The Spirit of Christmas (short film)
Encyclopedia
The Spirit of Christmas is the name of two different animated
short film
s made by Trey Parker
and Matt Stone
. They are notable for being precursors to the animated series South Park
. To differentiate the two, they are often referred to as Jesus vs. Frosty (1992) and Jesus vs. Santa (1995).
and, in the vein of Frosty the Snowman
, putting a magic hat on it to make it come to life. Unfortunately, Frosty turns out to be evil and deranged, sprouting huge tentacle
s and killing the Kenny-named Cartman-resembling boy by throwing him. This leads one of the boys to utter the first version of a line which recurs in countless South Park episodes: "Oh my God! Frosty killed Kenny!"
The boys go to Santa
for help, but he turns out merely to be Frosty in disguise. This time, he kills the Kenny-resembling boy, again by throwing him. The two remaining boys run away, and come across a nativity scene with a baby Jesus
, who flies over to the evil snowman and defeats it by slicing off the magic hat with a hurl of his halo. One of the boys says another recurring line from the South Park series: "You know, I learned something today", and he and his friend realize the purported "true" meaning of Christmas
: that is, presents. As a deer
nibbles on Kenny's corpse they go to their homes to find presents hidden by their parents.
under the "Avenging Conscience Films" moniker. They animated the film using only construction paper
, glue
and a very old 8 mm film
camera
, and premiered it at the December 1992 student film screening. The film features four children very similar in appearance to the four main characters of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman
but called "Kenny", a hooded boy resembling Kenny
(who remains unnamed) and two other boys similar in appearance and voice to Stan
and Kyle
.
This film is later referenced in a South Park episode from season six
entitled "Simpsons Already Did It
", in which Stan, Kyle and Tweek are building a snowman, and Tweek is reluctant to put the nose on the snowman because he thinks it will come to life and kill him. To which Stan replies, "Dude, when has that ever happened, except for that one time?"
", when suddenly Stan stops to tell Kyle he should sing Hanukkah
songs instead, since "Jewish people don't celebrate Christmas!" Cartman insults the song ("I Have a Little Dreidel
") that Kyle begins singing, and they start to argue. They are interrupted, however, when Jesus appears, asking them to take him to the mall
, where they find Santa Claus.
Jesus is angry with "Kringle" because, in his opinion, he diminishes the memory of Jesus's birthday with his presents. Santa, insistent that Christmas is a time for giving, and not merely remembering Jesus's birthday, claims that "this time" they will "finish it", and that "there can be only one". They fight in a style reminiscent of such games as Mortal Kombat
, accidentally killing various bystanders, including Kenny (thus eliciting Stan and Kyle's catchphrase), in the process. Jesus pins Santa down, and each of them asks the boys to help him. Stan hesitates: "What would Brian Boitano
do?" The figure skater
miraculously appears and delivers a speech about how Christmas should be about being good to one another. The boys, enlightened, transmit the message to the fighters, who apologize to each other in shame. They thank the boys for helping and decide to bury the hatchet over an orange smoothie
. As in Jesus vs. Frosty, the boys come to realize the "true" meaning of Christmas: that is, presents. Kyle remarks that, if one is Jewish, one receives presents for eight days rather than on only one. The others decide as a result to become Jewish, too, and, while rats gnaw on Kenny's corpse, leave the scene singing the "Dreidel song".
executive Brian Graden
paid Stone and Parker $2,000 USD to make another animated short as a video
Christmas card
that he could send to friends. In turn, the duo created Jesus vs. Santa.
Graden initially distributed the video to eighty friends in December 1995, one of whom is rumored to have been George Clooney
. Brian Boitano, too, is believed to have laid hands on the tape, and was apparently flattered by his depiction. After months' being passed around on bootleg
video and the Internet
, the film caught the attention of cable
network
Comedy Central
, which hired the pair to develop the South Park series, which premiered in the United States with "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
" on August 13, 1997.
This version of The Spirit of Christmas features an animation style very similar to that of the eventual South Park series, as well as more developed versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny (each of whom are referred to by name) living in South Park. Wendy Testaburger offers an unnamed and non-speaking cameo as a child sitting on Santa's lap. The film largely establishes the characters as they are used in South Park and contains elements that recur in the series, such as Kyle being a Jew, and rat
s eating Kenny's corpse. The film reportedly had a budget
of $750, with Parker and Stone keeping the remainder of their commission.
