It's Christmas in Canada

"It's Christmas in Canada" (sometimes called "Christmas in Canada") is the fifteenth and final episode of the seventh season of the American animated series South Park and the 111th episode of the series. The episode originally aired on December 17, 2003 and was nominated for an Emmy Award.^{[citation needed]} The episode parodies the film The Wizard of Oz.^[1]

"It's Christmas in Canada"
South Park episode
Episode no.	Season 7 Episode 15
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	715
Original air date	December 17, 2003 (2003-12-17)
Episode chronology
List of episodes

In the episode, the Broflovski family is dealt a devastating blow when Ike's Canadian birth parents show up unexpectedly, and want their baby back. When the townspeople decide to forgo Christmas gifts and take up a collection to get Ike home to South Park, the boys are distraught. Before all the money for their Christmas presents gets spent, they hightail it to Canada to bring Ike home themselves.

This was the final episode to feature Eliza Schneider's voice due to pay concerns.

Plot

The Broflovski family is celebrating Hanukkah together when a Canadian couple, who introduce themselves as Harry and Elise Gintz, come to their house. Just as Harry begins explaining why they have sought out the Broflovskis, Kyle and Ike walk into view to see who is at the door and Elise immediately rushes in to hug Ike, who hides behind Kyle. While talking in the dining area, with Kyle and Ike outside listening in, Harry and Elise reveal they are Ike's biological parents, addressing him by his birth name "Peter". They gave Ike up during the Cola wars in Canada. Harry justifies their right to change their mind about putting Ike up for adoption as, due to a new law made by the Prime Minister of Canada, all Canadian-born children living in America must be returned to their biological parents. The Gintzes depart, with the Broflovskis vowing to fight them in court. Unfortunately, the Canadian law cannot be overturned by South Park's court, so Ike is given to the Gintzes. After Ike sadly leaves with his biological parents, Kyle notices his parents steadily getting worse as time without Ike goes on and attempts to get his friends to help him, but they have other things on their minds: Cartman believes that presents are more important, and Stan is obsessed with the Christmas adventures that he may have this year.

South Park's citizens decide to act kindly towards the Broflovskis and agree to give them their Christmas gift money to help fund their legal battle over the Canadian Prime Minister, leaving their children without any presents: which Cartman blames on Kyle. Kyle deduces that if the boys can retrieve Ike themselves in the few days before Christmas, the donations would be unnecessary, thus the boys bargain with City Wok owner Tuong Lu Kim to fly to Canada. During the flight, the plane suffers from mechanical troubles and runs out of gas. Tuong parachutes from the plane, leaving the four boys inside. It crashes in Canada, but the boys get out relatively unscathed. Recovering, they meet a group of Canadians, including Scott: an uptight, rude Canadian who derides Americans and furthermore belittles his cohorts' kind attitude towards them. Traveling to Ottawa on the "only road" in Canada, the boys meet others plagued by the new Prime Minister's laws: such as a Mountie named Rick, who is forced to ride a sheep instead of a horse; an unnamed French Canadian mime, who can no longer drink wine; and a Newfoundlander named Steve, who can no longer practice sodomy. In Newfoundland, Steve points out that they were heading in the wrong direction, though utilizes his boat to get the group to the prime minister in time.

In the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, the boys ask for a guard to let them in, but he insists the Prime Minister sees nobody and slams the door. Steve and the mime turn around to go home, reasoning "We gave it our best, but our best wasn't good enough, eh?", but Kyle pleads with the guard, who says the Prime Minister is in China. Disappointed, the four boys sit on the steps and cry until the guard, now feeling sorry for them, admits he was lying and allows them entrance. The boys finally meet with the Prime Minister, a gigantic floating head who is a brutal dictator and refuses to repeal his laws. Scott then arrives with the Gintzes, and, along with Kyle, appeal to the Prime Minister to support their separate views. The Prime Minister rejects Kyle's speech, and to prove his point, vaporizes Kenny. Stan reveals that the gigantic floating head is mechanically controlled by Saddam Hussein in a spider-hole. Upon discovery of the Prime Minister's true identity, the Canadians arrest Hussein (a reference to Hussein's actual arrest four days before the episode aired) and declare all of the new laws null and void. The Gintzes realize how much Kyle must care for Ike to come all the way to Canada and they give Ike the choice to go back to America, which he accepts as he hugs Kyle. Cartman's watch goes off, and he is upset about missing Christmas, but Kyle insists that he got his brother back and that's all that matters; Cartman, however, gets angry and tries to fight Kyle. Kyle at first is reluctant but then hits Cartman only once (barely), causing Cartman to whine pathetically and cry for his mother, until Rick the Mountie invites the boys to celebrate Christmas Canadian-style, being part of a parade celebrating Hussein's capture and the boys' efforts to remove him from power. Oblivious to what just happened, Stan and Cartman (whose nose is bleeding as a result of the mere hit) are unhappy; Stan sighs and says that maybe they will have a better Christmas adventure next year.

References

1. Ciriaco, Andrea (April 4, 2023). "'South Park': 10 of the Best Parody Episodes, Ranked". Collider. Valnet, Inc. Retrieved October 27, 2023.

External links

• "It's Christmas in Canada" Full episode at South Park Studios
• "It's Christmas in Canada" at IMDb