Imaginationland Episode III

"Imaginationland Episode III"
South Park episode
Cartman, dressed as the pope.
Episode no.	Season 11 Episode 12
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	1112
Original air date	October 31, 2007
Episode chronology
← Previous "Imaginationland Episode II" Next → "Guitar Queer-o"
List of South Park episodes

"Imaginationland Episode III", or "Moistening of the Scrotum" (as it appears on DVD), is episode 1112 (#165) of Comedy Central's animated TV series South Park. It originally aired on October 31, 2007.^[1] It is the concluding episode in a three-part story arc that won the 2008 Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for One Hour or More. The three episodes were later reissued together, along with previously unreleased footage, as the uncensored Imaginationland: The Movie. This is the third episode to be rated TV-MA LV.

Plot

As an army of evil imaginary creatures marches towards the castle, Aslan, Gandalf and Luke Skywalker inform Butters that, as a real person, he has the ability to manifest things in Imaginationland by using his imagination. Butters mentally practices. In the real world, Kyle wakes up in Washington DC Memorial Hospital, where Cartman is undergoing preparations in anticipation of Kyle sucking his balls. Kyle somehow establishes a telepathic link with Stan in Imaginationland, who says he can hear a trumpet and that "something really big is about to go down..."

The trumpet, it turns out, heralds the arrival of the evil imaginary army. The good army, led by Jesus, marvels at how greatly outnumbered they are. The two sides clash in a bloody battle, and initially, the good characters seem doomed. However, Butters finally manages to gain control of his imagination, and is able to summon appropriate backup and weaponry for the defending good guys that begins to turn the tide. The Pentagon is forced to admit the events about Imaginationland and their plan to nuke it, because Al Gore (who has his Nobel Peace Prize medal hanging around his neck) has leaked a video about Manbearpig (having taped Manbearpig's rampage in the previous episode). To proceed, the Supreme Court overturns the "Cartman vs. Broflovski decision" that imaginary creatures are real - imaginary creatures are declared not really real, so the government can bomb Imaginationland. Now, Kyle, legally no longer having to suck Cartman's balls, is instructed by Stan to stall the launch.

Kyle leaves the hospital, with Cartman following closely behind. Kyle is initially turned down by security, but receives encouragement from Stan and several imaginary characters, including Jesus and Luke Skywalker. Cartman sneaks into the Pentagon again, quickly followed by Kyle. Kyle convinces the officials to not bomb Imaginationland by arguing that imaginary creatures are just as real as real people because of the impact they have on people's lives. Cartman responds by telling Kyle that since imaginary creatures are real after all, then he loses their bet, and still has to suck Cartman's balls. Kyle finally snaps and berates Cartman for not caring about the danger Stan and Butters are in just because of a stupid bet and that he doesn't care who won, because Kyle would rather go to jail than humiliate himself by sucking Cartman's balls. Suddenly, Al Gore barges into the room, asking why the bomb hasn't been launched yet. When he finds out that the launch sequence has been aborted, he says "ManBearPig has to die", he then mashes at the portal's control panel to try and launch the bomb himself, which causes the portal to destabilize and suck everyone in the room, as well as the nuclear missile, into Imaginationland.

The good characters' victory is interrupted by the bomb's explosion, destroying everything and everyone, including the people from the real world and leaving nothing but a vast white emptiness. Butters, on the other hand, somehow survives the explosion and restores the realm with his imagination, back to how it was before the initial terrorist attack. Everyone is alive again, the evil imaginary characters are imprisoned once again, and everyone cheers for Butters for saving the day. Cartman acknowledges Butters for using his imagination to restore everything, then realizing the power of the realm, Cartman then creates duplicates of himself and Kyle, in which imaginary Kyle sucks imaginary Cartman's balls (off-screen). Kyle angrily states the scene is imaginary, to which Cartman insists that, in one's imagination, imaginary creatures are "real", as Kyle himself said earlier. Santa then states that it's time for the boys to go home.

Butters wakes up in the real world, in his bedroom. His parents come in, and he tells them about the dream he just had. They inform Butters that it wasn't a dream, as they read about it in a newspaper, but they proceed to ground him for not coming back from Imaginationland in time to do chores. Distraught by this, Butters tries to use his powers to get out of being grounded, but is told by his parents that his powers only work in Imaginationland, and not in the real world. Disappointed, Butters lays back in bed and ends the episode with a low, unhappy and uncensored mutter of "Aw, shit".

Production

Shortly after "Imaginationland" was originally broadcast, the site also featured T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode. It featured Butters in a floating bubble, asking "Do I have to be the key?"^[2]

References

1. ^ Episode Guide. South Park Studios.
2. ^ "southpark: Do I Have to be the Key?". Zazzle. 2007-10-31. http://www.zazzle.com/southpark/gifts?cg=196633382673875247. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 

External links

• Imaginationland Episode III Full episode at South Park Studios
• Imaginationland Episode III Episode guide at South Park Studios
• Imaginationland: The Movie - free streaming video of the entire movie at the official South Park website.
• Pictures of Imaginationland characters at South Park Scriptorium
• List of Imaginationland characters at wikia