Clips from Jesus vs. Santa are shown in a fourth season
episode of South Park. In the episode, "A Very Crappy Christmas
", the boys try to create a short animated film to bring back the spirit of Christmas to South Park.
During the episode a few parts of "The Spirit of Christmas" are used as the film the boys are making.
Award for best animation.
The film can be found on the South Park The Hits: Volume 1 DVD. A short clip is visible in a drive-in movie screen in some openers of South Park.
It was also included in AVI
format on Tiger Woods '99
for PlayStation
. It is accessible from the game disc by PC
. Because of this, the game was recalled in January 1999 by Electronic Arts
.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
short film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s made by Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
. They are notable for being precursors to the animated series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
. To differentiate the two, they are often referred to as Jesus vs. Frosty (1992) and Jesus vs. Santa (1995).
Jesus vs. Frosty
Jesus vs. Frosty begins with four boys building a snowmanSnowman
A snowman is an anthropomorphic snow sculpture. They are customarily built by children as part of a family project in celebration of winter. In some cases, participants in winter festivals will build large numbers of snowmen...
and, in the vein of Frosty the Snowman
Frosty the Snowman
"Frosty the Snowman" is a popular song written by Walter "Jack" Rollins and Steve Nelson, and first recorded by Gene Autry and the Cass County Boys in 1950. It was written after the success of Autry's recording of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" the previous year; Rollins and Nelson shipped the...
, putting a magic hat on it to make it come to life. Unfortunately, Frosty turns out to be evil and deranged, sprouting huge tentacle
Tentacle
A tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...
s and killing the Kenny-named Cartman-resembling boy by throwing him. This leads one of the boys to utter the first version of a line which recurs in countless South Park episodes: "Oh my God! Frosty killed Kenny!"
The boys go to Santa
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
for help, but he turns out merely to be Frosty in disguise. This time, he kills the Kenny-resembling boy, again by throwing him. The two remaining boys run away, and come across a nativity scene with a baby Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, who flies over to the evil snowman and defeats it by slicing off the magic hat with a hurl of his halo. One of the boys says another recurring line from the South Park series: "You know, I learned something today", and he and his friend realize the purported "true" meaning of Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
: that is, presents. As a deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
nibbles on Kenny's corpse they go to their homes to find presents hidden by their parents.
Production
In 1992, Trey Parker and Matt Stone made The Spirit of Christmas (aka Jesus vs. Frosty) while they were students at the University of ColoradoUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...
under the "Avenging Conscience Films" moniker. They animated the film using only construction paper
Construction paper
Construction paper is a tough, coarse, colored paper. The texture is slightly rough, and the surface is unfinished. Due to the source material, small particles are visible on the paper’s surface. It is used for projects or crafts....
, glue
Polyvinyl acetate
Polyvinyl acetate, PVA, PVAc, poly, is a rubbery synthetic polymer with the formula n. It belongs to the polyvinyl esters family with the general formula -[RCOOCHCH2]-...
and a very old 8 mm film
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
, and premiered it at the December 1992 student film screening. The film features four children very similar in appearance to the four main characters of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
but called "Kenny", a hooded boy resembling Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
(who remains unnamed) and two other boys similar in appearance and voice to Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
and Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
.
This film is later referenced in a South Park episode from season six
South Park (season 6)
Season six of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 6, 2002. The sixth season concluded after 17 episodes on December 11, 2002. This season is notable for being the only one without Kenny as a main character, as he was...
entitled "Simpsons Already Did It
Simpsons Already Did It
"Simpsons Already Did It" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 86th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 26, 2002...
", in which Stan, Kyle and Tweek are building a snowman, and Tweek is reluctant to put the nose on the snowman because he thinks it will come to life and kill him. To which Stan replies, "Dude, when has that ever happened, except for that one time?"
Jesus vs. Santa
Jesus vs. Santa opens with the four boys singing "We Wish You a Merry ChristmasWe Wish You a Merry Christmas
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy...
", when suddenly Stan stops to tell Kyle he should sing Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
songs instead, since "Jewish people don't celebrate Christmas!" Cartman insults the song ("I Have a Little Dreidel
I Have a Little Dreidel
"I Have a Little Dreidel" is a Chanukah song in the English speaking world, and also has an Yiddish version. This children's tune is about making a dreidel and playing with it...
") that Kyle begins singing, and they start to argue. They are interrupted, however, when Jesus appears, asking them to take him to the mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, where they find Santa Claus.
