"Volcano" is the second episode of the first season of the American animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny go on a hunting trip with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. While on the trip, Stan is frustrated by his unwillingness to shoot a living creature, and Cartman tries to scare the hunting party with tales of a creature named Scuzzlebutt. Meanwhile, the group is unaware that a nearby volcano is about to erupt. The episode was written and directed by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It was inspired by the 1997 disaster films Volcano and Dante's Peak, both of which Parker and Stone strongly disliked. The plot was also based on the significant amount of hunting Parker and Stone witnessed while growing up in Colorado; Stan's hesitation about the sport mirrors Parker's real-life feelings about hunting. Parker and Stone felt the computer animation in "Volcano" had greatly improved compared to the early episodes; they were particularly pleased with the lava, which was made to resemble orange construction paper. "Volcano" received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a 1997 Environmental Media Award. The episode featured the first appearances of recurring characters, Jimbo Kern, Ned Gerblansky, and Randy Marsh. The last, who is also the town geologist, is established as Stan's father in later episodes. It also marked the first of two appearances for Scuzzlebutt, who became a popular minor character and appeared in the video games South Park 10: The Game, South Park: Phone Destroyer, and South Park Rally. The episode parodied the Duck and Cover educational videos from the 1950s and 1960s that advised people to hide under tables in the event of a nuclear attack.
Plot Stan's Uncle Jimbo and his Vietnam War buddy Ned take Stan, Kenny, Kyle, and Cartman on a hunting trip in the mountains. As they arrive, Jimbo explains to the boys how to hunt. Whenever they see a creature, they shoot it after yelling, "It's coming right for us!", so they can claim the shooting was in self-defense. Stan does not have the proper temperament to enjoy hunting, and finds himself unable to shoot a living target. Unlike Stan, Kenny is able to shoot animals, impressing Jimbo. Meanwhile, a South Park geologist, Randy, discovers that the mountain on which the boys are hunting is a volcano that is about to erupt. He reports his findings to the Mayor, who directs one of her aides to make appropriate decisions about the crisis. During the hunting trip, Jimbo proclaims Kenny his honorary nephew, upsetting Stan. When night falls, Cartman tells the story of Scuzzlebutt, a creature that has a piece of celery in place of one of its hands and Patrick Duffy for a leg. The boys are skeptical, so Cartman decides to dress up as the creature the next morning in order to convince and scare them. When he disappears the next morning, the others set out to find him. They then see Cartman disguised as Scuzzlebutt and start shooting at him. When they catch up with him at the base of the mountain, Stan tries to shoot him in order to redeem himself in his uncle's eyes. However, he is unable to do so and the delay gives Cartman time to remove the costume. At a lower elevation, Randy orders the South Park residents to dig a trench to divert the lava away from the town. Suddenly, the volcano erupts. The hunters try to flee, but find themselves trapped on the other side of the trench. The real Scuzzlebutt then appears, and Jimbo apologizes to the boys for their seemingly imminent deaths, just before realizing that Scuzzlebutt is weaving a wicker basket to carry the hunting party to safety. The lava then flows through the trench just as Randy planned, but due to a miscalculation he made, the trench leads the lava to Denver, destroying it. However, in a misguided attempt to prove he can kill something and impress his uncle, Stan kills Scuzzlebutt. Jimbo is less than impressed, telling Stan that "some things you do kill and some you don't". Ned states that he now understands the folly of guns and drops his rifle, which accidentally fires, killing Kenny. Stan does not understand, since Jimbo tried to kill Scuzzlebutt earlier and other animals and wanted to impress Jimbo like Kenny did, Jimbo points out that Kenny is dead and that Stan will always be Jimbo's nephew. The boys decide that hunting is stupid and confusing, and decide to go home and watch cartoons.
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