Season 2 Episode 9 – Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls

Chef is out to make some money, when a film festival comes to South Park!

Original Airdate

19^th August 1998

Featured Music

Chocolate Salty Balls (original, sung by Chef)

Synopsis

South Park’s first film festival brings in the Hollywood elites, whose diet of tofu and couscous ruin the sewer system, causing Mr. Hankey to plot his revenge on the gentrified town big time!

Kenny's Death

Caught in a stampede by a group of eager cinemagoers when they exit the cinema.

My Thoughts Back Then

I first watched this a year before Brokeback Mountain (gay cowboys eating pudding) was filmed, and before I swore, so the fudgy cookie jokes went over my head when I saw this aged 13 in late 2004. I also liked going to the cinema, but have never been one for arty films or film festivals. This was also a long time before I sat in on a Year 12 media class in 2008, or did photography class in Year 9 in 2005, where my love of exposure techniques and cinematic techniques came from. I still liked it, but there are definitely better episodes from Season 2 for me, both back then and now. I also haven’t heard of Robert Redford, so that was lost on me too.

My Thoughts Now

Northern Wyoming Bacon Loaf hey? I’d eat that, I wonder what you’d serve it with though… and 450F is VERY hot for a meatloaf like dish too.

A film festival has come to South Park, and brought seemingly half of Hollywood! Kyle thinks the 1998 film Godzilla is bad?! 7 year old me would have been mad. Cartman also seemed eager to go to Principal Victoria’s office too, but he wasn’t, reminds me of some of my fellow students from school.

Chef is at the festival, selling Fudge ‘Ems, cookies with fudge in the middle, and I love the way they rip on progessive Hollywood’s dietary intake. Stan didn’t really like the first film in the festival, it looks more like Wendy’s cup of tea.

Fred Savage comes and gets booed (obviously no one likes The Wonder Years in town), and Chef has a new treat – chocolate salty balls! Kyle wants to go in a SEWER (just no) to see Mr. Hankey, and managed to get the other 3 boys to come with him. And Mr. Garrison is down there (looking for Mr. Hat?) Mr. Hankey is upset with the Hollywood types’ diet, which is destroying the sewer. This parody of environmental disaster went over my head at 13, but at 30 I get a lot more now. The Hollywood types are convinced Mr. Hankey will be the next Free Willy, and NO ONE likes Fred Savage (whom I guessing was struggling after The Wonder Years ended in 1993).

Hollywood are taking over South Park! Whilst I’m very much in favour of free enterprise, you can’t just knock over libraries like that for a Planet Hollywood restaurant. Mr. Hankey is sad that the plea failed, and Stan and Wendy see a Mr. Hankey film?! With Tom Hanks, and Mr. Hankey is a MONKEY?! Wendy is sad, and Cartman is ANGRY his idea was ruined.

Mr. Hankey is turning gray, and the town is becoming more and more like a Colorado version of Hollywood – this scene got to me more now than it did at 13 – I suppose having lost more people significant to me at my age than at 13 would do that for me. HE CAN’T DIE! I like the montage of Mr. Hankey to date (which is only Season 1’s Christmas special and this episode), and Stan, you DON’T betray your best friend to see a film with your girlfriend. While I never vomited like Stan did, I used to get butterflies in my stomach when I saw a couple of girls I went to school with at the time.

Thanks to Chef and his chocolate salty balls, Mr. Hankey is back! South Park is RUINED by Hollywood Planet and film festivals forever! NOOOOO!!!! Cannes in France is much bigger than the real Fairplay, Colorado, so Mr. Hankey has a point about South Park being unsuitable for a film festival. Mr. Hankey is almost killed again, but he becomes a wizard after eating 6 chocolate salty balls.

I haven’t seen Fantasia, but know enough about it and Disney to know Wizard Hankey is a parody of it, and the poo river engulfing the town makes me feel sick, but it did the trick and Hollywood, Colorado is gone. Imagine the cleanup effort – YUCK! Wendy apologises, and Cartman does NOT value the true value of friends, no way! I’d whoop Cartman for his comment of how if you’re rich, you can throw your friends to the kerb!