Comedy Central and Paramount have announced the home media releases for Season 25 of their popular adult animated sitcom, South Park!
Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park is an animated adult comedy based on the duo’s early short film The Spirit of Christmas. It focuses on four boys–Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, Eric Cartman–living in the titular mountain where they challenge the hypocrisies and follies of the adult populace. Through the main characters, Parker and Stone satirize a wide range of socio-political topics while bringing lots of laughs.
The paper cut-out style of South Park takes cues from Terry Gilliam’s animations for Monty Python’s Flying Circus, one of Parker and Stone’s favorite programs growing up. While The Spirit of Christmas and the pilot episode used traditional stop motion cutout animation, every episode following the first were all done by computer to save time while preserving the visual style. While the animation quality has greatly evolved over the years, animators made sure that the intentionally cheap cutout style remained.
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The current voice cast consists of Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mona Marshall, and April Stewart, who voice a majority of the characters. Their recordings are pitched up for child characters. Parker and Stone voice most of the male characters, while Marshall and Stewart voice most of the female characters. Marshall and Stewart replaced Eliza Schneider in 2004; Schneider herself succeeded Mary Kay Bergman after the latter’s death in 1999. Various staff members and actors voice other characters that Parker, Stone, Marshall, and Stewart do not.
Seasonal Production
From Seasons 1 to 7, the episode count varied greatly, with an overall average of around 15 episodes. Season 8 was when a consistent 14-episode count was established, lasting until Season 16. During that time, the first seven episodes would begin airing in the first half of the year, with the remaining episodes airing in the second half.
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From Season 17 to 23, South Park reduced the episode count to 10 for an uninterrupted season. This allowed for Parker and Stone to work on other projects, along with accounting for the changing viewing habits of their audience. The series placed increased emphasis on continuity, with storylines such as the gentrification of South Park in Season 19, the 2016 presidential election in Season 20, and the Marsh family’s new life in Tegridy Farms.
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected production from 2020 onward, with Season 24 consisting of two extended-length episodes and two made-for-television films on Paramount+. In August 2021, Parker and Stone signed a $900 million deal to renew South Park up to Season 30 and 14 additional films, enough to last to at least 2027. During Seasons 24 and 25, Parker and Stone worked on other projects, such as the purchase and renovation of Casa Bonita as well as the concert celebrating the 25th anniversary of South Park.
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South Park Season 25 Coming to Home Media!
Paramount and Comedy Central have announced the release of South Park Season 25 on Blu-Ray and DVD. They are set to arrive on April 4, 2023, with all six episodes (“Pajama Day”, “The Big Fix”, “City People”, “Back to the Cold War”, “Help! My Teenager Hates Me”, “Credigree Farms St. Patrick’s Day Special”) included in the set. Season 25 returned to the episodic format, albeit with only 6 conventional-length episodes. Unlike the previous season, the two Paramount+ specials are not considered part of Season 25 due to their lack of production code.
In the meantime, Season 26 will premiere on February 8, keeping fans engaged while they wait to complete their collection. South Park is currently airing on Comedy Central, with a series of films streaming on Paramount+.
Are you excited about South Park Season 25 on home media? What do you hope to see in Season 26? Do you want more events and movies? Let us know in the comments and on social media!
Source: Paramount
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