The Spirit of Christmas

This short film came out in 1992 and with the materials and camera work back then, this blew my mind. This is a cool, funny and clever animation. There are some dark bits and swear words too so be on the look out for that.

An absolute classic start to one of the funniest, smartest shows of all time. A 10 out of 10 simply because this was the start of the most epic cartoon and all around classic show South Park. It's hilarious to even hear the "Go Jesus!", " Our Savior!" And "You know, I learned something today" quotes and to see for the most part the four main characters stayed the same even with the "they killed Kenny" mines albeit with Kenny looking like Cartman.

Cartman is one of my all time favorite television characters of all time so I'm glad they made the switch. I'd love to hear how they took this short and molded it into what it is today.

A definite must for any South Park fan. You can find it on YouTube.

SweeZ.

This is the very first, early draft of what would become 'South Park'. This is the work of film students in their last year of university/college, and frankly, I like this little short. Why? because it's such a classic, I never even knew about this until 10 minutes ago.

Trey and Matt soon would discover that this little short film will have a sequel to it, in which that will spawn them a TV show, two years later. It's bad quality, but it's 1992, so don't complain. But if you want to be reminded of your child-hood memories, then watch this. A nice 10/10 for originality. You think it starts out as your regular Christmas special or educational Christmas cartoon short, but as soon they put the magic hat on the snowman, everything goes nuts, and you see the true nature of what South Park is today. Again, 10/10 for originality.

The Spirit of Christmas" is an intriguing piece of television history, serving as the seed that would grow into the cultural phenomenon that is South Park. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone as a crude, stop-motion Christmas card, the pilot features the familiar, edgy humor that would later define the series, but it's far from the polished show fans have come to know.

The short introduces a rudimentary version of the main cast-Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny-as they navigate a chaotic Christmas filled with vulgarity and a surprisingly epic battle between Santa and Jesus. The plot is delightfully absurd, a hallmark of Parker and Stone's comedy, and offers an early glimpse into their irreverent approach to religious and cultural satire.

However, as a pilot, it lacks the refined pacing and characterization that the series developed over time. The animation is charmingly crude, but it's also rough enough to be distracting at times. The humor is hit-or-miss, with some jokes feeling more like shock value than clever commentary.

While it's an essential watch for die-hard fans and a fascinating artifact of South Park's origins, it doesn't hold up as a standalone piece of entertainment compared to what the series would later achieve.

Final Verdict: 6/10 "The Spirit of Christmas" is a raw but intriguing prototype of South Park. It's worth watching for its historical value, but its appeal lies more in what it represents than in its execution.

A short and sweet watch. The 1995 version is much better than this one, but it's still pretty cool to see how the boys used to look like before South Park started airing, I recommend this short to any hardcore South Park fan.