According to Ren and Stimpy creator John K., a dump is not always just a dump. In fact, he says, the singing and dancing turd featured in South Park's celebrated Christmas special is a direct copy of his company's whimsically animated feces, and is defending the honor of Spumco's "Nutty the Friendly Dump" by asking its fans to send protest email to Comedy Central.
South Park, the politically incorrect animated TV show that began as a Net phenomenon based around an animated Christmas card, has become cable network Comedy Central's most popular TV show; more than 4.5 million viewers tuned in to Wednesday night's Christmas episode that showed the saga of a Jewish boy who invests in what his parents are convinced is an imaginary friend - an animated turd called Mr. Hanky - after being rejected by his Christmas-celebrating buddies.
John K. says the cartoon rips off a series of Spumco comics and cartoons. Not only does he allege that Mr. Hanky bears an unnatural resemblance Spumco's Nutty the Friendly Dump - which premiered in an online cartoon just two months ago - but the plot line is strikingly similar to a Spumco comic produced four years ago, in which Jimmy the Idiot Boy befriends a piece of shit called Nutty after being rejected by his schoolmates.
Comedy Central says the allegations are unfounded, at best.
"We're not calling it a controversy, because it's actually quite ludicrous," says spokeswoman Sharon Levy. "[South Park creator] Trey Parker had a Mr. Hanky character his father actually created for him when he was being potty trained 26 years ago."
