Imaginationland Episode I

The next day, as Kyle is conversing with Stan, Kenny, Jimmy and Butters, a strange man suddenly appears, asking them if they have seen the leprechaun.

At that moment a band of Islamist terrorists suddenly appear and set off a series of bombs, which kill hundreds of the imaginary creatures and destroy most of the city, with Stan watching.

The United States Department of Defense has received a video from the terrorists, which shows they are holding the survivors of the attack hostage, including Butters.

After being disappointed by several directors, including M. Night Shyamalan, who could only come up with twist endings, and Michael Bay, who could only come up with special effects sequences, they seek the advice of Mel Gibson, who suggests that they examine the video the terrorists sent and determine if there is anyone in it that somehow does not fit.

Cartman, meanwhile, dons a Sultan's robe and throws a huge party, during which the other kids will watch Kyle suck his balls.

Kyle has resigned himself to the task, and is about to walk into Cartman's house with Stan when members of the military arrive and take them away for questioning about Imaginationland.

Cartman screams in anger about his plan being foiled, then quickly leaves home and hitchhikes with a trucker to Washington, D.C. to force Kyle to fulfill his end of the bet.

The original intention was to make the story into a feature-length film, created as a theatrically released sequel to South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, but there were myriad factors that led it to becoming a regular episode: they did not feel it was a "big" enough idea, and the usage of licensed characters made it feel derivative.

[2] The day after "Imaginationland Episode I" aired, Parker completed the rest of the trilogy's story in a swift fashion: "I remember that Thursday morning writing every beat of the show on the board.

Episode I had over 3.4 million viewers and was the most watched program in all of television for Wednesday night among men between ages 18–24 and 34-49 and ranked #1 in cable among persons 18-49.

[5] IGN gave the episode a rating of 9.1/10 and praised it for being "smart, inventive and provides a number of moments that'll stick with you long after it's over".

Club gave the trilogy a B grade, criticizing the slow pace of the main plot and calling it "more like an excuse for a nostalgia trip than a good arc."

However, he praised Cartman's endless pursuit of his bet with Kyle and the return of the Christmas critters, calling their appearance, "some of the funniest moments in South Park's recent history,"[9] The Imaginationland Trilogy won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More).

[19] For reference, the DVD includes two bonus full-length episodes from previous seasons, "Woodland Critter Christmas" and "ManBearPig", as they feature the imaginary characters that reappeared in this film.