'South Park': 5 things you didn't know about the very first episode

This Sunday, Aug. 13, marks the 20th anniversary of the airing of the first South Park episode, “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe,” on Comedy Central. As we’ve gotten to know the hilariously crude denizens of South Park, Colo., over the past two decades, it’s easy to forget that the series began with aliens placing a giant satellite in Eric Cartman’s butt.

However, there are also a lot of facts you might not know about the work that went into making that first episode.

You might have heard that it was mostly produced by animating cutouts of construction paper, but did you know that the animator’s hand is visible in some frames? And while the episode might seem like a perfect classic, it wasn’t how creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker originally intended. In fact, the original cut of the film was six minutes longer and featured story elements and characters that were cut from the final aired version. One of those characters was Pip, whose introduction was later used in “An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig.”

Those aren’t even the most surprising facts behind South Park’s premiere. Check out the video above to learn a few more secrets, and tell us about your favorite South Park memory in the comments below.

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