How do you package an episode anthology of a popular TV show and make it appealing enough to fans that they’ll be tempted to double dip and repurchase episodes that are already featured in the full season sets they already own? It’s no easy task and if a studio ever figures out how to do it effectively, they’ll have found the Holy Grail of DVD sales. For now though, Comedy Central seems to be on the right track with their repackaging of 13 Butters-centric South Park episodes in a fun little set that they’ve affectionately titled “A Little Box of Butters”. Enclosed in a box decorated with drawings by Butters, the set has a few fun trinkets and a collection of solid South Park episodes. If you’re looking for a fun shelf piece in your collection, this might be a good fit.
Leopold “Butters” Stotch doesn’t really fit in the South Park universe of politically incorrect messages and profanity. His innocence is the perpetual victim of any adventure he takes part in, but somehow he always manages to wind up back in a blissful state naivete – only to have it spoiled and somehow resurrected in the next episode. The real reason Butters exists is because South Park couldn’t pull off some of its more elaborate schemes in a meaningful way without couching it in the acts of an innocent – and none of the four main South Park boys could ever qualify there. Cartman organizing a prostitution ring would just be another stunt, but in the hands of Butters it becomes a commentary on how intuitive selling affection is as a commercial prospect. Without Butters, some of South Park’s more poignant messages would get lost in all the typical insanity.
The episodes in the set include “Butters’ Very Own Episode”, “Professor Chaos”, “The Simpsons Already Did It”, “Raisins”, “You Got F’d in the A”, “AWESOM-O”, “Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset”, “Marjorine”, “Cartman Sucks”, “The Ungroundable”, “The Coon”, “Butters’ Bottom Bitch”, and “The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs”. The set definitely tends to favor episodes from later seasons, wherein Butters became a bigger player after Kenny’s more permanent demise. Regardless of the seasons though, the episode selection suffers and benefits from the crux of the average South Park season: episodes are wildly hit or miss. “The Coon”, “The Ungroundable”, and “The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs” may feature Butters in a more front and center capacity, but by no means should they ever be singled out for inclusion in a special set. They’re not strong episodes by any stretch of the imagination. Another side of the selection is that Butters isn’t even a main player in some of the episodes; in “Marjorine” or “You Got F’d in the A”, Butters has a momentary part of importance, but by no means could you ever say they are Butters-centric. Their inclusion here implies they were starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
The triumph of the set comes in the form of episodes like “Cartman Sucks”, “AWESOM-O”, and “Butters’ Bottom Bitch”, episodes that take aim at topics like Christian homosexuality camps and prostitution and score major comedic points. Overall the collection parses out to being an above average anthology made all the sweeter by some of the amusing trinkets added to the already great packaging.
Episodes from older seasons have been remastered to look shiny and new.
DVD Bonus Features
There’s a Butters Triva Game on the first disc, but after that all of the extras are physical assets included in the box. Most of the materials are paper printouts of things like the $250 million check written by Paris Hilton to purchase Butters from his parents, a copy of the articles detailing Butters’s tragic happening at the dance finals, and a copy of Butters’s follow-up novel “The Poop That Took a Pee” that looks like it was written by Butters in crayon. The more amusing extras include a What Would Butters Do Livestrong-style bracelet, an Inspector Butters badge, and a little Butters bling from his pimp days.
It’s a nice looking set that just might be enough to entice the diehard South Park fan to splurge on a double dip. The episode selection is pretty solid and the trinkets are funny enough.
"South Park: A Little Box of Butters" is on sale September 28, 2010 and is not rated. Animation, Comedy. Directed by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Eric Stough. Written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone. Starring Isaac Hayes, Matt Stone, Trey Parker.
