Rainforest Shmainforest/Trivia

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This page contains trivia for "Rainforest Shmainforest". 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

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First appearances of Bradley Biggle, Esther, Kelly, Millie Larsen, Heidi Turner, and Sally Turner.

• The theme song was modified for the new season, though only slightly. The most noticeable change was that Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick's lines were re-recorded. This variation of the theme song would last until the episode "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?".
• Some of the choir members would return in subsequent episodes to become recurring background classmates: Bradley Biggle, Boy with Red Shirt and Blue Pants, Millie Larsen, Heidi Turner (shown with black hair for most of this episode, with her hair appearing in the usual light brown color in a few shots), Esther, and Sally Turner.
• Craig Tucker speaks for the first time in this episode. Since he first appeared in the Season One episode "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo", he had typically been a background character prior to this episode. This episode also explains the reason behind his frequent appearances in Mr. Mackey's waiting room.
• This episode reveals that Stan is afraid of snakes.
• Throughout the episode, Kelly said Kenny's name wrong numerous times, calling him Johnny, Benny, Larry, and Lenny. It is implied she has trouble understanding Kenny's muffled speech.
• Cartman, who apparently believes people need to show nature who's boss, can be seen whacking multiple animals on the head with a stick while chastising them. Including a Coral Snake (who had just eaten and crapped out their tour guide), a Three-Toed Sloth, and a Squirrel Monkey. The snake, however, is angered by Cartman smacking it, hisses and chases Cartman away.
• This episode is listed as, "Choir Tour" in the Comedy Network full video lists.
• Kenny is revived thanks to Kelly.
• Kyle admits Cartman had been right once before.
• Although Kyle is shown to have difficulty dancing and gets taunted by Cartman, he dances and has rhythm in "Something You Can Do with Your Finger" and "Elementary School Musical". It is also possible he learned to dance since this episode.
• The President's desk has six bullet holes and one aide has an eyepatch.
• In the Spanish version, most of Kenny's lines are English instead of Spanish.
• In this episode Cartman does not know how to speak Spanish. It is shown that he knows how to speak Spanish in later episodes such as "My Future Self n' Me" and "D-Yikes!".
• Destruction of the 4th wall: After Stan and Kyle say their catchphrase, Kelly asks "who's they?" Ironically, the catchphrase, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny"/"You bastards" is always a 4th wall break as it was revealed the line is aimed at Trey and Matt, as technically THEY killed Kenny.

References to Popular Culture

• The episode is a commentary on people blindly joining environmental groups. Often taking huge stances to preserve areas without ever taking the time to try and live there. It was also formed based on Trey Parker's own personal opinion of the rain forest and Costa Rica after a visit there.
• Getting Gay With Kids is based on an educational organization: Up with People.
• Miss Stevens, the Choir Teacher, was voiced by Jennifer Aniston. During the time this episode aired, Aniston was most popular for being on the sitcom Friends.
• One of the G.G.W.K. states that the rain forest provides 30% of the world's oxygen. In reality, it is 28%.
• When Cartman pleads with Mr. Mackey not to join them up with G.G.W.K., he says it in the tone of an actor in a Minstrel show.
• Costa Rica in this episode is depicted as a third-world country (and in the episode, it certainly looks like one). This would be inaccurate as it is ranked #54 in the Human Development Index ranking it as a Developing Country.
• The president of Costa Rica was Miguel Ángel Rodríguez when this episode aired. He was the country's president from 1998-2002. The character who appears as Costa Rica's president in this episode looks nothing like Miguel Ángel Rodríguez.
• When in the rainforest, the children come across a squirrel monkey which is native of the area. They are also an endangered species as identified in the episode, as is three-toed sloth.
  • However, coral snakes are not native of Central America, they are located only in the southern United States (although it ate their tour guide whole, it is entirely possible they misidentified the creature).
• While in the woods during the thunder storm, the group is visited briefly by actor Tony Danza. He was best known for his role on the sitcom Who's the Boss. At the time this episode aired, he was then on the The Tony Danza Show.
• When talking to the soldiers to try and get food, Stan asks for a Taco Supreme. This is a common menu item at Taco Bell.
• Miss Stevens reads Newsweek magazine. The magazine was first launched in 1933.
• Cartman grumbles about how he could be at home watching Fat Abbott. Fat Abbott, is a parody of the cartoon Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.
• Miss Stevens believes that she is guided by the spirit of Maya, the mother of Buddha.
• Among the heads of victims of the Yanogapa is a camera. This may be a reference to the film Cannibal Holocaust, a 1980 Italian exploitation film. In the film, a group of documentary film makers go into South America searching for proof of a lost cannibal tribe, and terrorize the natives in order to get sensational footage. They end up getting killed by the tribe they are looking for and their cameras and film cans on display around their village.
• The natives using the choir teacher as a sacrifice is very reminiscent of the scene in King Kong where Ann Darrow is put out as a sacrifice for Kong.
• When everyone is surprised that Eric Cartman helped rescue them, he angrily responds "Who did you expect, Merv Griffin?" Merv Griffin (1926-2007) was a television host, singer and media mogul. He is best known for his creation of Merv Griffin Productions.
• Guest Stars: Toddy Walters as Kelly, Jennifer Aniston as Miss Stevens.

