Review - South Park: Imaginationland (2007)

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And, just for kicks, let's head on back to that messed up little town in the Colorado mountains known as South Park. This is my review of the Season Eleven South Park three-parter Imaginationland, which was also released as a direct-to-video movie. 

       Part One opens with Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, and the other boys like Clyde, Craig, Jimmy, Token, and Butters all searching through the forest to find a leprechaun. Why? Well, Cartman claimed to have seen a leprechaun, and Kyle didn't believe him. So, they made a bet: if there was no leprechaun, Cartman owes Kyle ten bucks, but if there was a leprechaun, Kyle had to...suck Cartman's balls. While at first they don't find anything, the leprechaun Cartman evidently spotted before does show up, and gets caught in one of the boys' traps. Cartman demands the leprechaun's gold, but the leprechaun escapes, and reveals that he was sent to warn of an impending terrorist attack. On what? Who knows. Anyway, having proven that there was, indeed, a leprechaun, Cartman has won the bet and walks up to Kyle, holds their signed agreement to his face, and proclaims "Kyle, suck my balls." 

        Anyway, things get interesting the next day when Stan, Kyle, Jimmy, Kenny, and Butters are mulling over what the leprechaun said the previous day. But, it's when a jolly gentleman in a red coat and purple top hat arrives and asks about the leprechaun that the boys are taken aboard a flying vehicle, and it's in the flying vehicle that the jolly gentleman, known as The Mayor, sings the "Imagination Song," which is literally singing the word imagination multiple times a capella. But, this song is the key to entering the world of the imagination, also known as Imaginationland. 

      Imaginationland is showcased as a magical world that is home to various mythical fantasy creatures, like mermaids and fauns, and fictional characters from across pop culture, such as the Care Bears, Optimus Prime, Snarf from Thundercats, Count Chocula, Cinderella, and so forth. The boys are amazed at the world of Imaginationland, and the creatures that live there. But, it's when they are about to reveal what the leprechaun had said the previous day that the attack begins, as Islamic terrorists begin shouting and blowing the place up. It's absolutely insane. Stan, Kenny, Kyle, and Jimmy are taken safely out of Imaginationland by Draco from DragonHeart, but Butters ends up falling off the back of Draco taking them home and is left behind. The terrorists then use Rockety Rocket to blow up a wall protecting the "good side" of Imaginationland from the "evil side," where some of the most evil imaginary creatures and characters reside. 

        Back in the outside, two things are going on. First, the U.S. Department of Defense is working to figure out how terrorists have attacked the imagination, and how to get inside of it to keep the imagination from running wild. To this end, they turn to famous Hollywood filmmakers for idea, with both M. Night Shyamalan and Michael Bay turning out to be total duds, with only Mel Gibson having a clever idea: use the tape sent by the terrorists to identify someone who may not belong in Imaginationland. So, the tape is analyzed, and Butters is identified as the one that doesn't belong. And, after hearing him on the tape shout "STAN! KYLE! COULD YOU GET ME OUTTA HERE?!?!?!?!" Using this, the D.O.D. goes to pick up Stan and Kyle and bring them back to Washington. 

      As for the other thing going on, well, it involves Kyle and Cartman's deal. You see, the night before Kyle is taken to Imaginationland along with Stan, Kenny, Jimmy, and Butters, Cartman shows up at Kyle's house so Kyle can live up to his end of the deal and suck Cartman's balls. In fact, Cartman becomes so obsessed with this that he even takes Kyle to court, and the judge finds in favor of Cartman, meaning that Kyle now has a LEGAL obligation to suck Cartman's balls, and will be arrested for contempt of court if he doesn't. But, when Kyle and Stan are picked up by the D.O.D., Cartman decides to make his own way to Washington, vowing that Kyle will suck his balls before this is over. 

      Part Two opens in Imaginationland, where the wall falls apart, and several evil characters pour through, and this includes the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica, the Stormtroopers from Star Wars, the Xenomorph from Alien, Predator, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger, the minotaur, Pinhead from Hellraiser, ManBearPig, and even the Woodland critters from Cartman's Christmas story from the episode "Woodland Critter Christmas" all being part of the evil army. The Mayor, along with several imaginary creatures, are killed, and Butters flees to Castle Sunshine with Lollipop King and Snarf. Oh, and the Woodland critters suggest doing something truly terrible to Strawberry Shortcake that I'm not going to repeat. 

      At the Pentagon, the General interrogates Stan and Kyle about how they got into Imaginationland, and then showcases a gateway that the U.S. government has, which can open the way to Imaginationland. Stan and Kyle then remember that the Mayor sang the "Imagination Song," and proceed to sing it, which opens the gateway to the imagination. And, yes, the gateway looks exactly like the Stargate from the franchise Stargate. As a matter of fact, the General even brings in actor Kurt Russell to lead a team of soldiers into Imaginationland, because Kurt Russell was "in that one movie that was kinda like this," an obvious reference to Stargate. Unfortunately, on the other side, Kurt Russell and the soldiers are all killed by the Woodland critters in a way so gruesome I have no desire to reference it. Cartman also shows up to the Pentagon, and the General allows him and Kyle to use the conference room so Kyle can, ugh, suck Cartman's balls. Seriously, the running joke about Kyle and Cartman is just ridiculous. 

