Movies - TV
South Park’s Creators Almost Made A Kid’s Show For Fox Instead
By BJ COLANGELO
“South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have worked on controversial projects since their 1992 stop-motion short film, “The Spirit of Christmas.”
One project was “Cannibal! The Musical,” a comedy retelling of the story of Alferd Packer. This project almost got the duo a children’s show before they ever made “South Park.”
“Time Warped” was supposed to be a musical exploration of history and would have starred Stone, Parker, and other actors from “Cannibal! The Musical.”
One of the “Cannibal! The Musical” actors, Jason McHugh, uploaded the pilots to his YouTube account and explained the story in the description.
McHugh shared, “This crazy Fox exec named Pam Brady thought we should do a weekly episodic series about Alferd Packer being lost with a group of guys who sing and dance.”
He continued, “Trey said, ‘What if we just take the style and structure of “Cannibal” and create a ‘50s-styled time-traveling musical adventure show?’”
They originally pitched the idea as a series for adults, but the Fox executives saw potential in turning it into an edutainment show for children. However, it never came to be.
Despite testing positively, Fox had already found success with shows like “Power Rangers,” so an educational show with songs and a troupe of actors wasn’t a priority.