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South Park Dolls - Schweet! |
By:
Terry Olmort |
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Since the first broadcast in 1997, the animated show South Park has delighted and enraged in equal measure. The show has a loyal fan base however and the franchise has achieved cult status. In addition to the TV shows, the movie and DVDs, there is a range of merchandise, which is avidly collected. South Park dolls are particularly popular and it's possible to buy little replicas of most of the characters.
The show centers on four friends who live in Colorado, surrounded by snow capped mountains and pine forests. Stan, Cartman, Kyle and Kenny try to make sense of the adult world as they go to school, play with each other and go about their daily lives. This is definitely a show for grown ups and there is a lot of political comment and satire. Other characters are shown at various levels of eccentricity as parents, school staff and other figures of authority.
The running joke in the show is the constant demise of Kenny. In addition to being killed in most episodes, Kenny also went missing and this is commemorated in one of the best selling South Park dolls, the Missing Kenny Doll, which comes neatly packaged in a milk carton. There is also an inflatable version of Kenny, a figure measuring 23 inches in height.
Chef is another favorite character, one of the few adults that the boys trust and go to for advice. Their teacher however, Mr Mackey is not so approachable and his doll is heard to say, that is not appropriate behavior. Many of the South Park dolls are programmed to talk and they repeat their well known catch phrases. One of Talking Cartman's phrases is I'm not fat, I'm big boned. Mr Hankey is also wired up to talk and dispenses his wisdom, separately and with Mr Garrison. Timmy and Jimmy also talk with Jimmy on crutches and Timmy is detachable from his wheelchair.
Cartman comes in various guises and appears on a voice activated keychain as well as South Park dolls. His hatred of hippies is well known and there is a hippie exterminator Cartman action figure. Stan also comes in various forms, one of which is a Goth Stan figure. The animal population doesn't always get a fair deal in the show but they too are represented as South Park dolls, namely the Cow and Sparky the dog. The show will never be a conventional one and the dolls will go on to be just as inventive.
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Article Source: http://www.friendsofvista.org/articles/article25371.html |
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