giant guinea pigs. Not just guinea pigs, but also a "guinea-saurus rex," which is just an adorable guinea pig in a little dinosaur costume. This episode mostly parodies Cloverfield's camerawork, which is shaky and handheld.
Randy runs around South Park providing brief glimpses of the guinea pigs before running around and shaking the camera like a mad man while repeatedly yelling that he is "startled." This episode is mocking Cloverfield for how it is shot, but the idea of giant guinea pigs instead of an alien monster makes it so much more ridiculous.
Lord Of The Rings
This episode, not-so-subtly titled "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers," is a very creative spin of Peter Jackson's epic trilogy. Instead of a ring, the gang must deliver a controversial adult film back to the video store - an adult film that is so vulgar and wild that, upon viewing it accidentally, Butters is turned into a Gollum-like creature who claims that the video is his "precious."
Fans of the Middle Earth series will get a kick at how this episode parodies many iconic scenes from the trilogy. It is also a funny way of showing the deep levels of children's imagination and how it often blocks out reality.
Tron
In "You Have 0 Friends," South Park is largely poking fun at society's obsession with Facebook. It critiques how people are so focused on how people's real-life status could be influenced by how many friends they have online, even if they don't know who they are.
Stan is the one person in South Park who has no interest in Facebook. When trying to delete his profile, he is sucked into a Tron-like online realm where his only escape is beating other profiles in Yahtzee. This episode is mostly a satire of Facebook and social media, but Tron is a smart franchise to use to make fun of it.
High School Musical
The appropriately titled, "Elementary School Musical," is a direct mockery of High School Musical and the absolute obsession that kids had with the movie around the country. The episode takes place in an alternate reality where everyone breaks out in song and dance.
Funny enough, there is a new boy in school who is an amazing singer and dancer, however, he wishes to be a basketball player. The funniest bit in this episode is the boy's father, who is an overly-theatrical abusive father, who refuses to allow his son to play basketball. The idea that breaking out into song is more popular with kids than sports is a hilarious idea, but it is also a clever parody of just how much of a cultural phenomenon High School Musical was upon its release.