Jesus is angry with "Kringle" because, in his opinion, he diminishes the memory of Jesus's birthday with his presents. Santa, insistent that Christmas is a time for giving, and not merely remembering Jesus's birthday, claims that "this time" they will "finish it", and that "there can be only one". They fight in a style reminiscent of such games as Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat (series)
Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a science fantasy series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias. The first four renditions and their updates were developed by Midway Games and initially released on arcade machines. The arcade titles were later picked up by Acclaim...
, accidentally killing various bystanders, including Kenny (thus eliciting Stan and Kyle's catchphrase), in the process. Jesus pins Santa down, and each of them asks the boys to help him. Stan hesitates: "What would Brian Boitano
Brian Boitano
Brian Anthony Boitano is an American figure skater from Sunnyvale, California. He is the 1988 Olympic champion, the 1986 and 1988 World Champion, and the 1985-1988 U.S. National Champion. He turned professional following the 1988 season...
do?" The figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
miraculously appears and delivers a speech about how Christmas should be about being good to one another. The boys, enlightened, transmit the message to the fighters, who apologize to each other in shame. They thank the boys for helping and decide to bury the hatchet over an orange smoothie
Smoothie
A smoothie is a blended and sometimes sweetened beverage made from fresh fruit and in special cases can contain chocolate or peanut butter. In addition to fruit, many smoothies include crushed ice, frozen fruit, honey or contain syrup and ice ingredients...
. As in Jesus vs. Frosty, the boys come to realize the "true" meaning of Christmas: that is, presents. Kyle remarks that, if one is Jewish, one receives presents for eight days rather than on only one. The others decide as a result to become Jewish, too, and, while rats gnaw on Kenny's corpse, leave the scene singing the "Dreidel song".
Production
In 1995, after seeing the Jesus vs. Frosty film, FoxFox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
executive Brian Graden
Brian Graden
-Biography:Graden grew up in Illinois and graduated from Hillsboro High School in 1981. He graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1985 with a degree in business, and later graduated with an MBA from Harvard University....
paid Stone and Parker $2,000 USD to make another animated short as a video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
Christmas card
Christmas card
A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to the Christmas and holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western...
that he could send to friends. In turn, the duo created Jesus vs. Santa.
Graden initially distributed the video to eighty friends in December 1995, one of whom is rumored to have been George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
. Brian Boitano, too, is believed to have laid hands on the tape, and was apparently flattered by his depiction. After months' being passed around on bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
video and the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, the film caught the attention of cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, which hired the pair to develop the South Park series, which premiered in the United States with "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is the first episode of the animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 13, 1997...
" on August 13, 1997.
This version of The Spirit of Christmas features an animation style very similar to that of the eventual South Park series, as well as more developed versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny (each of whom are referred to by name) living in South Park. Wendy Testaburger offers an unnamed and non-speaking cameo as a child sitting on Santa's lap. The film largely establishes the characters as they are used in South Park and contains elements that recur in the series, such as Kyle being a Jew, and rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s eating Kenny's corpse. The film reportedly had a budget
Film budgeting
Film budgeting refers to the process by which a line producer, unit production manager or filmmaker prepares a budget for a film production. This document, which could be over 150 pages long, is used to secure financing for the film and lead to pre-production and production of the film. Multiple...
of $750, with Parker and Stone keeping the remainder of their commission.
Clips from Jesus vs. Santa are shown in a fourth season
South Park (season 4)
Season four of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on April 5, 2000. The fourth season concluded after 17 episodes on December 20, 2000.- Episodes :-External links:...
episode of South Park. In the episode, "A Very Crappy Christmas
A Very Crappy Christmas
"A Very Crappy Christmas" is seventeenth and final episode of the fourth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 65th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 20, 2000. In the episode, Kyle awaits Mr. Hankey on Christmas, but he does...
", the boys try to create a short animated film to bring back the spirit of Christmas to South Park.
During the episode a few parts of "The Spirit of Christmas" are used as the film the boys are making.
Release and reception
Jesus vs. Santa received a Los Angeles Film Critics AssociationLos Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association was founded in 1975. Its main purpose is to present yearly awards to members of the film industry who have excelled in their fields. These awards are presented each January...
Award for best animation.
The film can be found on the South Park The Hits: Volume 1 DVD. A short clip is visible in a drive-in movie screen in some openers of South Park.
It was also included in AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
format on Tiger Woods '99
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR is a series of video games developed and published by Electronic Arts featuring professional golfer Tiger Woods, among other pros on the PGA Tour....
for PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. It is accessible from the game disc by PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. Because of this, the game was recalled in January 1999 by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
.