Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
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"Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
''. The 22nd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
in the United States on August 19, 1998. The episode was written by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Nancy M. Pimental, and directed by Parker.Dyess-Nugent, Phil (August 19, 2012)
"South Park (Classic):"Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls"/"Chickenpox""
''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
''. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
In the episode, the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
is moved to South Park, but it badly affects Mr. Hankey. Meanwhile,
Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
tries his luck to make some money, as many visitors come to the town, by selling his new sweet treats, his chocolate salty balls.


Plot

Park City, Utah Park City is a city in Utah, United States. The vast majority is in Summit County, and it extends into Wasatch County. It is considered to be part of the Wasatch Back. The city is southeast of downtown Salt Lake City and from Salt Lake City' ...
is in the midst of the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...
. Sundance's founder,
Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
, has decided that Park City has become too
commercialize Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...
d by the annual migration of the
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
jet set, so he decides to move the festival to South Park, Colorado. The Sundance Festival relocates to South Park, which is immediately deluged by Hollywood tourists. In school,
Mr. Garrison Herbert Garrison, formerly known as Janet Garrison, Ethan F Garrison, and the President, is a fictional character and occasional antagonist on the American animated television series ''South Park''. The character is voiced by cocreator Trey Pa ...
gives the students an assignment to see one
independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...
during the festival and write a report on it.
Chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
sets up a sales stand at the festival for his fudge cookie recipes. At night, as
Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
uses the restroom, he hears
Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 17, 1997. The episode follows Kyle as he ...
calling to him from the toilet. Kyle persuades
Stan Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author ...
,
Cartman Eric Theodore Cartman, commonly referred to by his surname Cartman, is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom ''South Park'', created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is voiced by Parker, and is one of the series' four main charact ...
, and
Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant ...
to help him find Mr. Hankey; they enter the
sewer system Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff ( stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and sc ...
to look for him. They soon find Mr. Hankey, who tells Kyle that the influx of all the Hollywood tourists, with their health-food diets, has disrupted the
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
of the sewer, which has made him deathly ill. Kyle and the others appear before a film's showing, and Kyle pleads with the Hollywood visitors to understand that their presence is causing the death of his friend Mr. Hankey. However, they all think Kyle is trying to pitch a script, and they offer film deals. One agent approaches Cartman to buy the rights to Kyle's story; he readily agrees. A film is produced overnight, starring
Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
as Kyle and a
monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
as Mr. Hankey. The South Park locals are beginning to tire of the festival, seeing that it is causing the town to become overrun with commercialism and Hollywood
kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
. However, Redford plans to sue the whole the town if they go through with ending the festival; he then reveals to his wife, Phyllis, that he will make all small towns overrun with Hollywood culture, since he cannot escape it, so he wants to inflict it on everyone else. By this time, Cartman realizes he's been cheated out by the agent and only receives three dollars from the two million dollars the Mr. Hankey movie made and Stan promptly calls Cartman a sell-out; not to be outdone, Cartman then starts selling shirts of Tom Hanks with the monkey-version of Mr. Hankey. Kyle tries to show Mr. Hankey to the crowd, but Mr. Hankey is pale and near death. Chef feeds Mr. Hankey one of his Chocolate Salty Balls, causing him to return to life. Stan, Kyle, Chef, and Mr. Hankey approach Redford as he is on a podium to announce the return of the film festival the next year. After he ignores their pleas to relocate the festival, Mr. Hankey makes a passionate speech about film festivals - instead of catering to the glamor of Hollywood, they should focus more on giving new-coming filmmakers a chance and actually enjoy the films. Infuriated, Redford throws Mr. Hankey against a wall, killing him; Chef revitalizes Mr. Hankey once again. He then causes the sewers to erupt over South Park, causing Redford and Phyllis' car to fill with
feces Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
, drowning them, and all the tourists flee the town. With the town saved (albeit covered in excrement), the boys reflect on Mr. Hankey's message and admit that while a few independent films are great, "most of them suck ass." As for Cartman, he feels that being a sell-out was positive for him because he wouldn't hang out with "poor-ass losers" like his friends and leaves with the money he earned selling shirts.


Production

A soundtrack album, titled '' Chef Aid: The South Park Album'', was released in 1998, during the broadcast run of the second season. It comprises songs featured in and related to the series, including " Chocolate Salty Balls", performed by
Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...
as Chef, from this episode.


Cultural references

Cartman refers to independent films as being about " gay cowboys eating
pudding Pudding is a type of food. It can be either a dessert or a savoury (salty or spicy) dish served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, ins ...
". This episode aired seven years before the independent film ''
Brokeback Mountain ''Brokeback Mountain'' is a 2005 American neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus. Adapted from the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx, the screenplay was written by O ...
'' was released in 2005, but one year after the publication of the short story of the same name by Annie Proulx in 1997. In an interview with the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
in October 2005, series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone responded to questions about the prophetic statement by Cartman. Parker quipped, "...if there’s pudding eating in there, we’re going to sue", and Stone claimed, "No e're not prophets but Cartman is. aughsWe went to Sundance a lot in the mid-to-late ’90s, and you could just tell it was going toward gay cowboydom."


Home media

All 18 episodes of the second season, including "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls", were released on a DVD box set on June 3, 2003.Blevins, Tal (June 30, 2003)
"South Park: The Complete Second Season"
''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
''. Retrieved December 27, 2016.


References


External links


"Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls"
Full Episode at South Park Studios * {{South Park episodes, 2 1998 American television episodes South Park (season 2) episodes Television episodes set in Utah Television about magic Works about feces Television episodes about filmmaking