Behind The Scenes of “World War Zimmerman”
Join us for this special look behind-the-scenes of our infamous episode “World War Zimmerman”!
Get a taste below — and for ALL the exclusive production art and details from Matt and Trey… check out the “World War Zimmerman” WIKI page here!
– Where did the episode idea come from? Originally, this was gonna be our first episode coming back from our hiatus. This episode was going to begin with Tolkien waking up from a 9 month coma (the number of months South Park was on hiatus). The boys were going to rush in in and tell him everything that had happened while he was asleep. Cartman was scared that Tolkien would freak out when he heard about the Zimmerman verdict.
– Our art department created this special hip hop outfit for Cartman’s “I Was Not The Bullet” presentation.
– Cartman’s song (which plays twice in this episode) is a pretty awesome rendition of Michael Buble’s “It’s A Beautiful Day”.
– This intense specialty shot of zombies crawling up the building required unique setup, textures and character design. It was by far the most complex shot we had to animate for “World War Zimmerman”.
– Where did the “fist bump” idea come from? From the writers: “Just another opportunity for Cartman to be racist.”
– The injections Cartman gives himself on the plane? That’s a direct parody of “World War Z”. It was going to be part of Cartman’s storyline, but the writers went in another direction and just didn’t remove it.
– This is the first time in 17 years Jimbo’s Gun Shop has re-appeared in the show. It’s debut was in our second episode ever, “Weight Gain 4000”.
– Easter Egg: The sign on the wall in Jimbo’s Gun Shop reads: “Criminals: Can you run 850 feet per second? If not, your head better be bulletproof!”
– Any new character, like this no-armed pilot, must first be storyboarded by the art department.
– Garrison’s lesson on the French Revolution is taken right out of the 2012 movie, Les Misérables.
– Here’s a better look at the art for Cartman’s “Patient Zero” sketch. All props used in the show are created by our Art Department.
