Movies - The Spirit of Christmas

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	Movies - The Spirit of Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas is the name of two different animated short films that launched South Park. To differentiate the two they are often referred to as Jesus vs. Frosty and Jesus vs. Santa.

Background

In 1992, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, then students at the University of Colorado, made Jesus vs. Frosty', under the 'Avenging Conscience Films' moniker. Parker and Stone animated the film using only construction paper, glue, and a very old camera, and premiered the film at the December 1992 student film screening. It featured prototypical versions of the kids of South Park, including a character resembling Cartman but called "Kenny", as well as three nameless boys resembling Stan, Kyle and Kenny.

In 1995, Fox executive Brian Graden paid them $2000 to make another animated short as a video Christmas card he could send to friends. In turn, the duo created Jesus vs. Santa. This version of The Spirit of Christmas featured more developed versions of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. It established the characters as they would be used in South Park. The film reportedly had a budget of $750, with Parker and Stone keeping the rest of their commission.

Graden initially distributed the video to 80 friends in December 1995, one of the friends rumored to be George Clooney
. After months of being passed around on bootleg video and the Internet, the film caught the attention of cable network Comedy Central. The network hired the pair to develop South Park, which premiered in the USA on August 13, 1997.

In 1997, Jesus vs. Santa received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association
Award for best animation.

The episodes remain free to distribute and are available to watch at the website.
Plot
In Jesus vs. Frosty, the boys bring a murderous snowman to life with a magic hat. The baby Jesus then saves the day by decapitating the monster with his halo.

In Jesus vs. Santa, Jesus and Santa Claus square off over the true meaning of the holiday, only to be reconciled by Brian Boitano and the four boys.
Kenny's Deaths

In Jesus vs. Frosty: The boy resembling Cartman (and called "Kenny") gets grabbed by one of Frosty's tentacles and slammed into the ground. The boy resembling Kenny gets grabbed by the throat by Santa then tossed to the ground and is decapitated. A small dog or fox nibbles at "Kenny"/Cartman at the very end of the film.

In Jesus vs. Santa'': Kenny gets decapitated by Santa, causing his head to fly off and hit a statue which topples over, crushing some children. Rats eat his corpse at the end of the film.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Spirit of Christmas ]

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