The latest episode of South Park continues the series’ long-running tradition of making topical and humorous observations in both pop culture and current events, and this week’s newest episode explores just how important China has become in companies’ attempts to increase their profits on the global scale. And in doing so, the episode skewered Disney and the NBA’s attempts to grow their audiences in the Middle Kingdom and expand their respective empires. But it’s Disney that gets the spotlight in the episode, with characters from Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar movies joining Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh in the episode.
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The shenanigans begin when Stan Marsh’s dad Randy attempts to expand his growing marijuana business into China. On the airplane, he is joined by LeBron James, James Harden, Thor, Snow White, Buzz Lightyear, Black Panther, Kylo Ren, and more who are also attempting expand their respective businesses.
But because Randy is basically attempting to smuggle marijuana into another country, he gets arrested by Chinese customs officers as soon as he lands. Randy gets thrown in jail where he is put in a cell across from Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.
The episode is making a reference to the real life scandal in which people on social media made memes comparing President of China Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh, prompting the country’s government to ban the film Christopher Robin from being premiered there.
Mickey Mouse soon shows up as an intense Hollywood executive hellbent on making money in the region. He secures the releases of Pooh and Piglet, but still faces opposition from the government. So Mickey and Randy concoct a plan that would show the country’s leaders their respect and possibly allow them to expand their businesses into the Middle Kingdom.
And that’s when Randy sets a trap for Pooh and brutally murders the silly old bear in a back alley as Piglet watches on in horror. Randy then is allowed to expand his weed business into China, and the episode ends with a literal dump truck full of money pulling into his farm.
Needless to say, subtlety has never been one of South Park‘s strongest qualities — especially after last episode’s focus on ICE, border migration, and “Mexican Joker.”
South Park will likely continue to skewer pop culture and current events, and given how prevalent superheroes and sci-fi are among audiences nowadays, this likely isn’t the last time we’ll see Marvel on the show.
New episodes of South Park air on Wednesdays at 10pm ET on Comedy Central.
