Prehistoric Ice Man/Trivia

Trivia

 * Although Steve Irwin is killed by the train crash in this episode, in Hell on Earth 2006 he is shown to have died as he did in real life; from a stingray that is hanging out his heart.
 * When Kyle falls in the hole, Stan says "Good job Cartman! You killed Kyle!", allowing Kenny a rare opportunity to deliver the "You bastard!" line. Later, Stan says "Oh my God! They revived Gorak!", and Kyle adds "You bastards!"
 * During in the episode, there is a scene which parodies Terrance and Scott calling each other dicks. That scene is Stan and Kyle doing the famous, "You're a dick!" quote.
 * Gorak's real name is Larry.

Pop Culture References

 * This episode parodies the late Steve Irwin (1962-2006) and his television series The Crocodile Hunter which ran from 1997-2004. It featured Irwin going out in the wilderness and taming various animals, notably the crocodile, sometimes with his bare hands.
 * When Stan and Kyle come across the ice man Stan says he saw a movie where "The old cavemen get frozen, and then people discover them and make them their caveman friends." This is a reference to the film Encino Man a 1996 film starring Polly Shore and Brenden Fraser. The film follows two buddies as they thaw out a prehistoric caveman and attempt to acclimatize him to the 20th century.
 * Cartman confuses the situation with the film version of the musical Grease. Cartman mentions the film starred John Travolta and "that French chick" who "did it all summer long" and sang about "Greased Lightning". John Travolta played the lead role (Danny Zuko) in Grease. Cartman is referring to his on screen romance with Olivia Newton-John's character Sandy Olsson. Neither Olivia Newton-John nor her character were French. Olivia is Australian, and in the film her character was planning on traveling to Australia. The characters didn't "do it" all summer long, but they did fall in love. He does get the song "Greased Lightning" correct. He also confuses a character named "Sandra Dee". This is actually a song that is sung during a scene where Betty Rizzo (played by Stockard Channing goads the girls into singing during a slumber party, the song is called "Look at Me I'm Sandra Dee". As for there being an abortion sub-plot in Grease, Cartman must be confusing the film with something else.
 * Before thawing out the prehistoric ice man, Mephesto theorizes he may be a Neanderthal or an Australopithecus from the Paleolithic era.
 * "Steve" is wearing clothing from Eddie Bauer, which Mephesto claims hasn't been popular since 1996.
 * Officer Barbrady has the boys play Spuds up to determine who gets to see "Steve".
 * "Steve's" habitat is full of references to the year 1996:
 * The song The Sign by pop group Ace of Base is playing in the background. This was from their album Happy Nation. This album actually came out in 1993, not 1996.
 * The bedspread in the habitat is from the 1996 Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
 * There are two movie posters on the wall, one for Fargo and the other for Independence Day both came out in 1996.
 * "Steve" accesses the internet to which Mephesto comments was "still not very big in his time, so the Web frightens and confuses him." Public use of the internet boomed between 1996 to 1997.
 * When "Steve" turns on the television the Aussie Hunter states that the average grizzly bear is stronger than ten Morgan Freemans.
 * "Steve" is thrown into a frenzy when he hears that the Atlanta Falcons are going to the Superbowl. This is historically accurate, in 1999 the Atlanta Falcons faced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII. The Bronco's won the Superbowl that year scoring 34-14 over Atlanta.
 * Kyle states that he named the ice man Steve after Steve Austin due to the resemblance. Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors in the television series The Six Million Dollar Man which ran from 1974-1978.
 * When "Steve" happens across the shop Teles and looks on one of the TV's, he sees Marilyn Manson singing his own rendition of "Stinky Britches". This parody of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson is modeled after his appearance for his 1998 album Mechanical Animals which featured Manson on the cover with his hair dyed red, wearing prosthetic breasts and with his body covered in latex paint, giving him an androgynous look.
 * According to Kyle Des Moines, Iowa is three years behind everyone else in terms of fashion, culture and technology.
 * Kyle confuses "Steve's" plight with that of Frosty in the Christmas special Frosty the Snowman. In it, Frosty has to go to the North Pole or risk the threat of melting when winter ends.
 * The Steve Irwin character gets chopped up in a helicopter rotor. In real life Steve Irwin would live on until 2005 until he died in a tragic incident where he was impaled through the heart by a sting-rays tail.
 * At the end of the episode Cartman says "Be very very quiet. I'm hunting crocodiles, hahahahahaha." This is in parody of the Loony Tunes character Elmer Fudd who usually says "Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits" while out hunting for Bugs Bunny.