The DVD contains the episodes: "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", "Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!", "Mr. Hankey's Chrismas Classics", "A Very Crappy Christmas", "Red Sleigh Down", "It's Christmas in Canada" and "Woodland Critter Christmas". Here is a brief description of each of the episodes.
Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo: Kyle and the kids are taking part in a Christmas Nativity play, but when Kyle's mother finds this offensive and can't believe the school would force her Jewish son to take part, the town decides to remove anything that could be offensive from Christmas. Meanwhile, Kyle is convinced Mr. Hankey will rise from the toilet on Christmas night and bring good will and cheer to everyone who believes in him. Too bad for Kyle, Mr. Hankey is a singing, dancing Santa-hat wearing poo and no one believes him. It is also worth noting that this is the first episode in the series where Kenny doesn't die (something he is excited to find when the credits start to roll).
Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!: The boys go to visit Cartman's family for the holidays, and when Eric's uncle breaks out of jail (along with his friend and cellmate, Charles Manson), mayhem follows. The kids, who don't know who Manson is, take him to the Mall of Nebraska. When Kyle and Stan find Mr. Hankey has gotten really popular and is at the mall, they are disappointed to find he is just a man in a suit and they expose him for the fake that he is.
Mr. Hankey's Chrismas Classics: This episode is an odd, but fun, collection of holiday carols sung by various characters on the show. Not only will you hear classic songs like "Oh Tannenbaum" sung by Adolf Hitler, Kyle singing "Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel," and Mr. Mackey with "Carol of the Bells," but Cartman signs "O Holy Night" and a jam session between Santa and Jesus as they sing various songs about themselves.
A Very Crappy Christmas: When the kids of South Park notice that Mr. Hankey hasn't come to visit them yet, they begin to get worried. The kids go into the sewers to find their holiday friend and discover he and his family feel like there is no more Christmas Spirit. So the boys decide to put together an animated short to show just what Christmas is supposed to mean. It is interesting to note that the show the kids are putting together is actually the original pilot where Jesus and Santa fight over what Christmas is for. If nothing else, this episode is worth seeing to get a feel for how difficult those early South Park production days must have been.
Red Sleigh Down: When Cartman realizes he is in the red as far as the Naughty and Nice List is concerned, he decides to do something really, really good in order to make it on the Nice List. His idea? Bring Christmas to Iraq, so the boys head up to the North Pole in order to convince the red man himself to bring presents to the Middle East. Unfortunately, Santa gets shot down and is being tortured, so now the kids have to team up with Jesus and Mr. Hankey in an attempt to save Santa from torture.
It's Christmas in Canada: When Canada decides that all Canadians must return, Kyle's brother, Ike, gets a visit from his birth parents and take him away. While the family tries to fight the extraction through the courts, the boys head to Canada and take a Wizard of Oz-esque adventure to get Ike back. As they "Follow the Only Road," the kids will run into various crazy characters and eventually find out who the strange and evil new ruler of Canada really is.
Woodland Critter Christmas : This tale is probably one of the show's most demented ones, if not overall, then at least as far as the Christmas episodes are concerned. Stan is walking through the forest and comes across a band of cute woodland critters. When one of the little animals experiences Immaculate Conception, they ask their friend in the red poof-ball hat for help. Stan learns that the every year, one of their group is chosen to give birth to the son of their lord, but a mountain lion always comes down and kills that critter. Stan is asked to make sure the lion can't stop the birth of their savior, but when he does, he finds out these critters aren't exactly what they seem.
If nothing else, this DVD contains quite a unique slice of South Park over the years. The first episode shows how crude the artwork was during Season one while the last one, "Woodland Critter Christmas" is probably the most offensive episode in the collection and shows just how far the show has come over the years (though it is one of my personal favorites). Fans of the show probably shouldn't hesitate to grab this collection of Christmas episodes, so they won't have to dig through their already purchased sets in order to find these seasonal picks, and people who haven't already experienced or decided they liked South Park yet, might want to just steer clear of this DVD. After all, if you haven't been hooked into it yet, you probably already find it too offensive for your tastes.