Controversy

• Despite the episode airing in 1999 in the U.S. and a few years later in Latin America (except in Brazil, MTV Brazil aired it in 1999), the episode has caused a bit of controversy in February 2007 over the comments that Cartman made about Costa Rica saying that the city "smells like ass" and the way the creators show the country full of "prostitutes, shantytowns and trash." The Costa Rican Government was reportedly "not amused" with this episode. Many activists have also condemned the episode, saying that it had inspired many people to no longer care about the rain forest because "It's just not worth it."

Continuity

• Cartman references The Fat Abbott Show, a cartoon previously seen in "Clubhouses".

Goofs

• In the first airing of this episode, the school bus driver that drives to the rainforest is a man with brown hair, when they arrive, he is replaced with Ms. Crabtree, the regular bus driver. (This was corrected on future airings.)
• While looking out the windows of the school bus in San Jose, Costa Rica, the children see a poor run down village, while the reflection shows a modern urban city.
• During the first Getting Gay With Kids number, Sally loses her clip on her hair and Heidi's hair shifts from black to brown and back.
• Though Jake appears to be eaten by a carnivorous flower, he's shown alive in a few shots afterward. (It could still be taken that he is alive by being pulled out of the flower.)
• After Cartman leaves the tour group, he's shown running from the Yanagopa with the rest of the class. Cartman can be seen also after he leaves walking with the others down the river. This is later corrected when aired on demand.
• Stan's pants are brown in both GGWK numbers during the lines "being an activist is totally gay" (first number) and "all you activists can go fuck yourselves" (second number). His pants are black in all the other shots.
• In the final GGWK number, an unnamed orange-haired boy is shown in Jake's spot. He quickly disappears.
• Kelly sat by Kenny for most of the trip. However, whenever the children looked out of the window, she could be seen two seats behind Cartman.
• When the kids were tied up, in the shot when Stan says "Oh, now she figures it out", Wendy can briefly be seen sitting next to him, even though she was not on the tour.
• During the lightning storm, Millie is seen sitting by Kelly. During one of the flashes of lightning, she changes into Kenny then back. Kenny is then seen sitting in Millie's place when Kelly asks him to hold her hand. When Tony Danza is seen during the next flashes of lightning, Kenny is gone. This was later fixed when it aired on demand.

Kenny's Death

• As Kelly is explaining to Kenny how their long-distance relationship will work; Kenny is struck by lightning. Kelly is horrified and immediately starts giving Kenny CPR. She really surprises Stan and Kyle when she actually succeeds at reviving him, and Kenny is seen alive and well for the remainder of the episode. This is the first time in the show someone had ever tried to resuscitate Kenny, and the second time Kenny survived an entire episode.