Mecha-Streisand/Trivia

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"Tom's Rhinoplasty/Trivia"

"Mecha-Streisand/Trivia"

"Cartman's Mom is a Dirty S***/Trivia"

This page contains trivia for "Mecha-Streisand". Remember, trivia must be factual, provable, and it is always best to cite your source for not-so-obvious trivia. If you would like to dispute a trivia point, please discuss it in the talk page.

Trivia[]

According to the DVD commentary, Matt Stone and Trey Parker have stated that previous celebrities mocked on the show were mostly picked at random, but with this episode, it was a personal matter to show their dislike for Barbra Streisand. The main reason was that after Colorado passed Amendment 2, an amendment to the Colorado state constitution forbidding homosexuals from being recognized as a protected class, Streisand spoke out against the state and all its citizens, calling them a "bunch of hicks" and promising she would never visit Colorado again.
At the beginning of the episode, Mr. Garrison is holding a newspaper with Mr. Hankey on it.
When Streisand's pink helicopter is landing, Cartman screams out in terror "Oh no! Aliens!" and immediately grips his own buttocks, clearly in reference to the series' pilot episode "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".
When Leonard Maltin asks Chef where he would be if he were Barbra Streisand, a picture of Tom's Rhinoplasty pops in his head. Leonard Maltin then breaks the fourth wall by telling him that he meant where she was staying.
Barbra Streisand took the opportunity of her characterization in this episode to criticize the show, claiming it was bad for children for promoting cynicism. In a later episode, "Spookyfish", her image was again used, apparently in response. She was also used as a swearword in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and an insult in "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants", before reappearing as Mecha-Streisand in "200" and "201".
The word "Roshambo" (Rochambeau) is another way of saying "rock, paper, scissors". However, Cartman's concept of Roshambo is for opponents to take turns kicking each other in the balls until one of them falls over.
Barbra Streisand has a picture of Satan and herself in her torturing chamber.
Barbra Streisand's short monologue is heavily accented and grammatically incorrect Japanese, roughly translatable as "Today, for me, it is a new beginning! From this day forward, my name is.... Mecha-Barbra-Streisanda!" Although the translation was grammatically correct, her voice actor read the lines out incorrectly.
Guest star Robert Smith was given his lines out of context and told it would be funnier for him to just read them and did not discover the plot until it aired. All of his lines were recorded over the telephone.
In the beginning of the episode, Cartman finds the golden triangle, and a male figure is drawn inside it when it's being held sharp end up. A few seconds later, Kyle is holding the triangle, and a female figure is there instead of the male one.
Before they get to the studio there is a man that looks like Officer Barbrady.
The news reporter mentions genetic mutant creatures, zombies, and Thanksgiving turkeys destroying the town.
At one point on the field trip, what appears to be a white version of Tolkien Black can be seen from the back.
Stan's line "This is pretty fucked up right here" is uncensored in the HD version of this episode even though the rest of Season 1 is censored.
According to Dr. Mephesto in South Park: The Fractured But Whole, his son died during the events of this episode.
The song "Icicle" from the Japan-only Nintendo Gamecube game, Giftpia, features garbled audio sampled from this episode at 1:03 and 3:51.
As Barbra Streisand demonstrates, to unleash the power of the Diamond of Pantheos, one has to first combine the two triangles, then perform a ritual. Ike somehow manages to do both of these and transform himself into "Mecha Ike".
- Considering that Ike has a very high level of intelligence, this might be quite reasonable.

References to Popular Culture[]

