The Big Lebowski (1998)
Their Star Wars/Death Star parody is probably better known, but this is more fun.
When the mayor’s secretary Ms. Bellum is kidnapped the girls turn up to help and, in a shot-for-shot remake of the ransom note scene from the Coen’s hardboiled comedy classic, are informed of the crime while the mayor stares forlornly into the fire.
Schindlers List (1993)
The most contentious of all the South Park movie parodies.
In a grim echo of holocaust drama Schindler’s List, the boys and Chef are sent to a Tolerance Death Camp after objecting to the gratuitous gay sex acts perfomed in class by Mr Garrison (which include shoving the class gerbil, Lemmiwinks, up Mr Slave’s ass, prompting a secondary parody of the 1977 cartoon version of The Hobbit).
Star Trek
More of a lingering tribute to the original series than to the later movies, but we’re having it anyway because it’s awesome.
Fry and the others discover a powerful alien space nerd (living in his parents’ basement) who’s reconstructed the Star Trek sets and is holding the original cast captive on his home planet, making them immortal but forcing them to perform his fan scripts for eternity.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
A specially-collated trailer in the style of Ang Lee’s mountain-top bromance, with suggestive (and juvenile) clips from the Beavis and Butt-head collection spliced with classy music and fades to black .
Risky Business (1983)
Homer skips church and, beside himself with his newfound Sunday morning freedom, skips around the house in pants, shirt and shades like a young Tom Cruise in his starmaking ‘80s hit.
Star Wars
Scattershot Star Wars skittery from the typically irreverent Robot Chicken men and ladies. For those not in the know, imagine Adam and Joe’s stop motion nonsense only with (slightly) better production values and big guest stars .
In the Heat Of The Night (1967)
A throwaway line which many current day film buffs may have been too young to spot first time around. Captured by hyenas, Simba’s warthog sidekick Pumbaa is called a pig, which instantly provoked a great fury. “They call me… Mister Pig!”
Guy Ritchie
Riley receives a visit from a set of suited Guy Ritchie-style East End heavies when a fundraising exercise accidentally results in him taking over their chocolate bar sales patch. Worth it for the sweary tirade alone.
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Typically this Family Guy episodes throws out a whole bunch of references all at once – to Law And Order, Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and Good Will Hunting – but the best of the bunch is to rough-kids-come-good drama Dangerous Minds, as Brian takes up a position at Chris’ school .
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Homer takes his first ride on the Spinemelter 2000 and experiences the same hallucinatory visual surge as Dr David Bowman when he approaches the evolutionary monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi epic.
300 (2007)
A slight cheat, this one – actually made before Zack Snyder’s esoteric abs-orgy, this episode of the stylish Cartoon Network sword ‘em up nevertheless clearly pays homage to the Frank Miller comic book mini-series on which the film is so closely based.
The Passion Of The Christ (2004)
A typically outrageous and – in light of recent events rather timely – South Park assault on Mel Gibson.
The South Park boys are shocked after a viewing of The Passion Of The Christ and track down Mel to demand their money back, only to find the Hollywood star a whooping, defecating, torture-loving madman .
Training Day (2001)
A random skit from Robot Chicken which has two Godzilla dolls re-enacting the shocking Ethan Hawke/Denzel Washington ‘welcome to the job’ sequence from Antoine Fuqua’s dirty cop thriller. That ‘My lizard’ joke – not getting old any time soon.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Another Simpsons effort, this time with Mr Burns’ long-lost childhood teddy bear forging a link with another wealthy and powerful recluse, Orson Welles’ Charles Foster Kane.
The clincher is the shot borrowed from Welles’ classic, with Burns, like Kane, dropping a snow globe from bed as his whispers the name of his lost companion.
The Lord Of The Rings (2001)
A VHS mix-up means the Tolkien-obsessed boys find themselves in possession of the hottest porn movie in the world, which transforms the impressionable Butters into a Gollum-like creature and leads to a quest to return the tape to the Two Towers video store.
Robocop (1987)
Part of the special Chipmunks Go To The Movies series from 1990.
