Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo aspects of Christmas from South Park to remain politically correct and inoffensive. The episode was written and directed by the series' co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The Mr. Hankey character was based on an idea from Parker's childhood; when Parker and Stone conceived the "South Park" series, they wanted to make Mr. Hankey the lead character. Heavily influenced by the "Peanuts" Christmas special "A Charlie Brown Christmas" from 1965, "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" was the first Christmas-themed "South Park" episode, the first musical episode, and the only episode in season one (and therefore the first time in the
What a Cartoon! summer of 1996 when it started bearing the name of the original project: "The What a Cartoon! Show". The show's initial premieres for each short preceded Cartoon Network's Sunday night movie block, "Mr. Spim's Cartoon Theatre". The shorts continued to air on Sundays until 1997, when the network moved the shorts to Wednesdays at 9pm. Following the premiere of "Johnny Bravo", "Cow and Chicken" and "I Am Weasel" as full series in July 1997, the series shifted to Thursday nights, where it remained. "The What a Cartoon! Show" continued airing new episodes on Thursdays until November 28, 1997, when the