As of this past Sunday (April 5), the first half of South Park’s epic “Cartoon Wars” saga is 20 years old. The episode famously took aim at fellow animated juggernaut Family Guy and its approach to comedy, particularly the show’s reliance on cutaway gags. By the conclusion of the following week’s episode, it was revealed that—at least in the South Park universe—Family Guy jokes were constructed by manatees drawing from a pile of “idea balls” with random subjects written on them. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane considered responding to the attack on his own show, but the gag didn’t end up getting used:
South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone later made it clear that they didn’t go after Family Guy in good fun; they truly hated the show and didn’t respect its writing. The pair would go on to trade shots with MacFarlane throughout the course of the next two decades. In 2012, MacFarlane told Rolling Stone that he thought the “Cartoon Wars” episodes were “funny and accurate.” “But what I don’t understand is the personal venom that they spew in the press about the show and about me, where it’s not in the context of a joke,” he continued. “That’s a little baffling. They let loose with this vitriol in every interview I read with them. It’d be interesting to know where it comes from, because I don’t know them.”
However, last month, something in the news seemed to indicate that there was a resolution of sorts behind the scenes. Those of you who’ve been keeping up with MacFarlane’s Peacock series, Ted, will remember the recently-released episode in which the showrunner used AI to transform himself into Bill Clinton. MacFarlane defended his use of the controversial technology to the Associated Press, explaining that earlier attempts to use prosthetics and CGI only made him look terrifying. For those who haven’t watched it, you can check out the scene in question right here:
Here’s the twist that nobody saw coming: the deepfake technology utilized by MacFarlane in that episode was applied by a visual effects studio called Deep Voodoo. Don’t recognize the name? Well, it just so happens that Deep Voodoo was founded by his longtime rivals, Parker and Stone. It’s unclear whether MacFarlane had any direct contact with them during the process, but the fact of the matter is that the three have officially engaged in business with each other at this point. Whether or not that’s a sign of things to come remains to be seen.
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