Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo

Plot

Kyle lands the role of Saint Joseph in the South Park Elementary Christmas play, but his mother Sheila forces him to quit because she is angry about her Jewish son taking part in a Nativity scene. When Mr. Garrison asks for a secular option, Kyle proposes the "Mr. Hankey" song, but the class rejects it since nobody else believes in the living piece of feces that gives the song its name. Feeling lonely and left out because his Jewish faith prevents him from joining in Christmas festivities, Kyle leaves the school.

In the town square, several groups gather to voice their complaints about how Christmas is handled: secular activists object to the nativity display on public land, Sheila protests the marginalization of Jewish people, Father Maxi leads devout Christians in criticizing commercial elements like Santa Claus, and environmentalists oppose cutting down trees for the holiday. Mayor McDaniels decides to remove anything that offends anyone, which results in the elimination of harmless items such as mistletoe and decorative stars.

Kyle again suggests Mr. Hankey, arguing he does not discriminate, but nobody listens. At home, Kyle's parents scold him for believing in Mr. Hankey. While Kyle brushes his teeth, Mr. Hankey climbs out of the toilet and smears feces around the bathroom, and Kyle gets blamed. Kyle brings Mr. Hankey to school to prove he exists, but Mr. Hankey only comes alive for believers.

After Cartman sings an insulting song about Sheila, Mr. Hankey lunges at him, and everyone thinks Kyle threw the feces. Kyle is sent to guidance counselor Mr. Mackey, but gets in more trouble when Mr. Hankey bathes in Mackey's coffee. Cartman, Stan, and Kenny conclude Kyle is insane and have him committed to a mental institution.

Production

Mr. Hankey originated from a story Trey Parker’s father made up while toilet training him. As a child, Parker would not flush the toilet, so his father warned that if he didn’t flush his stool—which he called “Mr. Hankey”—it would come alive and kill him. The idea stuck with Parker, and from elementary school through his education, he often drew the character in class, but wearing a sailor’s hat rather than the Santa Claus hat later seen in South Park.

When Parker met Matt Stone at the University of Colorado at Boulder, he shared the concept, and they immediately wanted to make a film or production about Mr. Hankey. They planned a three-minute short about a boy who befriends the talking stool, but Mr. Hankey only came alive for him, making others think the boy was crazy. The short was never made, but nearly all its elements appeared in the South Park episode “Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo,” except for the ending.

Instead, Parker and Stone created two Christmas animated shorts called The Spirit of Christmas, which preceded the South Park series.

Cultural impact and references

Mr. Hankey is often cited as one of the most recognizable and popular characters who isn't a regular on South Park. His squeaky "Howdy-ho" became a frequently quoted line from the show's first season, and fans launched several websites about him soon after the episode aired. In early 1998, Entertainment Weekly noted that Comedy Central executives had considered making a Mr. Hankey chocolate bar, though the vice president of strategic planning said a sketch was drawn as a joke and no serious plans existed.

A stuffed toy version of the character was a top-selling South Park item during the 1998 Christmas season. This episode introduced Father Maxi and Mr. Mackey, though both had already appeared in "Damien," which was produced earlier but aired later. Mr. Mackey was based on Trey Parker's real school guidance counselor, a thin, wiry man whose voice Parker reproduces exactly. The episode nods to A Charlie Brown Christmas: a pageant uses the same Bible quote Linus recites, the music echoes Vince Guaraldi's score, and the kids catch snowflakes on their tongues.

A doctor prescribes Kyle Prozac for "fecalphilia," a term for coprophilia. Philip Glass wrote the avant-garde score for the non-denominational play; Parker and Matt Stone dislike Glass, with Parker, a former music major, claiming a third grader could improvise something indistinguishable from a Glass album. The live-action commercial's do-it-yourself kit resembles a Mr. Potato Head set.

Reception

Parker and Stone believed that "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" pushed South Park to greater popularity and cultural importance. Parker described it as the episode that "vaulted everything." After it aired, many celebrities reached out to Comedy Central wanting to appear on the show, which let Parker and Stone choose their guest stars. This resulted in Natasha Henstridge appearing in "Tom's Rhinoplasty" and Robert Smith in "Mecha-Streisand."

Stone noted that while the episode seems less shocking today, original viewers were stunned and even horrified by a talking, living Christmas stool. In 1997, it ranked as the fourth-highest basic cable entertainment program.

Its first American broadcast earned a Nielsen Rating of 5.4, reaching about 4.5 million households. That rating was the highest South Park had achieved and more than seven times Comedy Central's average prime-time audience. The episode also captured a 51 share of male viewers aged 18 to 24.

Did You Know?

• The episode introduced Craig Tucker, Mr. Mackey, and Kyle's father Gerald Broflovski.
• The episode served as a satire of political correctness and religious sensitivity.