Rainforest Shmainforest
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| Season | s03 |
| Episode | e01 |
| Written By | Trey Parker |
| Production Code | 0301 |
| Original Air Date | 1999-04-07 |
Episode Chronology
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Story
Description
The boys misbehave in class and are forced as punishment to join a touring musical group called Getting Gay With Kids. Led by the idealistic Miss Stevens, the group is dedicated to saving the rainforest.
The kids travel via school bus to Costa Rica to perform for environmentalists against paving over the rainforest. They promptly get lost when their guide is killed, eaten and then excreted by a coral snake. They wander through the trackless green hell, encountering everything from giant insects to rebel guerrillas to actor Tony Danza.
They're finally captured by a tribe of natives called the Yanagopas. The tribe inexplicably dress Miss Stevens in a cheerleader outfit and then tie her between two posts to serve as a sacrifice to the Yanagopas' gigantic god. Suddenly Cartman, whose constant feud with Miss Stevens made him wander off on his own, bursts from the underbrush along with a gang of American construction workers. They make short work of the Yanagopas and the rainforest's creatures by crushing them all with bulldozers.
The kids make it back to Costa Rica's capital of San Jose, where they sing a new song: "There's a place called the rainforest that truly sucks ass / Let's knock it all down and get rid of it fast."
What I Learned Today
Getting Gay With Kids' revised performance include these lyrics:
You say "Save the rainforest" but what do you know?
You've never been to the rainforest before.
Getting Gay With Kids is here!
To tell you things you might not like to hear.
You only fight these causes 'cause caring sells.
All you activists can go fuck yourselves!
Memorable Quotes
- "Being an activist is totally gay." (Getting Gay With Kids)
- "The rainforest sucks. I want to go home." (Kyle Broflovski)
- "I told you Jewish people don't have rhythm." (Eric Cartman)
- "Oh man, this is gonna suck donkey balls." (Eric Cartman)
- "The nightmare begins." (Eric Cartman)
- "Look how they live in peace with all living things. Gentle, noble - RUN FOR YOUR LIVES CHILDREN!!" (Miss Stevens)
- "Tom tilly ye!" (Yanagapa Tribe)
Characters
Kenny McCormick
Eric Cartman
Sharon Marsh
Sheila Broflovski
Mr. Garrison
Kyle Broflovski
Character Debuts
Craig Tucker
Heidi Turner
Miss Stevens
Getting Gay with Kids
Costa Rican Leader
Costa Rican Guard #1
Costa Rican Guard #2
Costa Rican Marxist Leader
Costa Rican Marxist Soldiers
The Yanagapa Tribe
Body Count
The choir group's Costa Rican guide is brutally killed then eaten by a coral snake. Jake, the student on the choir tour, is devoured by a giant Venus-Flytrap-like plant. Also, most of the native Yanagopa tribe is killed by bulldozers as they rescue Miss Stevens' class from capture.
Fortunately Kenny survives, thanks to his girlfriend Kelly.
Locations
Original Songs
Two inspiring versions of the campy "Getting Gay With Kids" are performed by the activist group of the same name.
Behind The Scenes
Where Did The Idea Come From
The episode is a criticism of the American environmentalist movement to save rainforests. The movement uses ineffective means of activism, shown through Miss Steven's hopes of saving the forests with song and dance. The episode also mocks the privileged ignorance of Americans who use environmentalist clichés such as, "We must take only photos and leave only footprints", "It's more afraid of us than we are of it", and "We have to respect mother nature and she will respect us".
Using Costa Rica as the setting is inspired by a nightmarish vacation Trey and his girlfriend took to Costa Rica. There he formed a strong dislike for rainforests, which also influenced the contrarian themes of this episode. All of Cartman's comments about the rainforest mirror Trey's personal opinion.
Pop Culture References
Shout Outs
The choir teacher Miss Stevens is voiced by Jennifer Aniston. During this time, Aniston was famous for her role as Rachel on the sitcom Friends.
Miss Stevens' attempted sacrifice to the Yanagopa's "god" is a direct parody from King Kong.
When Cartman shows up with rescue, Miss Stevens is shocked. He responds: "Who'd you expect, Merv Griffin?" Merv Griffin was a television host, singer and media mogul. He is best known for creating the popular game shows Jeopardy! and The Wheel of Fortune through his television production companies.
Among the heads of victims of the Yanogapa is a camera. This may be a reference to the film Cannibal Holocaust, a 1980 Italian exploitation film. In the film, a group of documentary film makers go into South America searching for proof of a lost cannibal tribe, and terrorize the natives in order to get sensational footage. They end up getting killed by the tribe they are looking for and their cameras and film cans on display around their village.
Pwn'd
During a nighttime lightning storm Stan yells, "Oh my God dude, I just saw Tony Danza!" Sure enough, the next bolt reveals the star of TV's Who's The Boss sitting among the kids. At the time this episode aired, he was on The Tony Danza Show.
Bonus Factoids
Pointless Observations
Kenny's stint with Kelly here is his first taste of love. He doesn't find a girlfriend again until he meets Tammy in "The Ring". Also, we learn that Mr. Mackey speaks pretty fluent Spanish. Mbien?
Season 3
- e1 Rainforest Shmainforest
- e2 Spontaneous Combustion
- e3 The Succubus
- e4 Tweek Vs. Craig
- e5 Jakovasaurs
- e6 Sexual Harassment Panda
- e7 Cat Orgy
- e8 Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub
- e9 Jewbilee
- e10 Chinpokomon
- e11 Starvin' Marvin in Space
- e12 Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery
- e13 Hooked on Monkey Fonics
- e14 The Red Badge of Gayness
- e15 Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics
- e16 Are You There, God? It's Me, Jesus
- e17 World Wide Recorder Concert