South Park has long been known for their twisted Christmas specials. While it isn't uncommon for a TV show to celebrate the holidays, South Park seems to do it better than the rest. Those looking for cute, touching stories about Reindeer, elves or even (gasp) the baby Jesus had best look elsewhere but anyone who enjoys the nasty and biting humor that the series has become famous for will certainly get a kick out of the seven Christmas episodes contained on this DVD. Here's a look...

Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo: The boys and their friends are all set to start rehearsing for the upcoming school Christmas play when the kind people of South Park decide that the play is wrong, it's not inclusive enough and it needs to be more politically correct. While all of this is going on and the townspeople are going back and forth, poor Kyle, who doesn't celebrate Christmas, is trying to convince his friends and classmates that a Christmas entity named Mr. Hankey The Christmas Poo is, in fact, very real. One of the first classic episodes of the series, this one features the memorable Mr. Hankey song, Cartman's song about Kyle's mom, and some truly repulsive (though undeniably funny) poop jokes.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson: Cartman heads to Nebraska for the holidays with his pals in tow. It doesn't look like Christmas is going to be that exciting until his incarcerated uncle busts out of the big house with his jailbird pal, Charles Manson, along for the ride. Of course, the convicts show up at the house where everyone is getting ready for Christmas and chaos ensues but it looks like Manson has learned the error of his ways and is trying to turn over a new leaf.

Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics: Mr. Hankey plays host for this episode wherein he introduces ten different Christmas songs, each one performed by a different South Park Character. No real plot here, but that doesn't mean the episode is any less hilarious than the other ones in this collection. Try not to laugh at Cartman's touching rendition of 'O Holy Night' or the lounge singer duet courtesy of Jesus and Santa Claus.

A Very Crappy Christmas: The boys are used to Mr. Hankey showing up in town around Christmas time and when he doesn't appear like he usually does, they decide to go looking for him. It seems he's living in the sewer with his wife and three kids. Meanwhile, above ground, the citizens of South Park have lost their Christmas spirit. The boys decide to create a video to help the townsfolk get their Christmas spirit back.

Red Sleigh Down: Cartman wants to get onto the good list this Holiday season so he encourages everyone to spread some Christmas cheer. Soon, he and the rest of the boys are joined by Santa and Mr. Hanky in spreading season's greetings to Iraq. When Santa gets taken down, will even Jesus be able to go in and bring him back alive?

It's Christmas In Canada: Ike's birth parents show up at Kyle's house days before Christmas and, under a new law passed by the Canadian Prime Minister, take their child back to his home land. His parents are devastated and so Kyle convinces the boys to fly to Canada with him. Cartman resists until the town decides to give money to Kyle's family instead of buying Christmas presents - Cartman figures if he can get Ike back that there's still a chance he can score some sweet presents. The boys crash near the Canadian border and, in a very Wizard Of Oz like sequence, meet up with a Mountie, a French Canadian, and a Newfie who help them get to Ottawa to meet with the PM. Once they arrive they find that the mammoth monster who is acting as the Prime Minister is actually being controlled by Saddam Hussein. They expose him (after he kills Kenny) and get Ike back but not in time and they end up spending Christmas in Canada and participating in a big parade.

Woodland Critters Christmas: The strangest episode in this collection finds Stan coerced into helping out what appear to be some cute little woodland animals. It seems they need his protection but it soon becomes obvious that something is very wrong with these animals when they tell him that the squirrel is pregnant with the child of their lord.

Video:

The quality of the picture on this DVD doesn't differ much at all from the quality of the picture we've seen on other South Park DVDs. The colors look nice and bright, the reds are solid and don't bleed and the black levels are pretty strong. There are no problems at all with print damage or grain issues (no surprise there) and edge enhancement and line shimmering is kept to a minimum. There are some really minor compression artifacts visible in a few scenes but they're minor, and the level of detail present throughout playback is as good as one can really expect given the style in which the series is animated. All in all, these transfers are quite nice.