After parodies of kiddie-friendly classics Back To The Future, King Kong and Indiana Jones, someone somewhere thought Robocop should be next. Alvin is wounded in the line of duty, and then turned into Robomunk by Simon . Jesus.
Whos Minding The Store? (1963)
A recreation of one of Jerry Lewis’ most fondly remembered scenes. Yakko, Wakko and Dot are drafted in to the secretarial staff of a grouchy CEO and proceed to steal the invisible typewriter schtick from Lewis’ 1963 hit. Compare the animated version with the original .
The Third Man (1949)
Pinky receives a telegram from The Brain after the war (“I can’t remember which war, but it was right after it”) telling him to travel to Vienna.
Cue an entire black and white episode in homage to Carol Reed’s shadowy classic, including a sewer chase and fair ground face-off.
Armageddon (1998)
Instead of Bruce Willis blowing heck out of an Earth-bound asteroid, this early episode of Futurama has a 21st Century ball of garbage returning home, with Fry and the team sent to plant a bomb on the fault line between the coffee beans and discarded AOL discs.
Black Hawk Down (2001)
In order to tip his naughty/nice balance into the red, Cartman convinces Santa to visit Iraq, only for the present-laden sleigh to be shot down . Cue Ridley Scott-style scenes of Santa and Jesus battling armed mobs of anti-Christian militia.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Quick-fire Star Wars (and E.T. and Aliens) nods from the relatively unheralded Disney gem.
Step-brothers Phineas and Ferb find a cutesy alien called Meap, whose Vader-like villain nemesis Mitch (or sometimes “Big Mitch”) is played by our own David Mitchell. Beyond awesome .
The Birds (1963)
Jammed in with the episode’s Great Escape allusions (Maggie and fellow-tots breaking out of daycare) is a brilliant parody of Alfred Hithcock’s suspense thriller.
Homer, Bart and Lisa walk through an eerie set of toddlers, silent apart from pacifier sucking, perched like The Birds’ silent aggressors on nursery cupboards.
Saw (2004)
A Canadian Jigsaw-like puppet turns up in ATHF as Frylock flees north of the border having been enlisted in the US Marines by Meatwad. Watch the showdown here – Frylock wakes up wearing a head-busting jawlock with the only clue to his escape being a grapefruit and a grapefruit spoon…
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Daft Shawshank riff in which the Joker meets Morgan Freeman’s Red character in Arkham Asylum.
It's given a huge boost by the fact Mark Hamill – who played the Joker brilliantly in Batman The Animated Series – turns up to voice the Clown Prince of Crime.
Jagged Edge (1985)
A re-hash of the steamy Jeff Bridges/Glenn Close courtroom drama, now with Booboo the accused party (given the amazing nickname of The Unabooboo) who becomes romantically involved with Harvey (it’s weird) before a telling typewriter reveal proves his guilt. Kind of .
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Probably the most ambitious parody on the whole list. The episode was a special hour-long intro to the series’ sixth season, and retold Lucas’ space epic in full using it’s own cast, and an army of filthy gags.
The name is taken from the fake production name of Return Of The Jedi, itself taken from Red Harvest, the name of Dashiell Hammett novel whose plot forms the basis of Yojimbo, the samurai film by Akira Kurosawa whose other period film The Hidden Fortress was a clear influence on Star Wars. And breathe out.
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg
South Park takes aim at Lucas and Spielberg’s digital fiddling as the boys go to see the re-re-re-release of the Empire Strikes Back.
Their attempts to stop a similar fate befalling Raiders Of The Lost Ark end with a parody of the movie itself, with Lucas, Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola killed by the terrible new version. “That new version musta sucked balls,” Cartman rightly concludes.
Raiders Of The Lost Ark (1981)
A throwaway intro scene that mimics Indy’s idol-grab and booby trap escape.
Bart pinches Homer’s penny jar and legs it down stairs – boulder-Homer following behind – and onto the school bus, leaving his furious father jabbering on the lawn in his pants. The original music makes the scene.
