30 most shocking South Park moments ever
By Jeremy Dick
4. South Park begins with Santa Claus battling Jesus Christ
If critics thought “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” was bad, they apparently hadn’t seen the shorts which greenlit the series. South Park originally begins as a short animated film created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone as college students. Called “The Spirit of Christmas”, the short features Frosty the Snowman coming to life, only he’s evil. He kills two children before baby Jesus stops him with a magical halo.
Years later, a producer paid the duo to make an updated version of the short. They did just that, replacing Frosty with Santa Claus. Jesus Christ and Santa battle over their views on Christmas, and this time, figure skater Brian Boitano saves the day. The boys are more excited about meeting Boitano than they are Jesus or Santa.
The Jesus vs. Santa story wound up being passed around on bootleg. Eventually, it fell into the lap of Comedy Central. Although its subject matter is very offensive for the time, the network saw that there was money to be made with South Park and hired Parker and Stone on the spot. If it wasn’t for this bizarre film, the show never would have existed.