Note to self: Be sure to include South park in the history of viral media. I almost forgot about the Santa Claus vs. Jesus gem. I think it's around somewhere though. Oh, yeah there it is.
Watch it: soxmas.mov
Ehh.. who hasn't seen that? Here's a spoiler. Kenny dies for the first time evar.
South Park got its start in 1991 when Parker and Stone, then film students at the University of Colorado, created an animated short called Jesus vs Frosty. The crudely made film featured prototypical versions of the kids of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman but called "Kenny", bringing a murderous snowman to life with a magic hat. The baby Jesus then saves the day by decapitating the monster with a halo.
Executives at the Fox network saw the film, and in 1995 executive Brian Graden commissioned Parker and Stone to create a second short film to send to friends as a video Christmas card. Entitled The Spirit of Christmas, it closely resembled the style of the later series, and featured a martial arts duel (and subsequent truce) between Jesus and Santa Claus over the true meaning of Christmas. The video was a hit and was quickly shared, both by underground duplication and over the then-burgeoning Internet. This led to talks to create a series, first with Fox, then with Comedy Central, where the series premiered on August 13, 1997.
Overnight Success. Viral. Only took one video and six years. :)
From: South Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
No comments:
Post a Comment