       Anyway, Butters, Lollipop King, and Snarf arrive at Castle Sunshine, where Butters is taken before the Council of Nine, which consists of Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia, Glinda from The Wizard of Oz, Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, Gandalf the Grey from Lord of the Rings, Morpheus from The Matrix, Popeye the Sailor, Wonder Woman, Zeus, and Jesus. And, as a creator with a wonderful gift of imagination, Butters may be the key to restoring peace in Imaginationland. Unfortunately, things go wrong on the outside when ManBearPig attacks the Pentagon, and Stan is sucked into Imaginationland. Kyle is pronounced dead in the attack, but is revived by Cartman. Not for anything selfless, but so Kyle can't "weasel his way out of the deal." Ugh. 

      Part Three opens with Al Gore showing footage of the attack on the Pentagon as proof that ManBearPig is, indeed, real. Kyle, meanwhile, awakens from being in a coma, and has a telepathic like to Stan, who is currently in Imaginationland, where the good characters are about to fight the evil characters, with Butters using his power of imagination to bring back those lost in the terrorist attack, starting with Santa Claus. Butters' first efforts don't go well, and he imagines his enraged father grounding him, but he eventually gets his abilities under control, and is able to bring back Santa, among others.

      On the outside, Al Gore leaks the ManBearPig attack footage online, forcing the General to reveal in a press conference that, indeed, terrorists attacked the imagination, which is now running wild, and the new plan is to launch a nuclear missile into Imaginationland, which brings about many questions and concerns about the characters living in Imaginationland. But, the government declares that the characters of Imaginationland aren't real, and thus can be destroyed, which overturns the Cartman v. Broflovski case, meaning that Kyle is now off the hook and does NOT have to suck Cartman's balls. THANK GOD! Seriously, that running gag throughout this three-parter was just ridiculous. 

       However, Kyle and Cartman both return to the Pentagon to prevent the nuclear launch into Imaginationland, with Kyle reasoning that just because imaginary characters are imaginary, that doesn't make them any less real than everyday people. Cartman also tries to make the same point, but simply because he wants Kyle to uphold his end of their deal. Convinced by Kyle, the D.O.D. aborts the launch. Unfortunately, Al Gore is utterly obsessed with destroying ManBearPig, and launches the nuke anyway. But, he causes the gateway to go haywire and everyone near the gate is sucked into Imaginationland. 

       Inside of Imaginationland, Butters helps the good characters defeat the evil army, thus saving Imaginationland. But, everyone sucked in through the gate drops in, as does the nuke, and everyone except for Butters is gone. Butters uses his powers to restore Imaginationland and everyone in it, and this includes Stan, Kyle, and Cartman. Heck, even The Mayor is restored by Butters. Cartman then realizes how truly powerful the power of imagination is, and proceeds to use his own imagination to conjure up an imaginary version of Kyle sucking the balls of an imaginary version of Cartman. After that bit of idiocy, Santa takes the boys back to South Park, and we see Butters wake up in his bed, only to get yelled at by his parents, with Butters' dad yelling "You Are GROUNDED!" Butters attempts to use his imagination powers to undo his grounding, but that power only works inside of Imaginationland. Oh well. 

       Imaginationland is a really entertaining three-parter of South Park. The idea that every imaginary figure, every fictional character, and every religious figure all co-exist alongside each other in a single world that looks like it was born of the imagination of children is something else. And seeing so many icons of pop culture all in one universe was also neat. And the main idea of the trilogy's premise, terrorists attack the imagination, unleash every evil character ever made, and cause the imagination to run wild, is an interesting concept. And, just seeing so many evil characters, both from pop culture and from past episodes of South Park with the likes of ManBearPig and the Woodland critters from "Woodland Critter Christmas" was neat. Not to mention all of the more noble characters like Optimus Prime, Morpheus, Luke Skywalker, Popeye, and so forth. 

       What really cracked me up, though, was the insane lengths that the Department of Defense went through to try to get the imagination back under control. And, the way that Matt and Trey mocked filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan for only having knowledge of plot twists and Michael Bay for only having knowledge of cool special effects was pretty funny. I mean, they already showed how batshit crazy Mel Gibson is, so no new ground being broken there. And, the idea of a gateway to the imagination that LITERALLY looks like the Stargate, and even having Kurt Russell show up in a reference to his role as Col. Jack O'Neil in the movie Stargate, was hysterical. 

       But, if you were paying any attention throughout the review, you probably figured out that Cartman's whole subplot in Imaginationland was not my favorite. I'm not even a massive fan of Cartman as a character, because he's just such an obnoxious asshole, but this was just one step too far for me. I mean, his arc in the two-parter Cartoon Wars, where he tried to get the Fox Television network to yank an upcoming episode of Family Guy in the hopes of the show, which he hates, eventually goes off the air, that's one thing. But, Cartman going to insane lengths, such as going to court and even breaking into the Pentagon TWICE in the idiotic and sophomoric attempt to get Kyle to give him an effing blowjob is just too much for me. 

       Other than my issue with the Cartman subplot, I thoroughly enjoyed the Imaginationland three-parter. It's probably one of the more creative and unique chunk of episodes of South Park that is tons of fun, especially to spot the various fictional characters from the pantheon of pop culture. As for how to watch it? Well, one way is in watching the three episodes back-to-back in the eleventh season of South Park. So, yeah, definitely check it out. 

       Alright guys, this is Chuck signing off, and I'll see you guys in the next review.