South Park Pokes Fun at Avatar

Never before have I seen a film parodied and mocked over a month before its theatrical release. Such is the case though when the film is Avatar and the expectations are monumental. Apparently Matt Stone and Trey Parker became aware the growing hype and decided to cash in on it with the latest South Park episode titled, “Dances with Smurfs.” 


In the episode, Cartman is chosen to do the morning announcements at South Park Elementary, quickly turns it into a Glenn Beck style political show aimed at attacking Wendy, the student body President. When the school or his friends try to push back, he uses his followers and quick tongue to silence them. The full episode is at South Park Studios, but you can watch one of the Avatar-related clips here:

As I said before, I think it’s remarkable that any film gets this kind of attention before actually coming out. After the episode aired, I searched Twitter to read some reaction, and the majority of tweets recognized the ending as a jab at Avatar and found it funny. I think that’s a good sign for Fox that the marketing done so far is reaching the public. Will it translate into monstrous box office returns? I don’t know, but there’s no doubt word of mouth is spreading. Now if only the viral can get going again.