South Park creators apologise to Al Gore over global warming jokes

The show mocked the former vice-president's views 12 years ago during the episode 'ManBearPig'

South Park has a long history of mercilessly lampooning anyone and everyone, but not for issuing apologies.

Last week, the show made a rare exemption, offering former Al Gore an apology for their portrayal of the vice-president 12 years ago.

That episode saw Gore try and warn the residents of South Park about an imaginary Big Foot-type monster who attacks humans, called ManBearPig. While Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan almost die in their attempts to kill ManBearPig – getting trapped in Colorado’s Cave of the Wind – they never actually see the creature.

After a near escape from the cave, Gore claims the monster was killed and that a movie of the incident will be made. Stan calls him out, saying: “You just use ManBearPig to get attention for yourself because you’re a loser.”

The episode was soon criticised for presenting the fictional ManBearPig as an allegory for global warming. And although many people presume attitudes to global warming were different at the time, The Guardian points to Pew Research, who say that when the episode aired in 2006 marginally more Americans thought the Earth was getting warmer: 77 per cent compared to 72 per cent today.

Showrunners Trey Parker and Matt Stone have seemingly had a change of heart over global warming. During the most recent episode of South Park, the main quartet of children discover that ManBearPig was real all along and only Al Gore can stop the formerly mythical creature.

Gore – voiced by Parker and wearing his Nobel peace prize medal (as well as a cape) – does not want to help and demands an apology. Some grovelling later, the children win over Gore, although the narcissistic environmentalist would rather be playing Red Dead Redemption.

This season of South Park, now six episodes in, made headlines last month for mocking The Simpsons and the ongoing row over Apu, who has been labelled by critics as a stereotype of south-Asian Americans.