Mr. Garrison’s overly religious Christmas play draws the ire of Kyle’s mom. She protests that it is insensitive to Jews. Soon, everyone in South Park is arguing and all symbols of Christmas, religious and secular, are removed. When the mayor asks for a new holiday symbol, Kyle (voice: Matt Stone) suggests Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo. After run-ins with his parents, friends, and the school counselor over the reality of Mr. Hankey, Kyle is committed as a clinically depressed fecalphiliac. 24 min.
The first Christmas episode of the regular series, Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo riffs on A Charlie Brown Christmas (with Stan giving Linus’s speech, complete with “Lights please” and all the kids running out to catch snow on their tongues) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (with Kyle believing in an odd holiday figure that rises up to give presents). It also takes jabs at those who protest public institutions supporting religious observances as well as religious groups objecting to secular symbols. The message of everyone just being OK with whatever symbols institutions employ, even if forced upon your family members, is simplistic and vacuous, but hey, this is a cartoon about foul mouthed eight-year-olds, so who cares about the message?
The jokes work better than the meaning, particularly when Kyle is repeatedly caught in what appears to be deranged actions involving feces. There’s also a live-action commercial for The Mr. Hanky Construction Set that is reminiscent of the fake-ads in the first season of SNL (back when that show was funny). This is the first appearance by school counselor Mr. Mackey, who’s at his best. “So try to stay positive, stay away from drugs and alcohol, and in the meantime, I’m gonna put you on a heavy regiment of Prozac.”
As a Christmas episode, it should be no surprise that there are more songs than usual, with:
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas (students)
- I’m a Jew, a Lonely Jew (Kyle)
- Kyle’s Mom is a Stupid Bitch (Eric)
- I’m Going to Lay You Down by the Yule Log (Chef)
- The Dreidel Song (Kyle)
- Mr. Hanky, The Christmas Poo (everyone)
While that might sound like a pretty busy episode, there’s a lot less going on than normal for South Park. With fewer routines, it relies heavily on the joke of a talking piece of poo. The problem is, it’s not that funny. I suppose we’re supposed to be shocked, and I’m sure some people are, but I’m not. Without that “gasp” factor, much of Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo falls flat. South Park can be wonderfully sick and twisted, and its pretty clear that’s what creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone thought they managed with Mr. Hankey. They were wrong.