Barbara Streisand features prominently in this episode. She is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She became a target for parody on South Park due to her speaking out against the show saying it was bad for children.
Leonard Maltin is featured and is a famous movie critic and film historian.
Sidney Poitier is parodied. He was a Bahamian American actor, director and presently the Bahamian diplomat to Japan. Poitier is best known for his role in the film version of In the Heat of the Night and its sequel They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!. Poitier died on January 6, 2022 at the age of 94.
Robert Smith is also featured. He is the lead singer of influential rock band The Cure.
Mr. Garrison is reading a copy of the Rocky Mountain News, a Denver based newspaper that ran from 1859 to 2009.
When Cartman is digging at the archaeological dig, he sings in the style of enslaved African Americans in the United States prior to the Thirteenth Amendment.
The archaeologist states that the portion of the Triangle of Zinthar that is found by Cartman has Anasazi writing on it. The Anasazi were the Ancient Pueblo Peoples. A small number of the Anasazi resided in what is now the state of Colorado.
When interviewed by News 4, Cartman asserts that when he kicked Kyle he cried like Nancy Kerrigan. Nancy Kerrigan was an Olympic class figure skater. In 1994 she was attacked by a man hired by her rival Tonya Harding. During her televised practice performance on January 6, 1994, she was attacked and the cameras recording her in tears saying the word "why why why" over and over again.
When Chef meets Leonard Maltin he says "Well I'll be a teen-aged girl backstage at an Aerosmith concert!" Aerosmith is a rock 'n' roll band (1970–present) with many hit records and made the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Chef comments are regarding the common stereotype that female fans who get backstage at a rock concert usually have sex with the musicians.
Chef states that he had not seen Barbara Streisand since Yentl, which is a 1983 film starring Streisand about a Jewish woman who would dress up and pretend to be a man so that she could study Jewish Talmudic Law, which at the time was forbidden.
The boys ask Barbara Streisand if she is as famous as former Denver Bronco's quarterback John Elway.
Officer Barbrady tells Barbara Streisand that if she was not Fiona Apple he does not give a rat's ass who she is. At the time this episode had aired, musician Fiona Apple recently released her first album Tidal.
While Kyle and Cartman are arguing over who owns the triangle after Cartman breaks into Kyle's room, of all the gibberish Ike spouts he says "Cookie Monster", who is an iconic character from the children television show Sesame Street.
Leonard Maltin states that Barbara Streisand's "She was born in a small town, her mother was a jackal, and her father was an insurance salesman." This is a line directly out of the film The Omen.
According to Leonard Maltin, Barbara Streisand found a triangle during the shooting of the 1984 film My Fair Lady. This is an unusual reference, since Streisand did not star in this film, but Streisand could simply have visited the film's production.
Maltin refers to Barbara Streisand as "Babs", which is her nickname.
The boys joke how Barbara Streisand still wishes she was 45. When this episode originally aired, Streisand was 55.
Cartman asks Kyle if his socks smell like the Botanical Gardens. This is likely a reference to the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens located in Grant Junction Colorado.
The mayor of South Park could not believe that she watched Barbara Streisand's HBO special. This is in reference to Barbara's 1994 HBO special "Barbara Streisand: The Concert" which originally aired on August 21, 1994.
Stan asks "My mom always said there were no monsters, but there are, aren't there, Chef?", which is a parody of a line recited by Newt (Carrie Henn) to Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens.
After Barbara Streisand is destroyed, Kyle says Disintegration is the best Cure album ever.
This episode parodies many Japanese kaiju films from Japan, embodying their fantasy aspects, human incorporation, especially that of children, and unique style. Kaiju translates into "strange beast", though Kaiju often refers to giant monsters. Aside from Mecha-Streisand, Mothra (Robert Smith), Gamera (Sidney Poitier), and Ultraman (Leonard Maltin) are parodied in this episode, which seems to primarily parody Godzilla VS Mechagodzilla (1974). Although its primary source material is based on the Toho Kaiju films, this episode features other Kaiju film stars.
- Gamera a fire-breathing, jet-propelled turtle and star of its own series of movies that rival Godzilla's, is the transformation of Sidney Poitier. He also has two small fairies that accompany him as his personal guides, this is a parody of the Shobijin, or "small women" that accompany the kaiju Mothra, that first appeared in the 1961 film, Mothra.
- Mecha-Streisand looks and has a similar arsenal to Mechagodzilla.
- Leonard Maltin transforms into a giant form that is a parody of popular Japanese super-hero Ultraman.
- Robert Smith transforms into a creature that is a parody of Mothra, and when he battles Barbara Streisand, the music in the background sounds similar to the melody to "Lovesong" from their 1989 album Disintegration. The song "Bar-Buh-Rah" sang by the Asian news correspondent is a parody of the Gamera theme song.

Goofs[]

Several kids can be seen from the back in a couple of shots, but are not shown in the front view, including Wendy, Annie, a purple haired Red (who then disappears), and a white version of Tolkien.
- The number of kids overall are inconsistent throughout the shots, with red and green-colored versions of Brimmy appearing, and Craig also appearing out of nowhere in the same shot.

Continuity[]

Mecha-Streisand returns to South Park in "200" and "201", as a weapon by all the celebrities who were trying to get the town to hand over the Muslim Prophet, Muhammad. Her design was polished up, and somehow received a chainsaw on one of her arms. It was stated that South Park practically 'destroyed' her, and that she hates the town more than anybody else.

Kenny's Death[]

During a battle between Mecha Streisand and Leonard Maltin, Kenny walks with Stan and Kyle to the school playground, starts up a game of tetherball randomly, and is hanged to his death when the tetherball rope pins him to the pole as it wraps tightly around his neck.

Dubbing Changes[]

International Titles[]

Language	Title	Translation
German	Robo-Streisand	Robo-Streisand
Italian	Quel mostro di Barbra Streisand	Barbra Streisand monster
Japanese	メカ・ストライサンドの大迷惑 (Meka Sutoraisando no daimeiwaku)	Mecha-Streisand's big trouble
Latvian	Mega Straisone	Mecha-Streisand
Mandarin Chinese	機器張曉彥^{[nb 1]} (Jīqì zhāng xiǎo yàn)	Robo-Streisand

Common[]

During Cartman's interview, he quotes other celebrities in place of Nancy Kerrigan in the following dubs:
- Italian (1st): Jenny McCarthy
- Italian (2nd): Shakira
- Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Latin America; 1st): None. Instead, Cartman claims in his interview that Kyle "cried like a f**" in the Portuguese (Brazil) and Latin Spanish (1st) dubs, while he "ran away like a dog" in the Mandarin Chinese dub.
Mentions of John Elway are replaced in the following dubs:
- Cantonese: Ang Lee
- German: Joe Montana
- Hungarian: O. J. Simpson
- Italian (1st): Rocco Siffredi
- Mandarin Chinese: Bill Gates
- Spanish (Latin America; 1st): Diego Maradona
Mentions of Fiona Apple are replaced in the following dubs:
- Hungarian: Bo Derek
- Italian (1st): Celine Dion
- Italian (2nd): Sharon Stone
- Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Latin America; 1st): Gloria Estefan
- No personality is mentioned in the Mandarin Chinese dub. Instead, Officer Barbrady describes Barbara Streisand as "poor and ugly".

Cantonese[]

All celebrities featured in the episode are renamed to parody Hong Kong singers and actors:
- Barbara Streisand as Paula Tsui
- Sidney Poitier as Sean Lau
- Robert Smith as Anthony Wong
At the bus stop, Stan explains to Officer Barbrady that it was a Sunday instead of Saturday.

Czech[]

The singing lines of "Bar-bura, Bar-bura, sugoi na b***** da", "Ultura Lenardu Marutin!", and the entire portion for Sidney Poitier are removed.

French[]

The quadriplegic reporter is identified as a Tyrolean instead of Swiss.

Hungarian[]

In Barbara Streisand's transformation chant, "atarashii hajimari" is replaced with "Ken'ichiro Kobayashi" (a Japanese conductor who served as the principal conductor for the Hungarian State Symphony between 1987 and 1997), while "Ima kara" is replaced with "Mitsubishi" (a Japanese automobile company).
The singing lines of "Bar-bura, Bar-bura... hana ga ookii" and "Ultura Lenardu Marutin!" are removed.
Leonard Maltin laser beam chant is translated as "Reménysugár" (lit. "Ray of hope").

Italian (2nd)[]

Mecha-Streisand is known as Mazinga Barbara Streisand, named after a similar super robot manga series titled Mazinger Z.

Japanese[]

Leonard Maltin laser beam chant is translated as バディング・アイ (Badingu ai), lit. "Budding Eye".
Ike's lines are replaced as follows:
- クッキー (Kukkī, "Cookie")
- クッキーチョコ (Kukkī choko, "Chocolate cookie")
- バカバカし (Baka baka-shi, "Stupid, stupid")
Chef does not Leonard Maltin by his full name, rather using the honorific Maltin-san.

Mandarin Chinese[]

All celebrities featured in the episode are renamed to parody Taiwanese television presenters:
- Barbara Streisand as Chang Hsiao-yen
- Leonard Maltin as Woo Gwa
- Sidney Poitier as Kevin Hsu
- Robert Smith as Jacky Wu
Diamond of Pantheos is renamed to "葵花薄片" (Kuíhuā báopiàn, lit. "Sunflower slice").
Barbara Streisand's four-million-dollar condo is given the title as a "special underworld hideout place".
Maltin's transforming chant is replaced with "雞蛋、鴨蛋、臭鹹蛋" (Jīdàn, yādàn, chòu xián dàn, lit. "chicken egg, duck egg, smelly salted egg"), a play on a popular Taiwanese name for Ultraman (鹹蛋超人, Xián dàn chāorén).
The description of Poitier's transformation, as well as his transforming chant, are replaced to reference the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
The lyrics to "Rabartu Smitu, Rabartu Smitu" are replaced with "蟲蟲危機、蟲蟲有危機" (Chóng chóng wéijī, chóng chóng yǒu wéijī), parodying 1998 Pixar film A Bug's Life.
Instead of complimenting Robert Smith at the end, Cartman calls him out as "gay".

Polish (Comedy Central)[]

The word "b*****" from the singing lyric "Bar-bura, Bar-bura, sugoi na b***** da" is translated to Polish with suki.

Ukrainian[]

The news reporter reports of a "devastating attack of Christmas turkeys" instead of Thanksgiving turkeys.
The singing lines of "Bar-bura, Bar-bura, sugoi na b***** da" and "tashiwa daisuki Rabartu Smisu." are removed.